ἀνάγκη
anagkē
necessity
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἀνάγκη (anagkē) is defined as necessity. It appears 18 times in the Bible, indicating its importance in conveying a sense of obligation or requirement. In contexts where anagkē is used, it often implies a situation where something must be done or is unavoidable. Anagkē is used in a variety of situations, from describing physical constraints (e.g., being trapped or bound) to highlighting moral or spiritual obligations (e.g., obeying God's commands). This range of usage suggests that anagkē encompasses not only external pressures but also internal motivations and sense of duty. The significance of anagkē lies in its ability to convey a sense of inescapability, emphasizing that certain actions or circumstances are unavoidable. This concept can be seen in both positive and negative contexts, highlighting the importance of acknowledging and responding to the necessities of life.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
18 total occurrences across the text
It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Matthew 18:7“Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes!
Luke 14:18They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
Luke 21:23Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people.
Luke 23:17Now he had to release one prisoner to them at the feast.
Romans 13:5Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
1 Corinthians 7:26Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, that it’s good for a man to remain as he is.
1 Corinthians 7:37But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well.
1 Corinthians 9:16For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don’t preach the Good News.
2 Corinthians 6:4but in everything commending ourselves, as servants of God, in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
2 Corinthians 9:7Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 12:10Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.
1 Thessalonians 3:7for this cause, brothers, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your faith.
Philemon 1:14But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.
Hebrews 7:12For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law.
Hebrews 7:27who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself.
Hebrews 9:16For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it.
Jude 1:3Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.