Basic HTML Version
1.
$
(
#
&
, 1939) denotes “strong desire” of any kind, the various kinds
being frequently specified by some adjective (see below). The word is used of a good
desire in Luke 22:15; Phil. 1:23, and 1 Thess. 2:17 only. Everywhere else it has a bad
sense. In Rom. 6:12 the injunction against letting sin reign in our mortal body to obey the
“lust” thereof, refers to those evil desires which are ready to express themselves in bodily
activity. They are equally the “lusts” of the flesh, Rom. 13:14; Gal. 5:16, 24; Eph. 2:3; 2
Pet. 2:18; 1 John 2:16, a phrase which describes the emotions of the soul, the natural
tendency towards things evil. Such “lusts” are not necessarily base and immoral, they
may be refined in character, but are evil if inconsistent with the will of God.
Other descriptions besides those already mentioned are:—“of the mind,” Eph. 2:3;
“evil (desire),” Col. 3:5; “the passion of,” 1 Thess. 4:5,
RV
; “foolish and hurtful,” 1 Tim.
6:9; “youthful,” 2 Tim. 2:22; “divers,” 2 Tim. 3:6 and Titus 3:3; “their own,” 2 Tim. 4:3;
2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 16; “worldly,” Titus 2:12; “his own,” Jas. 1:14; “your former,” 1 Pet.
1:14,
RV
; “fleshly,” 2:11; “of men,” 4:2; “of defilement,” 2 Pet. 2:10; “of the eyes,” 1
John 2:16; of the world (“thereof”), v. 17; “their own ungodly,” Jude 18. In Rev. 18:14
“(the fruits) which thy soul lusted after” is, lit., “of thy soul’s lust.” See
DESIRE
, A, No. 1
(where associated words are noted).
2.
@
(
7$
, 3715), lit., “a reaching” or “stretching after” (akin to
, “to
stretch oneself out, reach after”), a general term for every kind of desire, is used in Rom.
1:27, “lust.”¶
3.
(
4
)
, 2237), “pleasure,” is translated “lusts,” in the
KJV
of Jas. 4:1, 3
(
RV
, “pleasures”). See
PLEASURE
.
Note:
In 1 Thess. 4:5,
KJV
,
, “passion” (
RV
, “passion”), is translated “lust,”
which is the better rendering of the next word
$
, rendered “concupiscence.”
8
is described by Trench as “the diseased condition out of which
$
springs.” In 1 Cor. 12:6:
$
, a luster after, is rendered “to lust.”
B. Verb.
$
(
#
!
, 1937), akin to A, No. 1, has the same twofold meaning as the
noun, namely (a) “to desire,” used of the Holy Spirit against the flesh, Gal. 5:17 (see
below); of the Lord Jesus, Luke 22:15, “I have desired;” of the holy angels, 1 Pet. 1:12;
of good men, for good things, Matt. 13:17; 1 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 6:11; of men, for things
without moral quality, Luke 15:16; 16:21; 17:22; Rev. 9:6; (b) of “evil desires,” in
respect of which it is translated “to lust” in Matt. 5:28; 1 Cor. 10:6; Gal. 5:17 (1st part;
see below); Jas. 4:2; to covet, Acts 20:23; Rom. 7:7; 13:9. See
COVET
,
DESIRE
, B, No. 2.¶
Notes:
(1) In Gal. 5:17, in the statement, “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh,” the Holy Spirit is intended, as in the preceding verse. To walk by
the Spirit involves the opposition here referred to. The verb “lusteth” is not repeated in
the second part of the statement, but must in some way be supplied. Since in modern
English the word “lust” is used exclusively in a bad sense, it is unsuitable as a translation
of
$
, where the word is used in a good sense. As the rendering “desire” is used
of the Lord Jesus (as mentioned above), it may be best so understood here in respect of
the Holy Spirit.