Lust

Lust [Heb. v. ‘agab, ’awah, khamad, shakah; n. ‘agabah, ta’awah, khawwah, basar, nekhoshet; Grk. v. epithymeō; n. epithymia, epithymētēs, orexis, aselgeia, pathos]. A morally negative desire, craving, or action.

In English, “lust” originally had the connotation of a strong desire, whether positive or negative, physical or spiritual. For its use in a positive sense, see KJV, e.g. Deuteronomy 12:15, 20–21 (physical) and James 4:5 (spiritual). Contemporary usage is confined almost entirely to expressing negative cravings and actions, predominantly sexual, and is the focus of this article.

NKJV translates several Hebrew words as “lust” in five OT passages (Ps 106:14 [’awah]; Prov 6:25 [khamad]; Prov 11:6 [khawwah]; Jer 5:8 [shakah]; Ezek 23 [‘agab, ‘agabah]). In addition, it supplies “lustful” in Jeremiah 13:27, where it is not present in Hebrew.

The OT passage containing the greatest concentration of the term is Ezekiel 23. Here, the prophet describes in graphic detail the unfaithfulness of two harlot sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, representing Samaria and Jerusalem, respectively. Their acts of apostasy offended God greatly, and Ezekiel repeatedly utilizes vivid imagery of sexual depravity and debauchery to portray their shocking acts of unfaithfulness to God. The two sisters exhibit lust on a massive scale. For example, “Oholah . . . lusted [‘agab] for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians” (Ezek 23:5) and “Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust [‘agabah] than she” (Ezek 23:11). The graphic sexual imagery exposes the depth of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.

At the same time, the sexual metaphors for lust indicate what its opposite is—sexual virtue. For example, Proverbs warns about the dangers of lusting after a harlot, “Do not lust [khamad] after her beauty in your heart” (Prov 6:25), and also of committing adultery with a neighbor’s wife. The tenth commandment includes the injunction “you shall not covet [khamad] your neighbor’s wife” (Exod 20:10; Deut 5:21), using the same verb translated as “lust” in Proverbs 6:25.

In the single reference to lust as a vice in the Gospels, Jesus alludes to that same tenth commandment while commenting on the seventh: “everyone who looks at a woman with lust [epithymeō] has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:28; note that epithymia and epithymeō are used in a positive sense in Luke 22:15). That is, lust is not simply demonstrated in a physical act but has its origin within a person’s being.

 All of the remaining NT references to lust are found in the Epistles. In some places, it conveys the general sense of fallen human nature. For example, Paul uses the phrase “lust of the flesh” to convey this idea, advising the Galatians, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust [epithymia] of the flesh” (Gal 5:16; cf. Eph 2:3). Sometimes, the specific connotation of lust is unstated and presented as a ubiquitous characteristic of human existence: “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16; cf. 2 Pet 1:4). Consequently, it is doomed, for “the world is passing away, and the lust of it” (1 John 2:17). Elsewhere, its characteristics are enumerated. As Paul explains, “we should not lust [epithymētēs] after evil things as they [Israel] also lusted [epithymeō]” (1 Cor 10:6). These include, but are not confined to, idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God’s patience, and complaining about God (1 Cor 10:7–10; cf. 1 Pet 4:2–3). The love of money can cause a person to fall into “many foolish and harmful lusts” (1 Tim 6:9).

However, the predominant vice associated with lust is sexual immorality. In some places, this is stated explicitly, for example when Paul states that “you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust [pathos]” (1 Thess 4:3–5; cf. Rom 1;24). He also speaks about men who, “leaving the natural use of women, burned in lust [orexis] for one another” (Rom 1:27). Elsewhere, its sexual connotation is made clear by association with “lewdness.” For example, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness [koitē] and lust [aselgeia], not in strife and envy” (Rom 13:13). Peter reminds believers of the time when they “walked in lewdness [aselgeia], lusts [epithymia]…” (1 Pet 4:3). He also warns them about the sexual immorality of false teachers who “allure through the lusts [epithymia] of the flesh, through lewdness [aselgeia]…” (2 Pet 2:18).

The vice of lust is frequently contrasted with an array of Christian virtues. For example, Peter exhorts the faithful to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust [epithymia]” (2 Pet 1:4). He then challenges them positively to “add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (1:5–7).