G4202 — πορνεία (porneía)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4202
Original: πορνεία
Transliteration: porneía
Pronunciation: por-ni'-ah
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: From G4203 πορνεύω (porneuō) — to act as a harlot, commit fornication; ultimately from πέρνημι (pernēmi, to sell)
Occurrences: 25 unique verses (26 tokens) in NT
Books: 12
First Occurrence: Matt 5:32 — "That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry:—fornication. (References biblical usage through Hosea 1:2; 2:2 in LXX and throughout NT.)

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 088036 — Sexual Misbehavior
Broader Domain: 088 — Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior
Other words in subdomain: ἀρσενοκοίτης (G733), ἀσέλγεια (G766), ἐκπορνεύω (G1608), κοίτη (G2845), μαλακός (G3120), μοιχαλίς (G3428), μοιχεία (G3430), μοιχεύω (G3431)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
fornication	19	76%
fornications	2	8%
from fornication	2	8%
for fornication	1	4%
of fornication	1	4%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	7	1.7
Colossians	1	1.1
1 Thessalonians	1	1.1
1 Corinthians	4	0.9
Galatians	1	0.7
Ephesians	1	0.6
2 Corinthians	1	0.4
Matthew	3	0.3
Acts	3	0.3
Romans	1	0.2
Mark	1	0.1
John	1	0.1

Concentration is highest in Revelation (1.7/100) and the Pauline letters. Absent from Luke, the Prison Epistles (Philippians, Colossians excepted), the Pastoral Epistles, Hebrews, and General Epistles (except 1 John, Jude — where the cognate verb appears).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Marital / Divorce Exception (Synoptic)¶

Porneia as the sole stated ground permitting divorce in the Matthean exception clauses. - Matt 5:32 — "whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery" - Matt 19:9 — "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery"

2. Vice List — Works of the Flesh¶

Porneia regularly appears first or near first in NT sin catalogs, marking it as a leading item. - Matt 15:19 — "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" - Mark 7:21 — "out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders" - Gal 5:19 — "the works of the flesh are manifest: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness" - Rom 1:29 — "filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness"

3. Sexual Ethics in the Church (Pauline)¶

Paul addresses actual cases and gives instruction on avoiding porneia within church communities. - 1 Cor 5:1 — "fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles" - 1 Cor 6:18 — "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" - 1 Cor 7:2 — "to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife" - 1 Thess 4:3 — "this is the will of God, your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication"

4. Jerusalem Council Decree (Acts)¶

Porneia listed among the four abstentions required of Gentile believers — alongside blood, things strangled, and idol-meats. - Acts 15:20 — "abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood" - Acts 15:29 — "abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication" - Acts 21:25 — council confirms these as the standing requirements for Gentiles

5. Spiritual / Metaphorical Harlotry (Revelation — Babylon)¶

Porneia used figuratively for the corrupting spiritual influence of Babylon, which seduces nations into idolatry and apostasy. - Rev 14:8 — "Babylon is fallen…because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" - Rev 17:2 — "kings of the earth have committed fornication" with her - Rev 17:4 — the woman holds "a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication" - Rev 18:3 — "all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" - Rev 19:2 — judgment on "the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication"

6. Impenitence / Refusal to Repent¶

Porneia appears in contexts where repentance from it is refused, linking it to final judgment. - Rev 2:21 — "I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not" - Rev 9:21 — "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts"

7. Illegitimate Birth (John)¶

A single occurrence where porneia refers to birth outside proper marriage — used as an insult. - John 8:41 — "We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἀκαθαρσία (akatharsia)	G167	4x (16%)	Vice lists and 2 Cor 12:21; porneia + akatharsia as paired moral failures
αἷμα (haima)	G129	4x (16%)	Acts 15 decree; Revelation Babylon judgment
γῆ (gē)	G1093	4x (16%)	Revelation: "the earth" corrupted by Babylon's fornication
ἔθνος (ethnos)	G1484	4x (16%)	Revelation: nations drinking her fornication; Acts decree for Gentiles
φόνος (phonos)	G5408	4x (16%)	Vice lists: fornication + murder as cardinal sins
μοιχεία (moicheia)	G3430	3x (12%)	Vice lists where both adultery and fornication appear
μετανοέω (metanoéō)	G3340	3x (12%)	Revelation: impenitence regarding fornication
οἶνος (oinos)	G3631	3x (12%)	Revelation: "wine of her fornication" (Rev 14:8, 17:2, 18:3)
πλεονεξία (pleonexia)	G4124	3x (12%)	Pauline vice lists: porneia + covetousness
πνικτός (pniktos)	G4156	3x (12%)	Acts 15 decree: four abstentions listed together
πορνεύω (porneuō)	G4203	3x (12%)	Noun + verb cognate together: 1 Cor 6:18; Revelation

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4203 πορνεύω (porneuō) — root verb: to commit fornication, to act as a harlot (7 vv)
G4204 πόρνη (pornē) — feminine noun: harlot, whore (12 vv); used literally and of Babylon
G4205 πόρνος (pornos) — masculine noun: fornicator, whoremonger (10 vv); in vice lists and the excluded
G1608 ἐκπορνεύω (ekporneuō) — compound verb: give oneself over entirely to fornication (1 v; Jude 7)

Synonyms¶

Excluding the cognate G1608 ἐκπορνεύω (ekporneuō) already listed above, search_relationships.py surfaced these adjacent terms: - G946 βδέλυγμα (bdélygma) — abomination; a frequent paired concept where πορνεία is treated as defiling and detestable before God - G763 ἀσέβεια (asébeia) — ungodliness; a broader moral category under which πορνεία can be classed

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G4202.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
μοιχεία (moicheia)	G3430	both in vice lists; both "sexual sin"	moicheia is specifically adultery (sex involving a married person); porneia is the broader category (any illicit sexual intercourse, including pre-marital, incestuous, prostitution)
ἀσέλγεια (aselgeia)	G766	both in vice lists; both "sexual immorality"	aselgeia = unbridled licentiousness, outrageous conduct, sensuality without shame; porneia = the specific act of sexual immorality; aselgeia is the character/attitude, porneia is the act
ἀκαθαρσία (akatharsia)	G167	both paired with porneia in vice lists	akatharsia = uncleanness/impurity in general (moral, ritual, spiritual); porneia = sexual immorality specifically; porneia is a subset of akatharsia

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 088036 — Sexual Misbehavior)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Occurrences	Primary KJV	Key Difference from πορνεία
G733	ἀρσενοκοίτης	2	abusers of themselves with mankind	male homosexual practice specifically
G766	ἀσέλγεια	8	lasciviousness, wantonness	outrageous, shameless licentiousness (attitude/character)
G1608	ἐκπορνεύω	1	giving themselves over to fornication	intensive: total abandonment to sexual sin (Jude 7)
G3120	μαλακός	3	effeminate	passive partner in male homosexual acts
G3428	μοιχαλίς	5	adulteress	the person (female) who commits adultery
G3430	μοιχεία	4	adulteries	adultery as a specific category (married)
G3431	μοιχεύω	13	commit adultery	verb: the act of adultery

Hebrew Source (LXX ← Hebrew)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
תַּזְנוּת (taznûwth)	H8457	15	24.52	Primary; noun — harlotry, figurative idolatry (Ezek, Hos, Nah)
זָנוּן (zânûwn)	H2183	10	22.02	Plural noun — whoredoms (Hosea)
זְנוּת (zᵉnûwth)	H2184	9	21.15	Abstract noun — idolatrous unfaithfulness
זָנָה (zânâh)	H2181	12	16.68	Root verb — to commit fornication/harlotry
אֶתְנַן (ʼethnan)	H868	4	13.17	Hire of a harlot

Strongest Hebrew bridge is the zanah word family (H2181 verb + H8457/2183/2184 nouns), all denoting harlotry — literal and figurative (idolatry). G4202 inherits both senses.