G4203 — πορνεύω (porneuō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4203
Original: πορνεύω
Transliteration: porneuō
Pronunciation: porn-yoo'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: From πέρνημι (pernēmi, to sell); cognate with G4202 πορνεία (porneia), G4204 πόρνη (pornē), G4205 πόρνος (pornos)
Occurrences: 7 unique verses (8 tokens) in NT
Books: 2
First Occurrence: 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."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From πόρνη (pornē); to act the harlot, i.e. (literally) indulge unlawful lust (of either sex), or (figuratively) practise idolatry:—commit (fornication).

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), μοιχάω (G3429), μοιχεία (G3430), μοιχεύω (G3431)

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

Greek Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Parsing	Count	Verses
πορνεύων	Pres Act Ptcp Nom Sg M	1	1 Cor 6:18
πορνεύωμεν	Pres Act Subj 1P	1	1 Cor 10:8
ἐπόρνευσαν	Aor Act Ind 3P	3	1 Cor 10:8; Rev 17:2; Rev 18:3
πορνεῦσαι	Aor Act Inf	2	Rev 2:14; Rev 2:20
πορνεύσαντες	Aor Act Ptcp Nom Pl M	1	Rev 18:9

Present tense (2 tokens, 1 Corinthians) describes ongoing action — the habitual fornicator and the exhortation not to begin. Aorist (6 tokens) dominates and describes completed acts — Israel's historical sin, Babylon's seduction, the kings' participation.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
have committed fornication	3	42.9%
to commit fornication	2	28.6%
committed	1	14.3%
committeth fornication	1	14.3%
let us commit fornication	1	14.3%

KJV renders the word uniformly as "commit fornication" in all occurrences, varying only by tense/mood.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	5	1.2
1 Corinthians	2	0.5

Heavily concentrated in Revelation (71% of occurrences). The verb is absent from the Gospels, Acts, and all other Epistles — unlike the noun πορνεία (G4202), which appears across 12 books. This suggests the verb is reserved for contexts describing the actual commission of the act rather than the abstract concept.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Bodily Sin Against Oneself (Pauline Ethics)¶

Paul singles out porneuō as uniquely self-damaging — the only sin described as being "against one's own body." - 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."

2. Historical Warning — Israel's Wilderness Sin¶

The verb in aorist narrates Israel's literal sexual sin with Moabite women (Num 25:1–9), used as a warning to the church. - 1 Cor 10:8 — "Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand."

3. Idolatrous Seduction — Balaam/Jezebel (Letters to the Churches)¶

In the messages to Pergamos and Thyatira, porneuō describes the seduction of believers into sexual sin linked with idol worship — echoing the Balaam/Baal-Peor pattern. - Rev 2:14 — "thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." - Rev 2:20 — "thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols."

4. Political-Spiritual Harlotry — Kings and Babylon¶

In the Babylon judgment chapters, porneuō describes the complicity of the "kings of the earth" in Babylon's idolatrous system — a metaphorical/political fornication. - Rev 17:2 — "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." - Rev 18:3 — "the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." - Rev 18:9 — "the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
βασιλεύς (basileus)	G935	3x (43%)	"kings of the earth have committed fornication" (Rev 17–18)
γῆ (gē)	G1093	3x (43%)	"the earth" — scope of Babylon's fornication
πορνεία (porneia)	G4202	3x (43%)	Noun + verb cognate together: "wine of her fornication...committed fornication"
διδάσκω (didaskō)	G1321	2x (29%)	Balaam/Jezebel "taught/teach...to commit fornication"
εἰδωλόθυτον (eidōlothyton)	G1494	2x (29%)	Idol-meat paired with fornication (Rev 2:14, 2:20)
οἶνος (oinos)	G3631	2x (29%)	"wine of her fornication" (Rev 17:2, 18:3)
φάγω (phagō)	G5315	2x (29%)	"to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4202 πορνεία (porneia) — abstract noun: fornication, sexual immorality (25 vv)
G4204 πόρνη (pornē) — feminine noun: harlot, prostitute (12 vv)
G4205 πόρνος (pornos) — masculine noun: fornicator, whoremonger (10 vv)
G1608 ἐκπορνεύω (ekporneuō) — compound verb: give oneself wholly to fornication (1 v; Jude 7)

Synonyms¶

No distinct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G4203 beyond the cognate family already listed above.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G4203.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
זָנָה (zanah)	H2181	"to commit fornication" (KJV overlap)	OT Hebrew verb; porneuō is its NT Greek equivalent via LXX. Zanah covers both literal harlotry and metaphorical idolatry across 60+ OT verses; porneuō appears only 7 times in the NT
μοιχεύω (moicheuō)	G3431	both describe sexual sin as verb	moicheuō = specifically to commit adultery (sex involving a married person, 13 vv); porneuō = broader category of unlawful sexual intercourse
ἐκπορνεύω (ekporneuō)	G1608	both "commit fornication"	ekporneuō is intensive (ek- prefix = utterly), used once in Jude 7 of Sodom; porneuō is the standard form

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

Strong's	Lemma	Occurrences	Primary KJV	Key Difference from πορνεύω
G733	ἀρσενοκοίτης	2	abusers of themselves with mankind	male homosexual practice specifically
G766	ἀσέλγεια	8	lasciviousness, wantonness	outrageous, shameless licentiousness (attitude, not act)
G1608	ἐκπορνεύω	1	giving themselves over to fornication	intensive compound: total sexual abandonment
G3428	μοιχαλίς	5	adulteress	female adulterer (person, not act)
G3429	μοιχάω	5	committeth adultery	passive/middle: be made an adulterer
G3430	μοιχεία	4	adulteries	adultery noun (narrower: married infidelity only)
G3431	μοιχεύω	13	commit adultery	adultery verb (narrower: married infidelity only)
G3432	μοιχός	4	adulterers	male adulterer (person)

Hebrew Source (LXX <- Hebrew)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
זָנָה (zanah)	H2181	15	7.94	Primary; root verb — to commit harlotry (literal and figurative)
תַּזְנוּת (taznuwth)	H8457	3	7.64	Noun — harlotry, figurative idolatry (Ezek, Hos, Nah)
אַחַר (achar)	H310	4	3.00	"after" — in phrases like "go a-whoring after" other gods

The primary Hebrew bridge is H2181 zanah (to commit harlotry). The LXX translators used porneuō to render zanah in contexts of both literal prostitution and metaphorical idolatry — a dual sense preserved in the NT usage (1 Cor = literal; Revelation = figurative).