verb
porneuamō
Strong’sG4203
I fornicate, practice idolatry
stem porneu-8 times in the New Testamentin 2 of 27 books5 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
πορνεύω,
[in LXX for זנה;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4203 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidporn-yoo'-o
to act the harlot, i.e. (literally) indulge unlawful lust (of either sex), or (figuratively) practise idolatry
Fromfrom G4204;
King Jamescommit (fornication).
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
prostitute, mostly in passive, of a woman, prostitute herself, be or become a prostitute, Refs 5th c.BC+; of a man, Refs 4th c.BC+
II intransitive in active, = passive, LXX+3rd c.BC+fornicate, NT
II.2 metaphorically, practise 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
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| porneualaἐπόρνευσαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | committed sexual immorality | 3× |
| porneuaneiōπορνεύωμεν | happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural | commit sexual immorality | 1× |
| porneuaraπορνεῦσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | commit sexual immorality | 2× |
| porneuarōntosπορνεύων | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine | commits sexual immorality | 1× |
| porneuarantoisπορνεύσαντες | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine | committed sexual immorality | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | porneuamō | porneuame | porneuami | porneuama | porneuamē | porneuamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | porneuasō | porneuase | porneuasi | porneuasa | porneuasē | porneuaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | porneuatō | porneuate | porneuati | porneuata | porneuatē | porneuatelē |
| we 1st person plural | porneuanō | porneuane | porneuani | porneuana | porneuanē | porneuanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | porneuavō | porneuave | porneuavi | porneuava | porneuavē | porneuavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | porneualō | porneuale | porneuali | porneuala3×ἐπόρνευσαν | porneualē | porneualelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | porneuameiō | porneuameia | porneuameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | porneuaseiō | porneuaseia | porneuaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | porneuateiō | porneuateia | porneuateiē |
| we 1st person plural | porneuaneiō1×πορνεύωμεν | porneuaneia | porneuaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | porneuaveiō | porneuaveia | porneuaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | porneualeiō | porneualeia | porneualeiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | porneuasōr | porneuasar | porneuasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | porneuatōr | porneuatar | porneuatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | porneuavōr | porneuavar | porneuavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | porneualōr | porneualar | porneualēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | porneuamoiō | porneuamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | porneuasoiō | porneuasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | porneuatoiō | porneuatoia |
| we 1st person plural | porneuanoiō | porneuanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | porneuavoiō | porneuavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | porneualoiō | porneualoia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | porneuarō | porneuari | porneuara2×πορνεῦσαι | porneuarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | porneuarōntos1×πορνεύων | porneuarintos | porneuarantos1× | porneuarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
porneu 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.
8 occurrences, every one of them listed
porneuala“committed sexual immorality”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural3×
1 Corinthians 10:8“committed sexual immorality”mēde porneuaneiō, kathōs tinois autoiu porneuala, kai piptala hena hēmera eikosi treis …We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand …
Revelation 17:2“committed sexual immorality”meta hau porneuala tois basilevois tau gēau, kai methuila …The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who …
Revelation 18:3“committed sexual immorality”… tois basilevois tau gēau meta autau porneuala, kai tois emporois tau gēau ek …… her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance …
porneuaneiō“commit sexual immorality”happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural1×
1 Corinthians 10:8mēde porneuaneiō, kathōs tinois autoiu porneuala, kai piptala …We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and …
porneuara“commit sexual immorality”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive2×
Revelation 2:14… toiu huioiu Israēl, esthiara eidōlothuteim kai porneuara;… eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
Revelation 2:20“commit sexual immorality”… didaskatō kai planatō toin ēmoin douloin porneuara kai esthiara eidōlothuteim.… By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
porneuarōntos“commits sexual immorality”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine1×
1 Corinthians 6:18“commits sexual immorality”… ektos teu sōmeu atō, tos de porneuarōntos eis tem idiem sōmem hamartatō.… can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
porneuarantois“committed sexual immorality”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Revelation 18:9… basilevois tau gēau tois meta autau porneuarantois kai strēniarantois, hotan blepaleiō ton kapnon …… the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her …