Quick Definition
a feasting, reveling
Strong's Definition
a carousal (as if letting loose)
Derivation: from G2749 (κεῖμαι);
KJV Usage: revelling, rioting
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
κῶμος, κωμου, ὁ (from κεῖμαι; accordingly equivalent to German Gelag; cf. Curtius, § 45); from (Homer h. Merc., Theognis) Herodotus down; a revel, carousal, i. e. in the Greek writings properly, a nocturnal and riotous procession of half-drunken and frolicsome fellows who after supper parade through the streets with torches and music in honor of Bacchus or some other deity, and sing and play before the houses of their male and female friends; hence, used generally, of feasts and drinking-parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry; plural (revellings): Rom_13:13; Gal_5:21; 1Pe_4:3. (Wis_14:23; 2Ma_6:4.) (Trench, § lxi.)
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
κῶμος kō mos 3x
pr. a festive procession, a merry-making; in NT a revel, lewd, immoral feasting, Rom_13:13 ; Gal_5:21 ; 1Pe_4:3
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** κῶμος , -ου , ὁ ,
[in LXX : Wis_14:23 , 2Ma_6:4 * ;]
a revel, carousal: Rom_13:13 , Gal_5:21 , 1Pe_4:3 .†
SYN.: see κραιπάλη G2897 .
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
κῶμος [page 367]
κῶμος , revel, revelling. We are unable to illustrate this word, but reference may be made to the κωμασία , or sacred procession of the images of the gods in Egypt, as in P Tor I. I viii. 21 (B.C. 116) προάγοντας τῆς κωμασίας , BGU I. 149 .8 (ii/iii A.D.) ταῖς κωμασίαις τῶν θεῶν , P Par 69 iv. 14 (A.D. 232) (= Chrest. I. 41) παρέτυχεν κωμασίᾳ ἐξ ἔθ [ους ἀγομέ ]νῃ Ἴσιδος θεᾶς μεγίστης , and OGIS 194 .25 (B.C. 42) μετήλλαξε διηνεκῶς πο ]ηθῆναι τὰς τῶν κυρίων θεῶν κωμασίας . See further Sturzius Dial. Mac. p. 103 ff., and the classic passage in Clem. Al. Strom. V. vii. p. 354 f. (ed. Stδhlin). For κωμαστής cf. P Oxy X. 1265 .9 (A.D. 336) κωμαστοῦ θίων προτομῶν καὶ νίκης αὐτῶν προαγούσης , celebrant of the divine images and their advancing victory (Edd.), with the accompanying note, and for κωμάζω see Deissmann BS p. 237.
Liddell-Scott — Intermediate Greek Lexicon
κῶμος κῶμος, ου, [Etym: κώμη] properly "a village festival: a revel, carousal, merry-making", Lat. comissatio, Hhymn. , Theogn. , etc.: it ended in the party parading the streets crowned, bearing torches, singing, dancing, and playing frolics, Ar. "a band of revellers, a jovial troop", Eur. :—metaph. "a rout, band", κ. Ἐρινύων Aesch. ; of an army, Eur. , etc. "the ode sung" at one of these festive processions, Pind.
STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Greek Lexicon
κῶμος, -ου, ὁ
[in LXX: Wis.14:23, 2Ma.6:4 * ;]
a revel, carousal: Rom.13:13, Gal.5:21, 1Pe.4:3.†
SYN.: see: κραιπάλη (AS)
📖 In-Depth Word Study
Reveling (2970) komos
Carousing (2970) (komos) originally referred to a band of friends who accompanied a victor in a military engagement or athletic contest on his way home, singing with rejoicing and praises to the victor. But the word "degenerated:" until it came to mean "carousal" or a noisy, nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken revelers and frolicsome fellows who after supper paraded through the streets at night with torches and music in honor of Bacchus or some other deity, singing and playing before houses of male and female friends (and causing a major public disturbance). Hence komos generally refers to feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry.
F F Bruce writes that...
W. M. Ramsay (Galatians, 453) reminds us that among the Greeks ââ¬ËKomos, the Revel, was made a god, and his rites were carried on quite systematically, and yet with all the ingenuity and inventiveness of the Greek mind, which lent perpetual novelty and variety to the reveling. The Komos was the most striking feature in Greek social life.’ (Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1982)
Komos - 3x in the NAS (not in Septuagint - Lxx) - Translated carousing all three times by the NAS. KJV translates - reveling, 2; rioting, 1.
Gal 5:21-note Envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn (warn you in advance - specifically before you die and have no opportunity to repent and believe in Christ) you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice (present tense = habitually, as their lifestyle, not referring to occasional backsliding that can occur in the life of any true believer, albeit it is never a commendable or desirable state) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (i.e., they are not regenerated or born again by the Spirit! cp Jn 3:3 where Jesus clearly links the new birth with entree into the Kingdom of God/Heaven)
1Pe 4:3-note For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
Barclay writes that komos...
describes the kind of revelry which lowers a man’s self and is a nuisance to others...A komos was a band of friends who accompanied a victor of the games after his victory. They danced and laughed and sang his praises. It also described the bands of the devotees of Bacchus, god of wine. It describes what in regency England would have been called a rout. It means unrestrained revelry, enjoyment that has degenerated into license. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)
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