HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H8378
תַּאֲוָה
ta.a.vah — desire
1) desire 1a) desire, wish, longings of one's heart 1a1) lust, appetite, covetousness (bad sense) 1b) thing desired, object of desire
20 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
Covetousness
Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
GREEK · G4124
πλεονεξία
pleonexia — greediness
πλεονεξία, -ας, ἡ (πλεονέκτης), [in LXX for בֶּצַע ;] the character and conduct of a πλεονέκτης. 1. advantage. 2. desire for advantage, grasping, aggression, cupidity, covetousness: Luk.12:15, Rom.1:29, 2Co.9:5, Eph.4:19 (see ICC, in l) Eph.5:3, Col.3:5, 1Th.2:5, 2Pe.2:3 2:14; pl. (see Bl., § 32, 6), Mrk.7:22.† SYN.: φιλαργυρία, avarice (see Tr., Syn., § xxiv) (AS)
10 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →GREEK · G5365
φιλαργυρία
philarguria — love of money
φιλαργυρία, -ας, ἡ (φιλάργυρος), [in LXX: 4Ma.1:26 4Mac 2:15 א1 * ;] love of money, avarice: 1Ti.6:1.† SYN.: πλεονεξία, covetousness (see Tr., Syn., § xxiv) (AS)
1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →Historical dictionary entry
A strong desire after the possession of worldly things (Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5; Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:9, 10; Matt. 6:20). It assumes sometimes the more aggravated form of avarice, which is the mark of cold-hearted worldliness.
Scripture references
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.