Wickedness (4189) (poneria from poneros from pónos = labor, sorrow, pain and and poneo = to be involved in work, labor) refers to depravity, to an evil disposition, to badness or to an evil nature. Poneria is used in the NT only in the moral and ethical sense and refers to intentionally practiced ill will. Poneria describes the state of lacking moral or social values (baseness, sinfulness, maliciousness, malevolence). Poneria is active malice. Poneria is malevolence, not only doing evil, but being evil. Webster defines malevolence as the condition which arises from intense often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred. Kakia is another Greek word for evil which speaks more of the vicious disposition of one's mind (one's ill will or hatefulness, a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition) whereas poneria pictures the active exercise of this evil. Poneria is used seven times in the New Testament (twice in the plural, Mark 7:22; Acts 3:26) to signify all kinds of evil. Here are the 7 NT uses of poneria... Matthew 22:18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Mark 7:22 "deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. (Comment: Here coveting or pleonexia, a desire for more, is associated with poneria). Luke 11:39 But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. Acts 3:26 "For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways." Romans 1:29 (note) being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 1 Corinthians 5:8 Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice (kakia) and wickedness (poneria), but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Ephesians 6:12 (note) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Recall that the root word poneros means active evil in opposition to good. When Satan is referred to as the "Evil One", the NT writers chose poneros rather than kakos, this latter word basically denoting a lack of something (it is not as it ought to be and thus is bad) but also used to refer evil in a moral sense. Wuest writes that poneria... speaks of wickedness, not merely in the abstract, but active. It has in it, the ideas of “dangerous, destructive.” Our word “pernicious” excellently describes it. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans) (Comment: Pernicious is defined as highly injurious or destructive and implies irreparable harm done through evil or insidious corrupting or undermining) Vincent has a lengthy note on poneria... Wickedness poneria. Plural. Rev., wickednesses. From ponein, to toil. The adjective poneros means, first, oppressed by toils; then in bad case or plight, from which it runs into the sense of morally bad. This conception seems to have been associated by the high-born with the life of the lower, laboring, slavish class; just as our word knave (like the German knabe from which it is derived) originally meant simply a boy or a servant-lad. As ponos means hard, vigorous labor, battle for instance, so the adjective poneros, in a moral sense, indicates active wickedness. So Jeremy Taylor: “Aptness to do shrewd turns, to delight in mischiefs and tragedies; a loving to trouble one’s neighbor and do him ill offices.” Poneros, therefore, is dangerous, destructive. Satan is called ho poneros, the wicked one. Kakos, evil (see evil thoughts, ver. 21), characterizes evil rather as defect: “That which is not such as, according to its nature, destination, and idea it might be or ought to be” (Cremer). Hence of incapacity in war; of cowardice (kakia). Kakos dolos, the evil servant, in Matt. 24:48, is a servant wanting in proper fidelity and diligence. Thus the thoughts are styled evil, as being that which, in their nature and purpose, they ought not to be. Matthew, however (15:19), calls these thoughts poneroi, the thoughts in action, taking shape in purpose. Both adjectives occur in Apoc. 16:2. (Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New Testament) Richards writes that... poneria and poneros (are translated in NIV and NASB as) "wicked." The concept is a strong one, focusing on actions that are dangerous because they are destructive to others. (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency) Barclay commenting on Mark 7:22 notes that... There follows evil deeds. In Greek there are two words for evil—kakos, which describes a thing which in itself is evil, and poneros, which describes a person or a thing which is actively evil. Poneria is the word used here. The man who is poneros is the man in whose heart there is the desire to harm. He is, as Bengel said, “trained in every crime and completely equipped to inflict evil on any man.” Jeremy Taylor defined this poneria as “aptness to do shrewd turns, to delight in mischiefs and tragedies; loving to trouble our neighbour, and to do him ill offices; crossness, perverseness and peevishness of action in our intercourse.” Poneria not only corrupts the man who has it; it corrupts others too. Poneros—the Evil One—is the title of Satan. The worst of men, the man who is doing Satan’s work, is the man who, being bad himself, makes others as bad as himself. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) Commenting on poneria in Romans 1:29 Barclay adds that... this word means more than badness. There is a kind of badness which, in the main, hurts only the person concerned. It is not essentially an outgoing badness. When it hurts others, as all badness must, the hurt is not deliberate. It may be thoughtlessly cruel, but it is not callously cruel. But the Greeks defined poneria as the desire of doing harm. It is the active, deliberate will to corrupt and to inflict injury. When the Greeks described a woman as ponera they meant that she deliberately seduced the innocent from their innocence. In Greek one of the commonest titles of Satan is ho poneros, the evil one, the one who deliberately attacks and aims to destroy the goodness of men. Poneros describes the man who is not only bad but wants to make everyone as bad as himself. Poneria is destructive badness. (Ibid) TDNT has the following note on poneria... A. Classical and Hellenistic Greek. This word has such meanings as “defectiveness,” “sickness,” “imperfection,” and “lack.” Morally it means “baseness,” “depravity,” “intentionally practiced evil will.” B. The OT and Later Judaism. In the LXX the term has such senses as “uselessness,” “badness,” “ugliness,” “displeasure,” “misfortune,” “trouble,” and, morally, “evil” (disposition, plan, will, or acts). The usage of later Judaism is similar; meanings of the equivalent terms range from “imperfection” to “wickedness.” (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans) Heavenly places (2032) (epouranios from epi = upon + ouranos = heaven) means celestial, what pertains to or is in heaven. A spiritual battle is going on in this world and in the sphere of “the heavenlies,” and you and I are a part of this battle. Knowing this makes “being strengthened standing firm” vital!" As discussed above (click here) heavenly place in regard to the demonic forces corresponds to the "air" in (Eph 2:2) Wuest writes that in this context the heavenly places here are not those highest ones inhabited by the holy angels, but the lower heavens, the lower atmosphere surrounding this earth. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans) ><> ><> ><> Midnight Encouragement - Ephesians 6:10-12 - The Midianites and their allies had invaded Israel. It was the time of the judges, and Gideon could muster only 32,000 men against an army "as numerous as locusts" (Judges 7:12-notes). Then God cut the army down to 300 (Judges 7:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-notes). Gideon was afraid, so God sent him into the enemy camp at night. Crouching behind cover, the Israelite captain heard one soldier tell another about a dream (vv.13-14). A loaf of barley bread had tumbled into the Midianite camp, destroying one of its tents. His friend saw it as a sure sign that Gideon would win the battle. Gideon was greatly encouraged. After worshiping God, he returned to the camp, organized his 300 men with their trumpets and lamps, and routed the superior Midianite forces (Judges 7:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22-notes). As Christ's followers we're not battling armies, but we are at war. Spiritual foes attack us (Ephesians 6:10-12). They undermine our confidence and sap our strength. We're also battling ourselves—our weaknesses, fears, doubts (Romans 7:15-25). After a while, we can get discouraged. But our God is the great Encourager. When our resolve weakens or vision fades, by His power He will give us the strength we need (Ephesians 3:16-note)—even when the enemy seems more numerous than a swarm of locusts.—David C. Egner (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) As we meet fierce foes on the pathway of life, Whether Satan or self or sin, Let us look to the Lord for encouragement; If we do, the battle we'll win! —Fitzhugh To trust is to triumph, for the battle is the Lord's. ><> ><> ><> No Place For The Devil - A teacher in a Bible school gave his students an hour-long exam. They were to spend half their time writing about the Holy Spirit and the other half about the devil. One student wrote steadily for the whole hour on the first subject, the Holy Spirit, and then wrote at the bottom of his manuscript, "I had no time for the devil." That wasn't the way to get a good grade on an exam, but his comment does point us to the only way we can resist and overcome Satan. If we fill ourselves with God's Word, pray, and submit to the Holy Spirit, we will not "give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27-notes). The word place in that verse is significant. The devil cannot gain a foothold in an area of our life that the Holy Spirit controls. When we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirit, yet it is possible for a true believer to "give place" to Satan. The only remedy is to be "filled with the Spirit" (5:18), which means to be completely surrendered to the will of God. Before you launch out into the world today, have you stopped to read the Scripture suggested at the beginning of this article? Have you prayed? Are you filled? If so, go forth to conquer with the shield of faith and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one (Ep 6:16-notes). --M. R. De Haan, M.D. (Ibid) There's victory o'er Satan and sin's dark shame, Look only to Jesus, there's power in His name; The devil can't harm you nor cause you to sin, When you trust the Savior, the victory you'll win. --Anon. The Christian who wields the Sword of the Spirit yields no ground to Satan ><> ><> ><> Weight Loss- Ephesians 6:11-17 - The army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. At one critical point, it appeared that his troops might be defeated. The soldiers had taken so much plunder from their previous campaigns that they had become weighted down and were losing their effectiveness in combat. Alexander commanded that all the spoils be thrown into a heap and burned. The men complained bitterly but soon saw the wisdom of the order. Someone wrote, "It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again." Victory was assured. As soldiers of Christ, we must rid ourselves of anything that hinders us in the conflict with our spiritual enemy. To fight the battle effectively, we must be clad only with the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17). The Bible also likens Christians to runners. To win the race, we must "lay aside every weight" that would drag us down and rob us of our strength and endurance (Hebrews 12:1-notes). This weight may be an excessive desire for possessions, the captivating love of money, an endless pursuit of pleasure, slavery to sinful passions, or a burdensome legalism. Yes, if we are to fight the good fight of faith and run the spiritual race with endurance, the watchword must be: Off with the weight!—Richard De Haan (Ibid) Fight the good fight with all thy might! Christ is thy strength and Christ thy right; Lay hold on life and it shall be Thy joy and crown eternally. —Monsell If your Christian life is a drag, worldly weights may be holding you back. ><> ><> ><> A Significant Impact - John Wesley was convinced that the prayers of God's people rather than his preaching accounted for the thousands who came to Christ through his ministry. That's why he said, "God will do nothing except in answer to prayer." An overstatement? Yes. But the fact is that our praying is a powerful weapon in the war between God and Satan. In today's Scripture reading, Daniel was so disturbed by a revelation about Israel's future that he could do nothing except fast and pray. Three weeks later a heavenly messenger appeared, saying that God had sent him when Daniel prayed, but that the prince of Persia had detained him (Da 10:13). This "prince" was an evil spirit who sought to influence the rulers of Persia to oppose God's plan. He had detained God's messenger, until the archangel Michael came to his aid. A cosmic conflict between good and evil is continually being fought in the invisible spirit world. Paul reminded us that it involves Christians. He listed the spiritual armor and weaponry we need for these battles (Ephesians 6:13-17), and then he added "praying always" (Ep 6:18). Our prayers can have a significant impact on the outcome of those spiritual battles. May we, therefore, faithfully pray as we fight the good fight (1Ti 1:18). —Herbert Vander Lugt (Ibid) Something happens when we pray, Powers of evil lose their sway, We gain strength and fear gives way— Therefore, let us pray. —Anon. Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/ephesians_612-13.htm#wickedness