Constraint (literally or figuratively); by implication, distress
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Ἀνάγκη (anankē) means necessity, compulsion, constraint, pressure, or distress. Jesus says stumbling blocks are bound to arise in a fallen world yet pronounces woe on the person through whom they come, so inevitability never excuses culpability.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀνάγκη (G318) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ἀνάγκη (anankē) means necessity, compulsion, constraint, pressure, or distress. Jesus says stumbling blocks are bound to arise in a fallen world yet pronounces woe on the person through whom they come, so inevitability never excuses culpability.
The BSB source-word alignment has 17 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [it is] necessary (2), compulsion (2), distress (2), hardships (2), must (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 18:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (4), 1 Corinthians (3), 2 Corinthians (3), Luke (2).
Ἀνάγκη (anankē) means necessity, compulsion, constraint, pressure, or distress. Jesus says stumbling blocks are bound to arise in a fallen world yet pronounces woe on the person through whom they come, so inevitability never excuses culpability. A banquet guest claims necessity to inspect a field, using obligation as an excuse for rejecting the host. Paul says submission to governing authority is necessary not merely because of punishment but because of conscience.
In 1 Corinthians, a present crisis shapes prudent counsel about marriage without turning temporary pressure into a universal ban. Paul also lists necessities or hardships among the afflictions endured in ministry. The source and kind of necessity matter: moral obligation, circumstantial pressure, alleged excuse, fallen-world inevitability, and severe distress are not interchangeable.
Ἀνάγκη describes necessity, constraint, or distress. It can mark unavoidable stumbling blocks without excusing agents, a claimed obligation used as an excuse, conscience-bound submission, crisis-shaped counsel, and ministry hardship.
Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
Jesus says stumbling blocks must arise yet condemns the person who causes them, preserving moral responsibility within the necessity of a fallen world.
But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’
The invited guest claims he must inspect a purchased field, but the banquet parable exposes the “necessity” as an excuse that ranks possessions above the host's invitation.
Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
Submission to governing authorities is necessary for both judgment and conscience, within Paul's account of rulers as accountable servants under God.
Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is.
Paul's counsel responds to a present distress, making the crisis a contextual pressure rather than declaring marriage intrinsically inferior.
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
Apostolic endurance appears amid necessities, troubles, and calamities, where severe pressure commends God's servants without making suffering their savior.
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.
Greek word. Necessity imposed by circumstance or force, not mere preference or desire
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 18 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
necessity, constraint, compulsion
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Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
Read versenecessity, constraint, compulsion
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 5 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 17 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀνάγκη is built from these roots:
Necessity can be real without becoming morally ultimate. Jesus acknowledges that stumbling blocks arise in a fallen world but refuses to let inevitability absolve those who place them. The banquet guest reverses the problem by manufacturing necessity from his property and using it to reject grace. Romans directs conscience toward governing order while keeping every authority under God's judgment and the higher duty of love.
First Corinthians names a present distress so readers can understand why Paul recommends stability; prudent counsel is governed by conditions, not contempt for marriage. Second Corinthians shows gospel ministry enduring pressures that cannot simply be escaped. Churches should distinguish the must of obedience from the must of fear, crisis, social expectation, and self-protective excuse.
Ἀνάγκη calls for truthful naming of constraint under the lordship of Christ.
Matt.18.7
Ἀνάγκη is a noun for necessity, constraint, compulsion, or distress. Verbs of having or being under necessity and contextual qualifiers indicate whether the force is obligation, pressure, hardship, or alleged need.
Empires compel, famine constrains, conscience binds under God's command, prophets endure distress, and Jesus exposes excuses that masquerade as unavoidable duties.