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κακία (G2549) — malice, evil, wickedness

Part of the 1 Peter 2:1 Vice List study

Contents

Overview

Field Value
Strong's G2549
Greek κακία
Transliteration kakia
Gloss malice, evil, wickedness
1 Pet 2:1 KJV "malice"
NT occurrences 11 (9 books)
LXX occurrences (canonical) 110
Hebrew background רַע / רָעָה (evil) (662× OT)

Etymology and Semantic Range

From κακός (bad, evil). The most general term in the list, covering the full spectrum of moral evil — both as inner disposition and outward act. The underlying κακ- root is one of the oldest and most productive in Greek.

The NT deploys κακία across a wide range: from specific "malice" or ill-will toward others (Eph 4:31; Col 3:8) to general "wickedness" (Acts 8:22; Rom 1:29) and even "trouble / misfortune" (Matt 6:34, "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"). This breadth makes it the natural head of Peter's list: κακία is the root disposition from which the other four vices spring.

OT / LXX Background

The LXX uses κακία 110× in canonical books — the second-most common rendering of Hebrew רַע / רָעָה (H7451, 662× in OT), the broadest Hebrew term for evil in all its forms. The LXX concentration is heaviest in narrative books (1 Sam 15×, 1 Kgs 10×, Judges 8×) where κακία describes the evil of apostasy, idolatry, and moral failure. The Hebrew root carries both the sense of moral evil and the consequent harm it produces — a fusion the Greek κακία preserves.

LXX distribution

Canonical LXX: 110 occurrences across 25 book(s)

Book Count
1 Samuel 15
Jeremiah 13
1 Kings 10
Judges 8
Proverbs 8
2 Samuel 6
Hosea 6
Psalms 5
Jonah 5
Ecclesiastes 5
Ezekiel 5
Exodus 4
Job 3
1 Chronicles 2
Genesis 2
2 Kings 2
2 Chronicles 2
Zechariah 2
Isaiah 1
Esther 1
Deuteronomy 1
Joel 1
Amos 1
Lamentations 1
Nah 1

NT Distribution

NT distribution

Theological Note

Peter places κακία first, making it the genus from which the other four vices grow. Its position mirrors its function: malice is not one vice among equals but the soil in which all the others take root. The command to "lay aside" (ἀποθέμενοι) κακία is echoed verbatim in Eph 4:31, Col 3:8, and Jas 1:21 — a shared early-church baptismal formula for the moral break from the old life.

NT Occurrences

Reference Greek form KJV text
1 Cor 5:8 κακίας Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unl…
1 Cor 14:20 κακίᾳ Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
1 Peter 2:1 κακίαν Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1 Peter 2:16 κακίας As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Acts 8:22 κακίας Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Colossians 3:8 κακίαν, But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Ephesians 4:31 κακίᾳ. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
James 1:21 κακίας Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which i…
Matthew 6:34 κακία Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto th…
Romans 1:29 κακίᾳ, Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debat…
Titus 3:3 κακίᾳ For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malic…