Lexical Summary kosmos: order, the world Original Word: κόσμοςTransliteration: kosmos Phonetic Spelling: (kos'-mos) Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Short Definition: order, the world Meaning: order, the world Strong's Concordance adorning, world. Probably from the base of komizo; orderly arrangement, i.e. Decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)) -- adorning, world. see GREEK komizo Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 2889: κόσμοςκόσμος, κόσμου, ὁ; 1. in Greek writings from Homer down, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, or der. 2. as in Greek writings from Homer down, ornament, decoration, adornment: ἐνδύσεως ἱματίων, 1 Peter 3:3 (Sir. 6:30 Sir. 21:21; 2 Macc. 2:2; the Sept. for צָבָא of the arrangement of the stars, 'the heavenly hosts,' as the ornament of the heavens, Genesis 2:1; Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:8; Isaiah 24:21; Isaiah 40:26; besides occasionally for עֲדִי; twice for תִּפְאֶרֶת, Proverbs 20:29; Isaiah 3:19). 3. the world, i. e. the universe (quem κόσμονGraeci nomine ornamenti appellarunt, eum nos a perfecta absolutaque elegantia mundum, Pliny, h. n. 2, 3; in which sense Pythagoras is said to have been the first to use the word, Plutarch, de plac. philos. 2, 1, 1, p. 886 c.; but according to other accounts he used it of the heavens, (Diogenes Laërtius 8, 48, of which it is used several times also by other Greek writers (see Menag. on (Diogenes Laërtius, the passage cited; Bentley, Epistles of Phalaris, vol. i., 391 (Lond. 1886); M. Anton. 4, 27 and Gataker's notes; cf. Liddell and Scott, under the word, IV.)): Acts 17:24; Romans 4:13 (where cf. Meyer, Tholuck, Philippi); 1 Corinthians 3:22; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Philippians 2:15; with a predominant notion of space, in hyperbole, John 21:25 (Wis. 7:17 Wis. 9:3; 2 Macc. 8:18; κτίζειν τόν κόσμον, Wis. 11:18; ὁ τοῦ κόσμου κτίστης, 2 Macc. 7:23; 4 Macc. 5:25 (24); — a sense in which it does not occur in the other O. T. books, although there is something akin to it in Proverbs 17:6, on which see 8 below); in the phrases πρό τοῦ τόν κόσμον εἶναι, John 17:5; ἀπό καταβολῆς κόσμου (Matthew 13:35 R G; 4. the circle of the earth, the earth (very rarely so in Greek writings until after the age of the Ptolemies; so in Boeckh, Corpus inscriptions i., pp. 413 and 643, nos. 334 and 1306): Mark 16:15; (John 12:25); 1 Timothy 6:7; βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου, Revelation 11:15; βασιλεῖαι (plural) τοῦ κόσμου, Matthew 4:8 (for which Luke 4:5 τῆς οἰκουμένης); τό φῶς τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, of the sun, John 11:9; ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, properly, Matthew 26:13; hyperbolically, equivalent to far and wide, in widely separated places, Romans 1:8; (so ἐν παντί τῷ κόσμῳ, Colossians 1:6); ὁ τότε κόσμος, 2 Peter 3:6; the earth with its inhabitants: ζῆν ἐν κόσμῳ, opposed to the dead, Colossians 2:20 (λῃστής ἦν καί κλέπτης ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, i. e. among those living on earth, Ev. Nicod. 26). By a usage foreign to secular authors, 5. the inhabitants of the world: θέατρον ἐγενήθημεν τῷ κόσμῳ καί ἀγγέλοις καί ἀνθρώποις, 1 Corinthians 4:9 (Winers Grammar, 127 (121)); particularly the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race (first so in Sap. (e. g. 6. "the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ" (cf. Winer's Grammar, 26): John 7:7; John 14:27 ( 7. "worldly affairs; the aggregate of things earthly; the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc., which, although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ": Galatians 6:14; 1 John 2:16; 1 John 3:17; εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, to be of earthly origin and nature, John 18:36; somewhat differently in 1 John 2:16 (on which see εἰμί, V. 3 d.); κερδαίνειν τόν κόσμον ὅλον, Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25; οἱ χρώμενοι τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ (critical text τόν κόσμον; see χράομαι, 2), 1 Corinthians 7:31a; μέριμναν τά τοῦ κόσμου, 33f; φίλος and φιλία τοῦ κόσμου, James 4:4; ἀγαπᾶν τόν κόσμον, 1 John 2:15; νικαν τόν κόσμον, the incentives to sin proceeding from the world, 1 John 5:4f; the obstacles to God's cause, John 16:33; (cf. ἐλθέτω χάρις καί παρελθέτω ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, c. 10 [ET]). 8. any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort (cf. English a world of curses (Shakspere), etc.): ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας, the sum of all iniquities, James 3:6; τοῦ πιστοῦ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος τῶν χρημάτων, τοῦ δέ ἀπίστου οὐδέ ὀβολός (a statement due to the Alex. translators), Proverbs 17:6. Among the N. T. writers no one uses κόσμος oftener than John; it occurs in Mark three times, in Luke's writings four times, and in the Apocalypse three tinms. Cf. Kreiss, Sur le sens du mot κόσμος dans le N. T. (Strasb. 1837); Düsterdieck on 1 John 2:15, pp. 247-259; Zezschwitz, Profangräcität u. Biblical Sprachgeist, p. 21ff; Diestel in Herzog xvii., p. 676ff; (Trench, Synonyms, § lix.); on John's use of the word cf. Reuss, Histoire de la theologie chretienne au siecle apostolique, ii., p. 463ff (i. e. livre 7 chapter viii.); cf. his Johanneische Theologie, in the Beiträge zu den theol. Wissenschaften, Fasc. i., p. 29ff; (Westcott on John 1:10, 'Additional Note'). |