ἀδίκημα

a crime, misdeed

Definition

ἀδίκημα refers to a specific act of wrongdoing, a misdeed, or a crime. It denotes a concrete violation of law or justice, often with legal implications, as seen in Acts 18:14 where Gallio dismisses charges against Paul as matters of Jewish law, not Roman 'crimes.' In Acts 24:20, Paul challenges his accusers to specify the 'wrongdoing' they witnessed. Theologically, in Revelation 18:5, it describes the accumulated 'sins' of Babylon, portraying them as objective offenses against God's order.

Biblical Usage

This noun appears only three times in the New Testament, all in contexts of formal accusation or divine judgment. In Acts (18:14, 24:20), it is used in secular Roman legal settings to denote a chargeable crime or misdeed. In Revelation 18:5, the usage shifts to a theological context, where the word describes the collective, judged offenses of a corrupt system. The pattern shows a movement from human courtroom charges to the ultimate divine courtroom.

Etymology

Derived from the adjective ἄδικος (adikos, G94) meaning 'unjust,' which itself combines the alpha-privative ἀ- ('not, without') and δίκη (dikē, 'justice, right'). Thus, ἀδίκημα literally means 'a thing without justice'—an unjust deed. It is a noun form focusing on the concrete act resulting from injustice, distinct from the more abstract state of ἀδικία (adikia, G93, 'unrighteousness').

Semantic Range

This word highlights the objective reality of sin as a specific, countable transgression. It moves beyond a general state of sinfulness to particular acts that constitute a breach of divine law and justice. In Revelation 18:5, it underscores that God's judgment is against actual, accumulated deeds. Understanding this Greek term enriches reading by emphasizing that sin is not just a condition but involves concrete actions that require atonement and face judgment.

In the Greco-Roman world, ἀδίκημα carried strong legal connotations, referring to a punishable offense against the law or societal order. This differs from a modern, sometimes more subjective, idea of 'wrongdoing.' In the New Testament, this cultural understanding is leveraged, especially in Acts, to show the clash between human legal systems and the accusations against the early Christians, ultimately framing sin as the ultimate crime against God's cosmic law.

ἁμαρτία (hamartia, G266) — a broader term for 'sin' as missing the mark or failure; ἀνομία (anomia, G458) — lawlessness, a disregard for or violation of law; παράπτωμα (paraptōma, G3900) — a trespass or false step, often a lapse or transgression.

Word Details

Scripture References