G91 — ἀδικέω (adikéō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G91
Original: ἀδικέω
Transliteration: adikéō
Pronunciation: ad-ee-keh'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: α (alpha privative) + δίκη (díkē, G1349) — literally "not right/just"
Occurrences: 24 unique verses (28 tokens) across 10 books
First Occurrence: Mat 20:13 — "Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G94 (ádikos); to be unjust, i.e. (actively) do wrong (morally, socially, or physically).

Greek Morphological Distribution (28 tokens)¶

Category	Form	Count	%
Voice	Active	23	82%
	Passive	5	18%
Tense	Aorist	13	46%
	Present	12	43%
	Future	2	7%
	Perfect	1	4%
Mood	Indicative	14	50%
	Participle	6	21%
	Infinitive	4	14%
	Subjunctive	3	11%
	Imperative	1	4%

Active voice dominates (82%), reflecting the word's primary sense of committing wrong against others. The 5 passive occurrences carry the meaning "to be wronged / to suffer wrong" (Acts 7:24; 1 Cor 6:7; 2 Cor 7:12; 2 Pet 2:13; Rev 2:11). The single imperative (Rev 22:11 ἀδικησάτω "let him be unjust still") is unique in the NT.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 88.002: Just, Righteous — alongside ἀδίκημα (G92), ἀδικία (G93), ἄδικος (G94), ἀδίκως (G95), δίκαιος (G1342), δικαιοσύνη (G1343), δικαιόω (G1344), δικαίωμα (G1345), δικαίως (G1346), ἔνδικος (G1738)
Domain 20.002: Harm, Wound — alongside βλάπτω (G984), κακοποιέω (G2554), κακόω (G2559), κακῶς (G2560), καταβάλλω (G2598), λυμαίνω (G3075)
Domain 88.016: Treat Badly — alongside ἀτιμάζω (G818), ἐπηρεάζω (G1908), κακουχέω (G2558), ὑβρίζω (G5195)

The triple-domain membership captures the word's semantic range: moral wrongdoing (88.002), causing harm (20.002), and mistreatment of persons (88.016).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
hurt (including "to hurt")	8	35%
wrong (including "do wrong," "had done wrong")	7	30%
unjust ("is unjust," "let him be unjust")	2	9%
offender ("I be an offender")	1	4%
injured ("ye have not injured")	1	4%
suffer wrong / take wrong	2	9%
Other (auxiliary verb fragments)	2	9%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	9	2.2
Acts	5	0.5
1 Corinthians	2	0.5
2 Corinthians	2	0.8
Philemon	1	4.0
Colossians	1	1.1
2 Peter	1	1.6
Galatians	1	0.7
Matthew	1	0.1
Luke	1	0.1

Revelation accounts for 38% of all occurrences (9 of 24 verses). Pauline epistles collectively account for another 29% (7 verses). The word is absent from John's Gospel, Hebrews, James, the Pastoral Epistles, and Romans.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Harm / Injury (Revelation apocalyptic usage)¶

Rev 7:2–3 — "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God"
Rev 9:4 — "it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth... but only those men which have not the seal of God"
Rev 9:10 — "their power was to hurt men five months"
Rev 9:19 — "their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt"
Rev 11:5 — "if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth"
Rev 6:6 — "see thou hurt not the oil and the wine"

2. Moral / Interpersonal Wrongdoing¶

1 Cor 6:7–8 — "Why do ye not rather suffer wrong?... Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren"
Col 3:25 — "he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done"
Act 7:26–27 — "Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?"

3. Legal / Judicial Context¶

Act 25:10–11 — "to the Jews have I done no wrong... if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death"
Mat 20:13 — "Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?"
2 Cor 7:12 — "not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong"

4. Relational Injury / Personal Wrongs¶

Phm 1:18 — "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account"
2 Cor 7:2 — "we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man"
Gal 4:12 — "ye have not injured me at all"

5. Eschatological Justice / Moral Fixity¶

Rev 22:11 — "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still"
Rev 2:11 — "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death"

6. Suffering Wrong (Passive)¶

Act 7:24 — "seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him"
1 Cor 6:7 — "Why do ye not rather suffer wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?"
Luk 10:19 — "I give unto you power... over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἔχω (echō)	G2192	6x (26%)	Having power/authority to hurt — "had power to hurt" (Rev 9)
θεός (theós)	G2316	4x (17%)	God's servants protected or God's judgment on wrongdoers
ἔπω (epō)	G2036	4x (17%)	Speech acts declaring innocence — "said... I do thee no wrong"
ἀδελφός (adelphós)	G80	3x (13%)	Wronging brethren — "ye do wrong... your brethren" (1 Cor 6:8, Acts 7:26)
ἐξουσία (exousía)	G1849	3x (13%)	Authority/power to hurt — concentrated in Revelation judgments
γῆ (gē)	G1093	3x (13%)	"Hurt not the earth" — Revelation seal imagery
θάνατος (thánatos)	G2288	2x (9%)	"Second death" and capital offense contexts
ἀποστερέω (aposteréō)	G650	2x (9%)	Paired wrongdoing — "do wrong and defraud" (1 Cor 6:7–8)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G93 ἀδικία (adikía) — injustice, unrighteousness (noun; 25v)
G92 ἀδίκημα (adíkēma) — a wrong deed, crime (noun; 3v)
G94 ἄδικος (ádikos) — unjust, unrighteous (adjective; 12v)
G95 ἀδίκως (adíkōs) — unjustly, wrongfully (adverb; 1v — hapax)
G1349 δίκη (díkē) — right, justice, punishment (root noun; 4v)
G1342 δίκαιος (díkaios) — righteous, just (antonymic counterpart)
G1344 δικαιόω (dikaióō) — to justify, declare righteous (antonymic verb)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
βλάπτω (bláptō)	G984	"hurt"	bláptō = physical injury/damage only; adikéō includes moral wrong
κακόω (kakóō)	G2559	"hurt"	kakóō = maltreat/oppress; adikéō = broader "do injustice"
ὑβρίζω (hybrizō)	G5195	"wrong" (overlap in mistreatment)	hybrizō = insolent, contemptuous mistreatment; adikéō = injustice
רַע (raʻ)	H7451	"hurt" (KJV overlap via LXX)	raʻ = broadly "evil/bad"; adikéō = specifically "unjust action"

Synonyms (from UBS/Abbott-Smith)¶

G264 ἁμαρτάνω (hamartánō) — to sin, miss the mark
G114 ἀθετέω (athetéō) — to reject, set aside, transgress
G764 ἀσεβέω (asebéō) — to act impiously
G5013 ταπεινόω (tapeinóō) — to humble, humiliate

Antonyms¶

G4907 σύνεσις (sýnesis) — understanding, insight

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Definition
עָשַׁק (ʻâshaq)	H6231	13	7.31	to oppress, extort
עָוָה (ʻâvâh)	H5753	10	7.98	to bend, twist, distort; to act perversely
חָטָא (châṭâʼ)	H2398	10	4.29	to sin, miss the mark
גָּזַל (gâzal)	H1497	5	6.16	to pluck off, rob, seize
רָשַׁע (râshaʻ)	H7561	4	5.61	to be wicked, act wickedly
שָׁקַר (shâqar)	H8266	3	7.74	to cheat, deal falsely
מָעַל (mâʻal)	H4603	3	5.20	to act treacherously, be unfaithful

The LXX translators used ἀδικέω to render a range of Hebrew terms centered on oppression (ʻâshaq), perversity (ʻâvâh), and sin (châṭâʼ). The highest-PMI mappings (ʻâshaq and ʻâvâh) indicate that adikéō in the LXX strongly connotes unjust treatment of persons.

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 88.002 — Just, Righteous)¶

Strong's	Word	NT Verses	Primary Translation(s)
G1342	δίκαιος (díkaios)	68	righteous, just
G1343	δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosýnē)	81	righteousness
G1344	δικαιόω (dikaióō)	36	justify
G1345	δικαίωμα (dikaiōma)	10	ordinance, righteous act
G1346	δικαίως (dikaíōs)	5	justly, righteously
G93	ἀδικία (adikía)	25	unrighteousness, iniquity
G94	ἄδικος (ádikos)	12	unjust, unrighteous
G92	ἀδίκημα (adíkēma)	3	wrongdoing, crime
G95	ἀδίκως (adíkōs)	1	unjustly

The domain is organized as an antonymic pair: the δικ- root words for righteousness/justice, and the ἀδικ- alpha-privative words for unrighteousness/injustice.