Prepared for New Testament Theology on October 21, 2002.
The Greek word κόσμος occurs a total of 186 times in the GNT. It occurs an additional 28 times in the canonical books of the OT1 and 43 times in the apocryphal literature. The main cognate is the verb κοσμέω, which carries two basic ideas—“to arrange or organize” and “to improve appearance.”2 The pre-NT usage of the noun is more transparently associated to the meaning of the verb.3 The NT usage of κόσμος is more opaquely related to the original meaning of the verb. Originally it probably carried the connotation of the organization of the universe, implying a Divine Designer, but that idea cannot be forced into every usage.4 Eventually it simply communicates something akin to “world,” “universe,” or “earth,” although there are many other nuances of meaning. The three main synonyms for κόσμος are αἰών (“age”), γή (“earth”), and οἰκουμένη (“inhabited universe”). Although each one has a different emphasis, any one of them may be roughly equivalent to one of the nuances of meaning of κόσμος.
Of the 186 NT occurrences, both the KJV and the NASB translate the word consistently “world,” except for 1 Peter 3:3 where they both translate κόσμος as “adornment.” But the ambiguity of the English word “world” requires some categorization to clarify more precisely its meaning in various contexts. The most significant aspect of this word’s occurrences is the Apostle John’s usage of it, especially in his Gospel and first epistle.5 Of the 186 NT occurrences, 105 of them belong to John’s writings—over 56%. The most concentrated usage of κόσμος is John 17. There are 18 occurrences in 26 verses, which is nearly 70%.6 Some of the common usages are: ἐν [τῷ] κόσμῳ (24×), εἰς τὸν κόσμον (23×), ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (18×), and καταβολῆς κόσμου (10×). Among the words that are often used with “world” are words communicating sinfulness, darkness, light, salvation, judgment, whole or totality, wisdom, foolishness, hatred, coming, and being sent. Words that are often contrasted with “world” include references to heaven, God, Jews, and especially believers, the last of which is most frequent.
It is difficult to make fine-point distinctions between the nuances of a given word. There most certainly will be some overlap,7 and many times, more than one sense will be present.8 Nonetheless, the basic meanings of κόσμος may be divided into the following categories: (1) the world as the created order (i.e., the universe; e.g., Acts 17:24),9 usually with special emphasis on the earth as a thing (e.g., Mt. 13:35; 25:34; Jn. 17:24; καταβολῆς κόσμου); (2) the world viewed as a place (i.e., the inhabited earth);10 (3) the world as human beings (e.g., Jn. 12:19 “the world has gone after Him”),11 usually viewed as sinful and needy:12 (a) sinful mankind collectively (e.g., Jn. 1:10c; 1:29?; 3:16; 4:42?; 9:5), (b) unbelievers as opposed to believers (e.g., Mt. 5:14; 18:7; Jn. 15:18 “the world hates you”), (c) Gentiles as opposed to Jews (e.g., Rm. 11:12, 15; 1 Jn. 2:2?), (d) believers as opposed to unbelievers13 (e.g., Jn. 6:33; 51; 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Jn. 4:14); (4) the world as a sinful system of beliefs and values (e.g., 1 Jn. 2:15a; Jam. 4:4).14
To summarize the data, κόσμος has a broad range of meanings with many possible nuances. Because of this, it is vitally important that each occurrence be analyzed exegetically in its own context. Drawing general conclusions about the meaning of the word and reading them into each context is likely to result in erroneous interpretation. Care also must be given not to deal more specifically than the author himself intended.15 Some would like to conclude that κόσμος means “every single human being who has ever been conceived—past, present, and future,” in passages such as John 3:16 or 1 John 2:2. But as the data shows, this is certainly not the standard meaning for the word, and arguably never is. Sometimes it is broader than this, including angels (e.g., 1 Cor. 4:9), other times it clearly refers to people in general (and contextually, far from all people without exception),16 but most of the time the author seems to be using it with less specificity as to the number of people included. The emphasis is rather on the world viewed collectively in its fallen and sinful condition (meaning 3a above). The attempt to read into a passage “all people—past, present, and future” is clearly an exercise of systematic theology (unless necessitated by the context), just as much as reading into a passage “the elect” is. The proper hermeneutical approach is to say only as much as is consistent with contextual exegesis. There is a place for ST, but it must be acknowledged as such.
Sources: BDAG; Bible Works 4.0; EDT; Guthrie’s NTT; BTNT; TDNT; TLNT.
Frequency of κόσμος in the NT by Book
| Book | Occurrences | Verses in Book | Concentration % |
|---|---|---|---|
| John | 78 | 878 | 8.88 |
| 1 John | 23 | 105 | 21.9 |
| 1 Corinthians | 21 | 437 | 4.8 |
| Matthew | 9 | 1068 | 0.84 |
| Romans | 9 | 432 | 2.08 |
| Hebrews | 5 | 303 | 1.65 |
| James | 5 | 108 | 4.63 |
| 2 Peter | 5 | 61 | 8.2 |
| Colossians | 4 | 95 | 4.21 |
| Mark | 3 | 673 | 0.44 |
| Luke | 3 | 1149 | 0.26 |
| 2 Corinthians | 3 | 256 | 1.17 |
| Galatians | 3 | 149 | 2.01 |
| Ephesians | 3 | 155 | 1.94 |
| 1 Timothy | 3 | 113 | 2.65 |
| 1 Peter | 3 | 105 | 2.86 |
| Revelation | 3 | 405 | 0.74 |
| Acts | 1 | 1002 | 0.1 |
| Philippians | 1 | 104 | 0.96 |
| 2 John | 1 | 13 | 7.69 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 0 | 89 | 0 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| 2 Timothy | 0 | 83 | 0 |
| Titus | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| Philemon | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 3 John | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Jude | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| New Testament | 186 | 7941 | 2.34 |
Frequency of –κοσμ– in Biblical and Apocryphal Greek Literature
| Word | OT | AL | NT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄκοσμος | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| ἀκόσμως | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ἀποκοσμέω | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| διακοσμέω | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| διακόσμησις, ἡ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ἐγκοσμέω | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ἐπικοσμέω | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| εὐκοσμέω | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| εὐκοσμία, ἡ | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| κατακοσμέω | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| κοσμέω | 9 | 14 | 10 | 33 |
| κοσμικός | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| κόσμιον, τό | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| κόσμιος | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| κοσμίως | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| κοσμοκράτωρ, ὁ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| κοσμοπληθής | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| κοσμοποιΐα, ἡ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| κόσμος, ὁ | 28 | 43 | 186 | 257 |
| κοσμοφορέω | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| περικοσμέω | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| φιλόκοσμος | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| *κοσμ* | 43 | 70 | 201 | 314 |
Venn Diagram of the Semantic Overlap of the Various Nuances of Meaning of κόσμος
Notes
1. The primary Hebrew words that underlie the LXX usage of κόσμος are עֲדִי (“ornaments” 8×) and צָבָא (“host” 5×). Eight words are translated κόσμος once: מַעֲדָן ,עֵדֶן ,מִקְשֶׁה ,צְעָדָה ,שֵׁרָה ,תִּפְאֶרֶת ,כְּלִי, and תְּכוּנָה. ↩
2. Cf. BDAG, 560. There are a considerable number of other cognates: ἄκοσμος, ἀκόσμως, ἀποκοσμέω, διακοσμέω, διακόσμησις, ἐγκοσμέω, ἐπικοσμέω, εὐκοσμέω, εὐκοσμία, κατακοσμέω, κοσμικός, κόσμιον, κόσμιος, κοσμοκράτωρ, κοσμοπληθής, κοσμοποιΐα, κοσμοφορέω, περικοσμέω, and φιλόκοσμος, but they are all relatively infrequent (24 occurrences altogether in the OT, AL, and NT) and not worth considering in a study of this size. See the cognates table above. ↩
3. It rarely refers to the world, which is its predominant NT usage. In the same way the NT rarely uses it in its earlier sense. There has certainly been a progressive development in the meaning of the word. ↩
4. Actually, the idea of organization or arrangement might not be there at all, at least not in any significant way. ↩
5. The Gospel of John has 78 occurrences (42% of the 186), and 1 John has 23 occurrences (12%). More significant, however, is its usage in 1 John, considering the book’s length. More than 1 out of every 5 verses (nearly 22%) contains the word κόσμος. In comparison, John’s gospel has only 1 out of 12 verses containing the word (8.89%). ↩
6. John 14–18 has a very high percentage of occurrences as well—a total of 35. Notable also is 1 John 4 with 9 occurrences in 21 verses. The verse with the highest concentration of κόσμος is John 15:19 with 5 occurrences in 31 words. ↩
7. See the Venn diagram above for a graphic representation of the overlap in the different nuances of meaning. ↩
8. One must be careful not to insist that one of the following definitions must fit in each context. Almost no two usages are exactly identical. Sometimes more than one idea will seem to fit, but one will be dominant. These various nuances merely give some direction in interpreting the meaning in each passage, but as always, context is the determining factor. ↩
9. “God, who made the world . . . is Lord of heaven and earth.” This reference includes heaven as part of the κόσμος. ↩
10. For this meaning the phrases ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ and εἰς τὸν κόσμον dominate. ↩
11. In one instance the word is used of intelligent created beings—both man and angels (1 Cor. 4:9). ↩
12. All of these occurrences, if not explicitly mentioning sin, presuppose it by what Jesus is doing for mankind. ↩
13. This category blurs slightly with the category of sinful mankind viewed collectively. It might be better defined with a special focus on believers, or possibly the two categories should be viewed as one. Regardless, in each of the listed passages the benefits mentioned are for those who believe as opposed to those who do not. ↩
14. A few obscure uses occur—(5) the act of making attractive (1 Pet. 3:3) and (6) figuratively as the totality of something (Jam. 3:6; cf. Mt. 16:26; Mk. 8:36). ↩
15. There is a range of specificity that a given word can take on in different contexts. We must find the meaning as intended by the author—which nuance of meaning is in the forefront—through the use of contextual indicators. ↩
16. See Jn. 8:26 “these things I speak to the world (cf. 18:20),” Jn. 12:19 “the whole world has gone after Him,” Rom. 1:8 “your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world,” etc. ↩