κακῷ
kakós
evil
Bad, of poor quality, morally wrong. The core meaning of κακός is 'bad' or 'of poor quality or condition.' In certain contexts, it carries an ethical sense of 'morally wrong' or 'evil.' It can also describe injury, harm, or what is objectionable or harmful to well-being. In physical contexts, it denotes what is useless, deficient, or inferior. In moral and personal applications, it may refer to base character, evil intention, or misfortune.
Romans 13:3 · Word #12
Lexicon G2556
| Lemma | κακός |
| Transliteration | kakós |
| Strong's | G2556 |
| Definition | Bad, of poor quality, morally wrong. The core meaning of κακός is 'bad' or 'of poor quality or condition.' In certain contexts, it carries an ethical sense of 'morally wrong' or 'evil.' It can also describe injury, harm, or what is objectionable or harmful to well-being. In physical contexts, it denotes what is useless, deficient, or inferior. In moral and personal applications, it may refer to base character, evil intention, or misfortune. |
Morphology ADJ.S DAT N SG
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | ADJ.S — Substantive Adjective — An adjective functioning as a noun |
| Case | DAT — Dative — Indirect object, means, or location |
| Gender | N — Neuter — Grammatical neuter |
| Number | SG — Singular — One |
Common Translation
| Phrase | evil |
| Literal | evil |
Lexical Info
| Lemma | κακός |
| Strong's | G2556 |
SIBI-P1 Translation G2556-04
to what is bad
| Morphological Notes | Adjective used substantively; neuter singular dative (Gr,NS,,,,DNS,) indicating indirect object, reference, or sphere. |
| Rendering Rationale | The lemma κακός denotes what is bad, inferior, or morally wrong. The neuter singular dative form κακῷ, functioning substantively, is best rendered "to what is bad," preserving both the adjectival root sense and the dative case. |
View full lexicon entry for G2556 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
bad
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | P1 'to what is bad' is overly expansive here; 'bad' matches Greek κακῷ as an adjective used substantively (as a noun) and fits the structure better. |