What does ἀφροσύνη (aphrosýnē) mean in the Bible?
ἀφροσύνη (aphrosýnē): Foolishness as senseless behavior lacking moral and spiritual discernment, not mere intellectual limitation.
Greek · G877
ἀφροσύνη
ἀφροσύνη (aphrosýnē): Foolishness as senseless behavior lacking moral and spiritual discernment, not mere intellectual limitation.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἀφροσύνηG877
Pronunciationaphrosýnē
What does ἀφροσύνη (aphrosýnē) mean in the Bible?
Full entry for ἀφροσύνη (G877) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G877?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] foolishness (1), a fool (1), as a fool (1), foolishness (1).
Where does ἀφροσύνη (aphrosýnē) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 7:22. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Corinthians (3), Mark (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[and] foolishness1×Mark 7:22
a fool1×2 Corinthians 11:17
as a fool1×2 Corinthians 11:21
foolishness1×2 Corinthians 11:1
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMark 7:22
Aligned rows4
Books represented2
Mark12 Corinthians3
Source forms
ἀφροσύνῃ2xaphrosynē2 Corinthians 11:17, 2 Corinthians 11:21
ἀφροσύνη1xaphrosynēMark 7:22
ἀφροσύνης1xaphrosynēs2 Corinthians 11:1
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular2x2 Corinthians 11:17, 2 Corinthians 11:21
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular1x2 Corinthians 11:1
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular1xMark 7:22
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Foolishness as senseless behavior lacking moral and spiritual discernment, not mere intellectual limitation.
Strong'sG877
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms3 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkProverbs 26:4Source Gloss
foolishness
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.
Mark 7:22Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἀφροσύνη·afrosunh
want of sense, foolishness
Read verse2 Corinthians 11:1Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀφροσύνῃ·afrosunh
want of sense, foolishness
Read verse2 Corinthians 11:17Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀφροσύνῃ,afrosunh
want of sense, foolishness
Read verse2 Corinthians 11:21Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀφροσύνῃafrosunh
want of sense, foolishness
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 patternSingular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · FeminineMark 7:221×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine2 Cor 11:11×
Dative · Singular · Feminine2 Cor 11:17 · 2 Cor 11:212×
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
foolishness as lack of wisdom, contrasted with wise response
foolishness as opposite of wealth and wisdom, product of folly
foolishness as characteristic behavior of the senseless person
foolishness as inherent tendency in youth, requiring correction and discipline
Word Origins
ἀφροσύνη 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.