Evil/harm: evil
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Kakos means bad, evil, harmful, wrong, or of poor character or effect. Gospel narratives use it for wicked tenants and servants, the evil proceeding from human hearts, and the unanswered question of what evil Jesus has done before His execution.
Reader summary
Full entry for κακός (G2556) · Open the biblical lexicon
Kakos means bad, evil, harmful, wrong, or of poor character or effect. Gospel narratives use it for wicked tenants and servants, the evil proceeding from human hearts, and the unanswered question of what evil Jesus has done before His execution.
The BSB source-word alignment has 50 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include evil (24), wrong (3), harm (2), of evil (2), [is] wicked (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:41. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (15), 1 Peter (5), Acts (4), 1 Corinthians (3).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Kakos means bad, evil, harmful, wrong, or of poor character or effect. Gospel narratives use it for wicked tenants and servants, the evil proceeding from human hearts, and the unanswered question of what evil Jesus has done before His execution. The adjective's force varies with the person, deed, condition, or outcome it describes; it is not a vague label for whatever a speaker dislikes.
Scripture locates evil in accountable choices, corrupt desires, abusive stewardship, unjust judgment, and harm to neighbors. Christian teaching should name the concrete wrong, evidence, victim, responsibility, and needed response. Calling evil good is destructive, but labeling people or dissent evil without truthful process can itself become a tool of injustice.
Kakos describes what is bad, evil, or harmful. Its Gospel uses expose corrupt stewardship, unfaithful service, heart-born wrongdoing, and the judicial failure to establish any evil in Jesus.
“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
Matthew 21:41 says the owner will bring those evil tenants to an evil end and lease the vineyard to others who render its fruit. Their violence and refusal define the judgment.
But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
Matthew 24:48 introduces the evil servant who says the master is delayed and then beats fellow servants while indulging himself. Abuse of delegated power reveals character.
“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
Matthew 27:23 records Pilate asking what evil Jesus has done as the crowd continues demanding crucifixion. The question receives no demonstrated crime.
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
Mark 7:21 says evil reasonings and actions proceed from within, out of the human heart. Jesus shifts defilement attention toward moral source.
“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
Mark 15:14 parallels Pilate's question about what evil Jesus has done, exposing condemnation without substantiated wrongdoing.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Moral badness or harmfulness; encompasses both wickedness in persons and destructive consequences of actions.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 51 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
bad, evil
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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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 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.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 50 lexical occurrence verses.
κακός is a primary word - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Kakos does not allow evil to remain an atmospheric accusation. Matthew's evil servant beats those under his care and exploits the master's apparent delay; the tenants seize entrusted space through escalating violence. Their deeds give the adjective content. At Jesus' trial, by contrast, Pilate asks what evil He has done and receives no answer capable of supporting the sentence.
Mark traces evil actions to the heart, preventing external respectability from hiding corrupt desire. Churches should name abuse, deceit, exploitation, and unjust condemnation precisely, hear evidence fairly, protect those at risk, and call offenders to concrete repentance. They should also resist dehumanizing people as embodiments of evil, since moral judgment belongs with truth, proportion, and the possibility of grace.
Mark.7.21
Kakos is a broad adjective for bad, evil, harmful, or deficient and can also function substantivally for evil. Context supplies the relevant moral, practical, or qualitative standard.
Genesis names moral evil and harmful calamity in distinct settings, prophets expose rulers who call evil good, and wisdom traces destructive conduct to the heart.