"intemperance; licentiousness, lasciviousness, Rom. 13:13; insolence, outrageous behavior, Mk. 7:22"
Definition and meaning
intemperance; licentiousness, lasciviousness, Rom. 13:13; insolence, outrageous behavior, Mk. 7:22
In the original Greek the word is written: ἀσέλγεια
Historical context
The Gospel of Mark moves urgently — the word "immediately" appears over 40 times. It was written for a Roman audience familiar with power and action. Jesus is portrayed as a man who acts, heals, and commands authority that the Roman world had never seen from a Jewish teacher.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of aselgeia (G766) across the King James Bible.
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Common questions
Strong's G766 (aselgeia) is a Greek word that means: intemperance; licentiousness, lasciviousness, Rom. 13:13; insolence, outrageous behavior, Mk. 7:22 It appears 9 times in the King James Bible.
The word aselgeia (G766) appears 9 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G766 is aselgeia, a Greek word defined as: intemperance; licentiousness, lasciviousness, Rom. 13:13; insolence, outrageous behavior, Mk. 7:22. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
aselgeia is a Greek word found in the New Testament.