What does ἐριθεία (eritheía) mean in the Bible?
ἐριθεία (eritheía): Self-seeking ambition that divides community through factious rivalry rather than honest competition
Greek · G2052
ἐριθεία
Rivalry
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἐριθείαG2052
Pronunciationeritheía
What does ἐριθεία (eritheía) mean in the Bible?
ἐριθεία (eritheía): Self-seeking ambition that divides community through factious rivalry rather than honest competition
Full entry for ἐριθεία (G2052) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2052?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include selfish ambition (3), [are] self-seeking (1), rivalries (1), rivalry (1), selfish ambition [exist] (1).
Where does ἐριθεία (eritheía) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 2:8. Its strongest book concentrations include James (2), Philippians (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Galatians (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itselfish ambition3×Philippians 1:17, Philippians 2:3, James 3:14
[are] self-seeking1×Romans 2:8
rivalries1×Galatians 5:20
rivalry1×2 Corinthians 12:20
selfish ambition [exist]1×James 3:16
Show sample aligned rows
Romans 2:8ἐριθείαςto[are] self-seekingNoun - Genitive Feminine Singular2 Corinthians 12:20ἐριθεῖαιtorivalryNoun - Nominative Feminine PluralGalatians 5:20ἐριθεῖαιtorivalriesNoun - Nominative Feminine PluralPhilippians 1:17ἐριθείαςtoselfish ambitionNoun - Genitive Feminine SingularPhilippians 2:3ἐριθείανtoselfish ambitionNoun - Accusative Feminine SingularJames 3:14ἐριθείανtoselfish ambitionNoun - Accusative Feminine SingularJames 3:16ἐριθείαtoselfish ambition [exist]Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowRomans 2:8
Aligned rows7
Books represented5
Romans12 Corinthians1Galatians1Philippians2James2
Source forms
ἐριθεῖαι2xeritheiai2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:20
ἐριθείαν2xeritheianPhilippians 2:3, James 3:14
ἐριθείας2xeritheiasRomans 2:8, Philippians 1:17
ἐριθεία1xeritheiaJames 3:16
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular2xPhilippians 2:3, James 3:14
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular2xRomans 2:8, Philippians 1:17
Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural2x2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:20
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular1xJames 3:16
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Self-seeking ambition that divides community through factious rivalry rather than honest competition
Strong'sG2052
Lexical occurrences7 versesGreek text appearances7 timesWord forms4 forms7 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkJames 3:13–18Source Gloss
rivalry
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 2:8Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐριθείας,eriqeiav
ambition, rivalry
Read verse2 Corinthians 12:20Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
ἐριθεῖαι,eriqeiai
ambition, rivalry
Read verseGalatians 5:20Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
ἐριθεῖαι,eriqeiai
ambition, rivalry
Read versePhilippians 1:16Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐριθείαςeriqeiav
ambition, rivalry
Read versePhilippians 2:3Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐριθείανeriqeian
ambition, rivalry
Read verseJames 3:14Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐριθείανeriqeian
ambition, rivalry
Read verseJames 3:16Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἐριθεία,eriqeia
ambition, rivalry
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns4Aligned forms7Case patternNominative (3)Number patternSingular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Feminine2 Cor 12:20 · Gal 5:202×
Nominative · Singular · FeminineJas 3:161×
Genitive · Singular · FeminineRom 2:8 · Phil 1:172×
Accusative · Singular · FemininePhil 2:3 · Jas 3:142×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Additional Occurrences
selfish ambition
New Testament Witnesses
selfish ambition
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐριθεία is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Distinguishes sinful motive from faithful proclamation.James 3:13–18
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.