What does πόρνη (pórnē) mean in the Bible?
πόρνη (pórnē): Woman engaged in sexual immorality; metaphorically, a city/system in idolatrous rebellion against God.
Greek · G4204
πόρνη
A strumpet; figuratively, an idolater
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πόρνη G4204
Pronunciation pórnē
What does πόρνη (pórnē) mean in the Bible?
πόρνη (pórnē): Woman engaged in sexual immorality; metaphorically, a city/system in idolatrous rebellion against God.
Full entry for πόρνη (G4204) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4204?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include prostitute (6), prostitutes (3), with a prostitute (2), OF PROSTITUTES (1).
Where does πόρνη (pórnē) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:31. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (5), 1 Corinthians (2), Matthew (2), Hebrews (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 It prostitute 6× Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25, Revelation 17:1, Revelation 17:15
prostitutes 3× Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:32, Luke 15:30
with a prostitute 2× 1 Corinthians 6:15, 1 Corinthians 6:16
OF PROSTITUTES 1× Revelation 17:5
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 21:31 πόρναι to prostitutes Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural Matthew 21:32 πόρναι to prostitutes Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural Luke 15:30 πορνῶν to prostitutes Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural 1 Corinthians 6:15 πόρνης to with a prostitute Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 1 Corinthians 6:16 πόρνῃ to with a prostitute Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Hebrews 11:31 πόρνη to prostitute Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular James 2:25 πόρνη to prostitute Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Revelation 17:1 πόρνης to prostitute Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Revelation 17:5 ΠΟΡΝΩΝ to OF PROSTITUTES Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural Revelation 17:15 πόρνη to prostitute Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 21:31
Aligned rows 12
Books represented 6
Matthew 2 Luke 1 1 Corinthians 2 Hebrews 1 James 1 Revelation 5
Source forms
πόρνη 3x pornē Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25, Revelation 17:15
πόρναι 2x pornai Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:32
πόρνην 2x pornēn Revelation 17:16, Revelation 19:2
πόρνης 2x pornēs 1 Corinthians 6:15, Revelation 17:1
πόρνῃ 1x pornē 1 Corinthians 6:16
ΠΟΡΝΩΝ 1x PORNŌN Revelation 17:5
πορνῶν 1x pornōn Luke 15:30
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 3x Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25, Revelation 17:15
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2x Revelation 17:16, Revelation 19:2
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural 2x Luke 15:30, Revelation 17:5
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 6:15, Revelation 17:1
Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural 2x Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:32
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 6:16
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Woman engaged in sexual immorality; metaphorically, a city/system in idolatrous rebellion against God.
Strong's G4204
Lexical occurrences 12 verses Greek text appearances 12 times Word forms 6 forms 12 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 Source Gloss
a strumpet; figuratively, an idolater
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Woman engaged in sexual immorality; metaphorically, a city/system in idolatrous rebellion against God.
a prostitute, harlot: Mat.21:31-32, Luk.15:30, 1Co.6:15-16 Heb.11:31, Jas.2:25. Metaphorical (see Swete, Ap., 180 f.), of Babylon (i.e. Rome): Rev.17:1, 5 17:15-16 19:2.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 21:31 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
πόρναι pornai
a prostitute
Read verse Matthew 21:32 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
πόρναι pornai
a prostitute
Read verse Luke 15:30 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
πορνῶν pornwn
a prostitute
Read verse 1 Corinthians 6:15 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
πόρνης pornhv
a prostitute
Read verse 1 Corinthians 6:16 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
πόρνῃ pornh
a prostitute
Read verse Hebrews 11:31 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
πόρνη pornh
a prostitute
Read verse James 2:25 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
πόρνη pornh
a prostitute
Read verse Revelation 17:1 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
πόρνης pornhv
a prostitute
Read verse Revelation 17:5 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
πορνῶν pornwn
a prostitute
Read verse Revelation 17:15 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
πόρνη pornh
a prostitute
Read verse Revelation 17:16 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
πόρνην, pornhn
a prostitute
Read verse Revelation 19:2 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
πόρνην pornhn
a prostitute
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 6 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 patterns 6 Aligned forms 12 Case pattern Nominative (5) Number pattern Singular (8)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Heb 11:31 · Jas 2:25 · Rev 17:15 3×
Nominative · Plural · Feminine Matt 21:31 · Matt 21:32 2×
Genitive · Plural · Feminine Luke 15:30 · Rev 17:5 2×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine 1 Cor 6:15 · Rev 17:1 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine 1 Cor 6:16 1×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Rev 17:16 · Rev 19:2 2×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
literal reference to sexual union with a prostitute as bodily sin
literal reference to prostitutes in parable of prodigal son's squandering
literal reference to prostitutes entering kingdom before religious leaders
metaphorical use for Babylon/Rome representing idolatry and unfaithfulness to God
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
πόρνη is built from this root:
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.
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
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain