This is straight from Vines Expository dictionary with verses added. Priscilla
Covetousness vs Contentment
1) epithumeo (1937 greek) "to fix the desire upon" (epi=upon, thumos=passion ) whether things are good or bad; hence, "to long for, lust after, covet: is used with the meaning " to covet evilly" in
Acts 20:33, of "coveting $ and apparel ; so in Romans 7:7,
and 13:9 [see desire, fain, lust]
Acts 20:33-35 NKJV
I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Rom 7:7 NKJV
7 Sin's Advantage in the Law
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
Rom 13:9-10 NKJV
9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
2) zeloo (2206 greek) - is rendered, "covet earnestly" in 1 Cor 12:31 ( re: spiritual gifts )
1 Cor 12:31 NKJV
31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more
excellent way.
3) orego ( 3713) " to stretch after" is rendered " covet after" in 1 Tim 6:10 " reaching after".
1 Tim 6:10 KJV For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
NOUNS
1) epithumetes ( 1938) to lust after 1 Cor 10:6 "should not lust after"
1 Cor 10:5-8 KJV
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
2. epithumia (1939) denotes "coveting" Romans 7:7-8 RV;KJV, "lust" and "concupiscence" ; the commandment here referred to convicted him of sinfulness in his desires for unlawful objects besides that of gain.
Rom 7:7-8 AMP
7 What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another]. [Ex 20:17; Deut 5:21.]
8 But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing].
3) Pleonexia (4124) covetousness; lit., " a desire to have more" ( pleon=more, echo= to have), always in a bad sense, is used in a general way in Mark 7:22 ( plural, lit. covetings) ie: various ways in which covetousness shows itself; Rom 1:29, Eph 5:3, 1 Thes 2:5, Elsewhwere it is used of..
Mark 7:21-23 AMP
21 For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery,
22 Coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous and destructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride ( the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness).
23 All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed.
Rom 1:28-31 AMP
28 And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome,
29 Until they were filled (permeated and saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping and covetous greed, and malice. [They were] full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit and treachery, ill will and cruel ways. [They were] secret backbiters and gossipers,
30 Slanderers, hateful to and hating God, full of insolence, arrogance, [and] boasting; inventors of new forms of evil, disobedient and undutiful to parents.
31[They were] without understanding, conscienceless and faithless, heartless and loveless [and] merciless.
(a) material possessions, Luke 12:15; 2 Peter 2:3; 2 Cor 9:5 (RV,"extortion"), lit "as (a matter of) extortion" ie; a gift which betrays the giver's unwillingness to bestow what is due.
Luke 12:15 AMP And He said to them, Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man's life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over and above his needs.
2 Peter 2:1-4 AMP
BUT ALSO [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed.
3 And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep.
4 For God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but cast them into hell, delivering them to be kept there in pits of gloom till the judgment and their doom.
(b) of sensuality, Eph 4:19, "greediness"; Col 3:5 (where it is called "idolatry"); 2 Peter 2:14 ( KJV: covetous practices) see [extortion] note: cf. the corresponding verb pleonekteo "to gain, take advantage of wrong". [ see advantage, defraud, gain ]
Col 3:5 AMP So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [ those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin ]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God).
Adjectives
1) pleonektes (4123) lit. "eager to have more" (seeB #3) ie; to have what belongs to others; hence, "greedy of gain, covetous" , 1 Cor 5:10-11, 6:10; Eph 5:5 ( "covetous man")
1 Cor 5:10-13 AMP
10 Not [meaning of course that you must] altogether shun the immoral people of this world, or the greedy graspers and cheats and thieves or idolaters, since otherwise you would need to get out of the world and human society altogether!
11 But now I write to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of [Christian] brother if he is known to be guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater [whose soul is devoted to any object that usurps the place of God], or is a person with a foul tongue [railing, abusing, reviling, slandering], or is a drunkard or a swindler or a robber. [No] you must not so much as eat with such a person.
12 What [business] of mine is it and what right have I to judge outsiders? Is it not those inside [the church] upon whom you are to pass disciplinary judgment [passing censuring sentence on them as the facts require]?
13 God alone sits in judgment on those who are outside. Drive out that wicked one from among you [expel him from your church].
1 Cor 6:9-10 AMP
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality, 10 Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.
Eph 5:5 AMP For be sure of this: that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for gain]--for he [in effect] is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
2) philarguros (5366) lit. "money-loving" is rendered "covetous" in the KJV of LUKE 16:14 and 2 Tim 3:2; RV "lovers of money", the wider and due significance.
Luke 16:14 AMP Now the Pharisees, who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these things [taken together], and they began to sneer at and ridicule and scoff at Him.
3) aphilarguros (866) no.2, with negative prefix, is translated "without covetousness" in Heb. 13:5, KJV;RV, "free from the love of money" In 1 Tim 3:3, the KJV has "not covetous"
Note: main distinction between pleonexia nd philarguros as being that between covetousness and avarice. The former having a much wider and deeper sense, being " the genus of which philarguris is the species" the "covetous: man is often cruel as well as grasping, while the avaricious man is simply miserly and stinting.
Heb 13:5 AMP Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not,[I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down ( relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] [Josh 1:5.]
1 Tim 3:2-3 AMP Now a bishop (superintendent, overseer) must give no grounds for accusation but must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, circumspect and temperate and self-controlled; [he must be] sensible and well behaved and dignified and lead an orderly (disciplined) life; [he must be] hospitable [showing love for and being a friend to the believers, especially strangers or foreigners, and be] a capable and qualified teacher,
3 Not given to wine, not combative but gentle and considerate, not quarrelsome but forbearing and peaceable, and not a lover of money [insatiable for wealth and ready to obtain it by questionable means].
Contentment, to be content
A. Verbs
1) arkeo (174) primarily signifies "to be sufficient, to be possessed of sufficient strength , to be strong, to be enough for a thing"; hence, "to defend, ward off"; in the middle voice "to be satisfied, contented with," Luke 3:14, with wages; 1 Tim 6:8, with food and raiment; Heb 13:5, with "such things as ye have", negative of Diotrephes in 3 John 10, "not content therewith"
Heb 13:5-6 NKJV Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper;I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
2) suneudokeo (4909) in 1 Cor 7:12-13 RV; sig. "to be content"
1 Cor 7:12-13 AMP To the rest I declare--I, not the Lord [for Jesus did not discuss this]--that if any brother has a wife who does not believe [in Christ] and she consents to live with him, he should not leave or divorce her.
13 And if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she should not leave or divorce him.
B. Adjectives
1) autarkes (842) as found in the papyri writings, means "sufficient in oneself" (autos=self, arkeo + see a) self-sufficient, adequate, needing no assistance"; hence "content" Phil 4:11
Phil 4:11-13 AMP Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am.
12 I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want.
13 I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].
2) hikanos (2425) "sufficient" used with poieo "to do" in Mark 15:15, is translated "to content (the multitude), " ie; to do sufficient to satisfy them.
Mark 15:15 NKJV So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.
C. NOUN
1) autarkeia (841) -" contentment, satisfaction with what one has" is found in 1 Tim 6:6. For it's other meaning: "sufficiency", in 2 Cor 9:8, see sufficiency
1 Tim 6:6-10 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
NKJV
2 Cor 9:8-13 NKJV
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
"He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever."
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, 13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men.
