Evil

Evil - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

E'VIL, a. e'vl. [Heb. to be unjust or injurious, to defraud.]

1. Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief.

Some evil beast hath devoured him. Gen 37.

2. Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.

3. Unfortunate; unhappy; producing sorrow, distress, injury or calamity; as evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.

E'VIL, n. Evil is natural or moral. Natural evil is any thing which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.

Moral evil is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.

There are also evils called civil, which affect injuriously the peace or prosperity of a city or state; and political evils, which injure a nation, in its public capacity.

All wickedness, all crimes, all violations of law and right are moral evils. Diseases are natural evils, but they often proceed from moral evils.

2. Misfortune; mischief; injury.

There shall no evil befall thee. Psa 91.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself. Prov 22.

3. Depravity; corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity.

The heart of the sons of men is full of evil. Eccl 9.

4. Malady; as the king's evil or scrophula.

E'VIL, adv. [generally contracted to ill.]

1. Not well; not with justice or propriety; unsuitable.

Evil it beseems thee.

2. Not virtuously; not innocently.

3. Not happily; unfortunately.

It went evil with his house.

4. Injuriously; not kindly.

The Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us.

In composition, evil, denoting something bad or wrong, is often contracted to ill.

Wicked - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

WICKED, a. [The primary sense is to wind and turn, or to depart, to fall away.]

1. Evil in principle or practice; deviating from the divine law; addicted to vice; sinful; immoral. This is a word of comprehensive signification, extending to every thing that is contrary to the moral law, and both to persons and actions. We say, a wicked man, a wicked deed, wicked ways, wicked lives, a wicked heart, wicked designs, wicked works.

No man was ever wicked without secret discontent.

2. A word of slight blame; as the wicked urchin.

3. Cursed; baneful; pernicious; as wicked words, words pernicious in their efforts.

[This last signification may throw some light on the word witch.]

The wicked, in Scripture, persons who live in sin; transgressors of the divine law; all who are unreconciled to God, unsanctified or impenitent.

Wickedness - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

WICKEDNESS, n. Departure from the rules of the divine law; evil disposition or practices; immorality; crime; sin; sinfulness; corrupt manners Wickedness generally signifies evil practices.

What wickedness is this that is done among you? Judg 20.

But wickedness expresses also the corrupt dispositions of the heart.

Their inward part is very wickedness. Psa 5.

In heart ye work wickedness. Psa 58.

ev'-'-l, e'-vil ra`; poneros, @kakos, @kakon:

In the Bible it is represented as moral and physical. We choose to discuss the subject under these heads. Many of the evils that come upon men have not been intended by those who suffer for them. Disease, individual and national calamity, drought, scarcity of food, may not always be charged to the account of intentional wrong. Many times the innocent suffer with, and even for, the guilty. In such cases, only physical evil is apparent. Even when the suffering has been occasioned by sin or dereliction of duty, whether the wrong is active or passive, many, perhaps the majority of those who are injured, are not accountable in any way for the ills which come upon them. Neither is God the author of moral evil. "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man" (Jas 1:13).

See TEMPTATION.

1. Moral Evil:

By this term we refer to wrongs done to our fellowman, where the actor is responsible for the action. The immorality may be present when the action is not possible. "But if that evil servant shall say in his heart" (Mt 24:48,49), whether he shall smite his fellow-servants or not, the moral evil is present. See SIN. "All these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man" (Mr 7:21-23). The last six commandments of the Decalogue apply here (Ex 20:12-17). To dishonor one's parents, to kill, to commit adultery, to steal, to bear false witness and to covet are moral evils. The spiritual import of these commandments will be found in Mt 5:21,22,27,28. "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness" (Mt 6:23). Words and deeds are coined in the heart before the world sees or hears them (Mt 12:34,35). The word ought or its equal may be found in all languages; hence, it is in the mind of all people as well as in our laws that for the deeds and words we do and speak, we are responsible. "Break off thy sins by righteousness" (Da 4:27) shows that, in God's thought, it was man's duty, and therefore within his power, to keep the commandment. "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well" (Isa 1:16 f). We cannot think of God commanding men to do what He knew they had no ability to do! God has a standing offer of pardon to all men who turn from their evil ways and do that which is right (Eze 33:11-14 f). Evil begins in the least objectionable things. In Ro 1:18-23, we have Paul's view of the falling away of the Gentiles. "Knowing God" (verse 21), they were "without excuse" (verse 20), but "glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened" (verse 21). "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (verse 22). This led the way into idolatry, and that was followed by all the corruption and wrongdoing to be instigated by a heart turned away from all purity, and practiced in all the iniquity to be suggested by lust without control. Paul gives fifteen steps in the ladder on which men descend into darkness and ruin (Ga 5:19-21). When men become evil in themselves, they necessarily become evil in thought and deed toward others. This they bring upon themselves, or give way to, till God shall give "them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting" (Ro 1:28). Those thus fallen into habits of error, we should in meekness correct, that "they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him unto his will" (2Ti 2:25,26).

2. Physical Evil:

Usually, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word ra` is employed to denote that which is bad. Many times the bad is physical; it may have been occasioned by the sins for which the people of the nation were responsible, or it may have come, not as a retribution, but from accident or mismanagement or causes unknown. Very many times the evil is a corrective, to cause men to forsake the wrong and accept the right. The flood was sent upon the earth because "all flesh had corrupted their way" (Ge 6:12). This evil was to serve as a warning to those who were to live after. The ground had already been cursed for the good of Cain (Ge 4:12). Two purposes seemed to direct the treatment: (1) to leave in the minds of Cain and his descendants the knowledge that sin brings punishment, and (2) to increase the toil that would make them a better people. God overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, cities of the plain, making them "an example unto those that should live ungodly" (2Pe 2:6). In the Book of Isa the prophet, we find a number of "burdens": the burden of Babylon (Is 13:1-22); the burden of Moab (Is 15:1-9); the burden of Damascus (Is 17:1-14); the burden of Egypt (Is 19:1-17); the burden of the Wilderness of the Sea (Is 21:1-10); the burden of Dumah (Is 21:11,12); the burden upon Arabia (Is 21:13-17); the burden of the Valley of Vision (Is 22:1-25); the burden of Tyre (Is 23:1-18); the burden of the Beasts of the South (Is 30:6-14); the burden of the Weary Beast (Is 46:1,2). These may serve as an introduction to the story of wrongdoing and physical suffering threatened and executed. Isa contains many denunciations against Israel: against the Ten Tribes for following the sin introduced by Jeroboam the son of Nebat; and the threatening against Judah and Benjamin for not heeding the warnings. Jeremiah saw the woes that were sure to come upon Judah; for declaring them, he was shut up in prison, and yet they came, and the people were carried away into Babylon. These were the evils or afflictions brought upon the nations for their persistence in sin. "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Yahweh, that doeth all these things" (Isa 45:7). These chastisements seemed grievous, and yet they yielded peaceable fruit unto them that were exercised thereby (Heb 12:11).

David Roberts Dungan

wik'-ed-nes:

1. In the Old Testament:

The state of being wicked; a mental disregard for justice, righteousness, truth, honor, virtue; evil in thought and life; depravity; sinfulness; criminality. See SIN. Many words are rendered "wickedness." There are many synonyms for wickedness in English and also in the Hebrew. Pride and vanity lead to it: "All the proud, and all that work wickedness (rish`ah) shall be stubble" (Mal 4:1). Akin to this is the word `awen, "iniquity," "vanity": "She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness" (Pr 30:20). Then we have the word hawwah, meaning "mischief," "calamity," coming from inward intent upon evil: "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness" (Ps 52:7); zimmah, "wickedness" in thought, carnality or lust harbored: "And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness" (Le 20:14); `awlah, "perverseness," "Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first" (2Sa 7:10). The word for evil ra`) is many times employed to represent wickedness: "Remember all their wickedness" (Ho 7:2). Wickedness like all forms and thoughts of wrong, kept warm in mind, seems to be a thing of growth; it begins with a thought, then a deed, then a character, and finally a destiny. Even in this life men increase in wickedness till they have lost all desire for that which is good in the sight of God and good men; the men in the vision of Isaiah seem to be in a condition beyond which the human heart cannot go: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness" (Isa 5:20). Shades of thought are added by such words as roa`, "evil," "badness": "Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings" (Ps 28:4). And resha` or rish`ah, also gives the common thought of wrong, wickedness. The prophets were strong in denunciations of all iniquity, perverseness, and in announcing the curse of God which would certainly follow.

2. In the New Testament:

Wickedness, malignity, evil in thought and purpose is presented by the word poneria: "But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites?" (Mt 22:18). Jesus points out the origin of all wrong: "For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed .... wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness .... all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man" (Mr 7:21-23). See Imitation of Christ, xiii, 5.

David Roberts Dungan

Definition

In the Bible, the term “evil” can refer either to the concept of moral wickedness or emotional unpleasantness. The context will usually make it clear which meaning is intended in the specific instance of the term.

• While “evil” may describe a person’s character, “wicked” may refer more to a person’s behavior. However, both terms are very similar in meaning.
• The term “wickedness” refers to the state of being that exists when people do wicked things.
• The results of evil are clearly shown in how people mistreat others by killing, stealing, slandering and being cruel and unkind.

Translation Suggestions

• Depending on the context, the terms “evil” and “wicked” can be translated as “bad” or “sinful” or “immoral.”
• Other ways to translate these could include “not good” or “not righteous” or “not moral.”
• Make sure the words or phrases that are used to translate these terms fit the context that is natural in the target language.

(See also: disobey, sin, good, righteous, demon)

Bible References

• 1 Samuel 24:11
• 1 Timothy 6:10
• 3 John 1:10
• Genesis 2:17
• Genesis 6:5-6
• Job 1:1
• Job 8:20
• Judges 9:57
• Luke 6:22-23
• Matthew 7:11-12
• Proverbs 3:7
• Psalms 22:16-17

Examples from the Bible stories

• __2:4 “God just knows that as soon as you eat it, you will be like God and will understand good and evil__ like he does.”
• __3:1 After a long time, many people were living in the world. They had become very wicked__ and violent.
• __3:2 But Noah found favor with God. He was a righteous man living among wicked__ people.
• __4:2 God saw that if they all kept working together to do evil__, they could do many more sinful things.
• __8:12 “You tried to do evil when you sold me as a slave, but God used the evil__ for good!”
• __14:2 They (Canaanites) worshiped false gods and did many evil__ things.
• __17:1 But then he (Saul) became a wicked__ man who did not obey God, so God chose a different man who would one day be king in his place.
• __18:11 In the new kingdom of Israel, all the kings were evil__.
• __29:8 The king was so angry that he threw the wicked__ servant into prison until he could pay back all of his debt.
• __45:2 They said, “We heard him (Stephen) speak evil__ things about Moses and God!”
• __50:17 He (Jesus) will wipe away every tear and there will be no more suffering, sadness, crying, evil__, pain, or death.

Word Data

• Strong’s: H0205, H0605, H1100, H1681, H1942, H2154, H2162, H2254, H2617, H3399, H3415, H4209, H4849, H5753, H5766, H5767, H5999, H6001, H6090, H7451, H7455, H7489, H7561, H7562, H7563, H7564, G00920, G01130, G04590, G09320, G09870, G09880, G14260, G25490, G25510, G25540, G25550, G25560, G25570, G25590, G25600, G26350, G26360, G41510, G41890, G41900, G41910, G53370