What does μαλακός (malakós) mean in the Bible?
μαλακός (malakós): Soft texture contrasted with σκληρός; applied to persons denotes moral weakness or sexual indulgence.
Greek · G3120
μαλακός
Soft/effeminate
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μαλακόςG3120
Pronunciationmalakós
What does μαλακός (malakós) mean in the Bible?
μαλακός (malakós): Soft texture contrasted with σκληρός; applied to persons denotes moral weakness or sexual indulgence.
Full entry for μαλακός (G3120) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3120?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include fine (1), fine [clothes] (1), fine [clothing] (1), men who submit to (1).
Where does μαλακός (malakós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (2), 1 Corinthians (1), Luke (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 Itfine1×Luke 7:25
fine [clothes]1×Matthew 11:8
fine [clothing]1×Matthew 11:8
men who submit to1×1 Corinthians 6:9
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 11:8
Aligned rows4
Books represented3
Matthew2Luke11 Corinthians1
Source forms
μαλακοῖς2xmalakoisMatthew 11:8, Luke 7:25
μαλακὰ1xmalakaMatthew 11:8
μαλακοὶ1xmalakoi1 Corinthians 6:9
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Dative Neuter Plural2xMatthew 11:8, Luke 7:25
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural1xMatthew 11:8
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural1x1 Corinthians 6:9
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Soft texture contrasted with σκληρός; applied to persons denotes moral weakness or sexual indulgence.
Strong'sG3120
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms3 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
soft/effeminate
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Soft texture contrasted with σκληρός; applied to persons denotes moral weakness or sexual indulgence.
soft;
2Of persons and their mode of living;
amild, gentle;
bsoft, effeminate: 1Co.6:9 (prob. in obscene sense, cf. Deiss., LAE, 150, 4; MM, xvi; Zorell, see word).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 11:8Adjective Dative Plural Neuter
μαλακοῖςmalakoiv
soft, effeminate
Read verseMatthew 11:8Adjective Accusative Plural Neuter
μαλακὰmalaka
soft, effeminate
Read verseLuke 7:25Adjective Dative Plural Neuter
μαλακοῖςmalakoiv
soft, effeminate
Read verse1 Corinthians 6:9Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
μαλακοί,malakoi
soft, effeminate
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 3 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 patterns3Aligned forms4Case patternDative (2)Number patternPlural (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine1 Cor 6:91×
Dative · Plural · NeuterMatt 11:8 · Luke 7:252×
Accusative · Plural · NeuterMatt 11:81×
Word Origins
μαλακός is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.