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Greek noun (feminine) · G1939

ἐπιθυμία

epithymiaep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah

desire

38 uses in the Greek text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: epithymía

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's G1939is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 18 of 27
    New Testament books
  • 8
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · G1939

a longing (especially for what is forbidden)

The King James renders it: concupiscence, desire, lust (after).

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

epithymia is rendered "desire". It stands 38 times in the Greek text, across eighteen books.

  • Five of the uses stand in Romans, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Mark 4:19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
  • The Greek text spells it eight different ways.

The first use

but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Mark 4:19ἐπιθυμίαι

The first use, in the order of the New Testament's books.

Where the word stands

The word stands in eighteen of the 27 New Testament books.

The other 9 New Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • desires13
  • desire11
  • lusts3
  • passions3
  • covetousness2
  • by passions1
  • evil desires1
  • in lusts1
  • of lust1
  • passion1
  • With desire1

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

ἐπιθυμέωepithymeoto long forUses16
ἐπίθεσιςepithesislaying onUses4
ἐπιθυμητήςepithymetesone who desiresUses1
ἐπιθανάτιοςepithanatioscondemned to deathUses1

The words it stands beside

All 38, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

8 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • ἐπιθυμίας12
  • ἐπιθυμίαις10
  • ἐπιθυμίαν5
  • ἐπιθυμία4
  • ἐπιθυμίᾳ4
  • ἐπιθυμίαι1
  • ἐπιθυμίας.¶1
  • ἐπιθυμιῶν1

The grammar of each form

  • noun · accusative (object) · feminine plural10N-APF
  • noun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine plural10N-DPF
  • noun · accusative (object) · feminine singular5N-ASF
  • noun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singular4N-DSF
  • noun · nominative (subject) · feminine singular4N-NSF
  • noun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singular3N-GSF
  • noun · genitive (“of”) · feminine plural1N-GPF
  • noun · nominative (subject) · feminine plural1N-NPF

Mark

one use
  • but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

    Mark 4:19

    • ἐπιθυμίαιepithumiainoun · nominative (subject) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

Luke

one use
  • And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering.

    Luke 22:15

    • ἐπιθυμίᾳepithumianoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singulartagged: With desire

John

one use
  • You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

    John 8:44

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

Romans

five uses
  • Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

    Romans 1:24

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires
  • Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

    Romans 6:12

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires
  • What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

    Romans 7:7

    • ἐπιθυμίανepithumiannoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: covetousness
  • But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

    Romans 7:8

    • ἐπιθυμίανepithumiannoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: covetousness
  • Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

    Romans 13:14

    • ἐπιθυμίας.¶epithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

Galatians

two uses
  • So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

    Galatians 5:16

    • ἐπιθυμίανepithumiannoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: desire
  • Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

    Galatians 5:24

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

Ephesians

two uses
  • All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

    Ephesians 2:3

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires
  • to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

    Ephesians 4:22

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

Philippians

one use
  • I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

    Philippians 1:23

    • ἐπιθυμίανepithumiannoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: desire

Colossians

one use
  • Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

    Colossians 3:5

    • ἐπιθυμίανepithumiannoun · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: desire

1 Thessalonians

two uses
  • Brothers, although we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), our desire to see you face to face was even more intense.

    1 Thessalonians 2:17

    • ἐπιθυμίᾳepithumianoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singulartagged: desire
  • not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

    1 Thessalonians 4:5

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: of lust

1 Timothy

one use
  • Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

    1 Timothy 6:9

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

2 Timothy

three uses
  • Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

    2 Timothy 2:22

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: lusts
  • They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,

    2 Timothy 3:6

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: by passions
  • For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

    2 Timothy 4:3

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: desires

Titus

two uses
  • It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

    Titus 2:12

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: passions
  • For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

    Titus 3:3

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: lusts

James

two uses
  • But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

    James 1:14

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: desire
  • Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

    James 1:15

    • ἐπιθυμίαepithumianoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: desire

1 Peter

four uses
  • As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.

    1 Peter 1:14

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires
  • Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.

    1 Peter 2:11

    • ἐπιθυμιῶνepithumionnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires
  • Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

    1 Peter 4:2

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: desires
  • For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

    1 Peter 4:3

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: in lusts

2 Peter

four uses
  • Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

    2 Peter 1:4

    • ἐπιθυμίᾳepithumianoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singulartagged: desire
  • Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

    2 Peter 2:10

    • ἐπιθυμίᾳepithumianoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine singulartagged: passion
  • With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

    2 Peter 2:18

    • ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumiaisnoun · dative (“to / for”) · feminine pluraltagged: passions
  • Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

    2 Peter 3:3

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: evil desires

1 John

three uses
  • For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

    1 John 2:16

    • ἐπιθυμίαepithumianoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: desire
    • ἐπιθυμίαepithumianoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: desire
  • The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

    1 John 2:17

    • ἐπιθυμίαepithumianoun · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: desire

Jude

two uses
  • These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

    Jude 1:16

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: lusts
  • when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”

    Jude 1:18

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · accusative (object) · feminine pluraltagged: passions

Revelation

one use
  • And they will say: “The fruit of your soul’s desire has departed from you; all your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be seen again.”

    Revelation 18:14

    • ἐπιθυμίαςepithumiasnoun · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: desire

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESG (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0), the Brief lexicon based on Abbott-Smith (1922).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →