noun · feminine
porneias
Strong’sG4202
fornication, idolatry
stem pornei-25 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books6 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Fornication — sexual immorality, unchastity outside marriage, sometimes broadly covering adultery and incest 23. Some sources note that it is at times used as a general term for sexual sin distinct from adultery, while elsewhere it stands in for adultery itself 1. This is the ordinary sense in which the word appears through the New Testament 13.
The word is also used metaphorically for idolatry 123, following a usage already found in the Old Greek Old Testament where unfaithfulness to God is pictured as sexual infidelity 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
πορνεία, -ας, ἡ
(< πορνεύω), [in LXX for זְנוּנִים, תַּזְנוּת and cogn. forms;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4202 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpor-ni'-ah
harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry
Fromfrom G4203;
King Jamesfornication.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect πορν-είη, ἡ, prostitution, Refs 5th c.BC+; of a man, Refs 4th c.BC+; fornication, unchastity, NT
II metaphorically, idolatry, LXX
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | porneias4×πορνεία | porneiais2×πορνεῖαι |
| object accusative | porneian3×πορνείαν | porneiain1×πορνείας |
| direct address vocative | porneiar | porneiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | porneiau11×πορνείας | porneiaiu |
| to, for dative | porneia4×πορνείᾳ | porneiai |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
porneia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
25 occurrences, every one of them listed
porneias“sexual immorality”subjectnominative singular4×
1 Corinthians 5:1Holōs akouotō en vi porneias, kai toioutas porneias hotinas oude en …… is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind …
1 Corinthians 5:1“sexual immorality”… akouotō en vi porneias, kai toioutas porneias hotinas oude en tei ethnei, hōste …… is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A …
Galatians 5:19… teim ergeim tau sarkau, hotineim atō porneias, akatharsias, aselgeias,… acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
Ephesians 5:3Porneias de kai akatharsias pantas ē pleonexias …… not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity …
porneian“sexual immorality”objectaccusative singular3×
Acts 21:25… eidōlothutem kai haimem kai pniktem kai porneian.… meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”
1 Corinthians 6:18fugavōr tan porneian; pantem hamartēmem hem ean poiateia anthrōpos …Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can …
Colossians 3:5… teim meleim teim epi tau gēau, porneian, akatharsian, pathem, epithumian kakosan, kai tan …… the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed …
porneiau“sexual immorality”of, belonging togenitive singular11×
Matthew 5:32… apoluarōntos tan gunaikan autou parektos logou porneiau poiatō autan moicheuira, kai hos ean …… who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, brings adultery upon her. And he …
John 8:41“sexual immorality”… patrou vu. legala auto; Nis ek porneiau ouk gennonē; henon patron echanō ton …… the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God …
Acts 15:20… teiu alisgēmeiu teiu eidōleiu kai tau porneiau kai teu pnikteu kai teu haimeu;… from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals …
Acts 15:29… eidōlothuteiu kai haimeu kai pnikteiu kai porneiau; ek heiu diatērarōntois heautoin euōs prassavi. …… meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid …
1 Thessalonians 4:3… hagiasmos vu, apechorō vin apo tau porneiau,… be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
Revelation 2:21“sexual immorality”… kai ouk thelatō metanoara ek tau porneiau autau.… time to repent of her immorality, she …
Revelation 9:21… teiu farmakeiu autoiu oute ek tau porneiau autoiu oute ek teiu klemmeiu autoiu.… not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.
Revelation 14:8“sexual immorality”… ek tou oinou tou thumou tau porneiau autau potizatē panteim teim ethneim.… who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
Revelation 17:2“sexual immorality”… tan gēan ek tou oinou tau porneiau autau.The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her …
Revelation 17:4“fornication”… gemarōntem bdelugmeiu kai teim akatharteim tau porneiau autau,… golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
Revelation 18:3“sexual immorality”… ek tou oinou tou thumou tau porneiau autau pinalē panteim teim ethneim, kai …All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The …
porneia“sexual immorality”to, fordative singular4×
Matthew 19:9… apoluateia tan gunaikan autou mē epi porneia kai gamateia allosan moichotō kai tos …… whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
1 Corinthians 6:13… katargati. tem de sōmem ouk ta porneia alla to kurio, kai tos kurios …… The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the …
2 Corinthians 12:21… mē metanoarantoiu epi ta akatharsia kai porneia kai aselgeia ha prassala.… repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.
Revelation 19:2“sexual immorality”… hotinas ftherate tan gēan en ta porneia autau, kai ekdikata tem haimem toiu …… great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His …
porneiais“sexual immorality”subjectnominative plural2×
Matthew 15:19… kardiau exercholō dialogismois ponērois, fonois, moicheiais, porneiais, klopais, pseudomarturiais, blasfēmiais.… heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Mark 7:21“sexual immoralities”… anthrōpoiu tois dialogismois tois kakosois ekporeuolō, porneiais, klopais, fonois,… hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality …
porneiain“sexual immorality”objectaccusative plural1×
1 Corinthians 7:2dia de tain porneiain hekastos tan heautou gunaikan echatōr, kai …But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own …