OliveGrove
Pressing the Word of God for Deeper Understanding.
Greek · G2556, G2040 · unreviewed

κακοὺς ἐργάτας

Evil/harm: evil · a toiler; figuratively, a teacher

These lexicon entries are being actively developed. If you notice missing content, incorrect definitions, or have suggestions, we'd love to hear from you. Share a note on our Connect page and include a screenshot if helpful.

Words in this compound — expand to study each participant

κακός G2556 evil/harm: evil
Pronunciation kakós
Moral badness or harmfulness; encompasses both wickedness in persons and destructive consequences of actions.
Open lexicon entry →
ἐργάτης G2040 a toiler; figuratively, a teacher
Pronunciation ergátēs
One who labors physically or spiritually; applied to Christian teachers as active workers in God's field.
Open lexicon entry →

What does κακοὺς ἐργάτας (kakous ergatas) mean in the Bible?

κακός · ἐργάτης is a Greek word meaning "evil workers, harmful laborers".

Full entry for κακοὺς ἐργάτας (G2556, G2040) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

evil workers, harmful laborers
Grammatical Forms

How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.

Nominative · Singular · Neuter Rom 7:21 · Jas 3:8 · Rev 16:2 3×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 24:48 1×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Mark 7:21 1×
Nominative · Plural · Feminine 1 Cor 15:33 1×
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Titus 1:12 1×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter John 18:23 · Rom 12:17 · Rom 12:21 · 1 Thess 5:15 · Heb 5:14 · 1 Pet 3:9 · 1 Pet 3:10 · 1 Pet 3:11 8×
Genitive · Plural · Neuter Rom 1:30 · 1 Cor 10:6 · 1 Tim 6:10 · Jas 1:13 4×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Rom 13:3 1×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Matt 27:23 · Mark 15:14 · Luke 23:22 · John 18:30 · Acts 16:28 · Acts 23:9 · Acts 28:5 · Rom 2:9 · Rom 7:19 · Rom 12:17 · Rom 12:21 · Rom 13:4 · Rom 13:10 · Rom 14:20 · Rom 16:19 · 1 Cor 13:5 21×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Luke 16:25 · Acts 9:13 · Rom 3:8 · 2 Tim 4:14 · 1 Pet 3:12 5×
50 total occurrences across all forms in the biblical text Morphology: MorphGNT SBLGNT — CC BY-SA 3.0
Word Pictures (Robertson)

A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.

Acts 28 — Paul in Rome: The Kingdom Proclaimed Without Hindrance Colossians 3 — Raised with Christ: Putting Off the Old Life and Putting On the New John 18 — The Arrested King: Betrayal, Sovereign Surrender, Denial, Trial, and the Kingdom Not of This World Mark 7 — True Defilement and Boundary-Crossing Mercy Matthew 10 — The Mission of the Twelve, Costly Witness, and Allegiance to Christ Matthew 20 — The First-Last Kingdom, the Ransom-Giving Son of Man, and Mercy for the Blind Matthew 21 — The King Enters Jerusalem, Judges Fruitless Religion, and Exposes Rejected-Son Leadership Matthew 24 — The Olivet Discourse: Temple Desolation, Coming Judgment, the Son of Man, and Watchful Readiness Matthew 9 — Authority to Forgive, Mercy for Sinners, and Compassion for the Harvest Philippians 3 — Counting All Things Loss and Pressing On Toward Christ Romans 13 — Submission to Governing Authorities, Love as the Fulfillment of the Law, and Life in the Light of the Coming Day Romans 16 — Gospel Partnership, Holy Greeting, False-Teacher Warning, and Doxology to the God Who Establishes

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

Sources

MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0

Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0

STEPBible Data — CC BY 4.0

Full license details