Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

A-1

Noun

Strong’s Number: g1939

Greek: epithumia

Lust (Noun and Verb):

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 only in Luk 22:15; Phl 1:23; 1Th 2:17. 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; 2Pe 2:18; 1Jo 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,” 1Th 4:5, RV; “foolish and hurtful,” 1Ti 6:9; “youthful,” 2Ti 2:22; “divers,” 2Ti 3:6; Tts 3:3; “their own,” 2Ti 4:3; 2Pe 3:3; Jud 1:16; “worldly,” Tts 2:12; “his own,” Jam 1:14; “your former,” 1Pe 1:14, RV; “fleshly,” 1Pe 2:11; “of men,” 1Pe 4:2; “of defilement,” 2Pe 2:10; “of the eyes,” 1Jo 2:16; of the world (“thereof”), 1Jo 2:17; “their own ungodly,” Jud 1:18. 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).

A-2

Noun

Strong’s Number: g3715

Greek: orexis

Lust (Noun and Verb):

lit., “a reaching” or “stretching after” (akin to oregomai, “to stretch oneself out, reach after”), a general term for every kind of desire, is used in Rom 1:27, “lust.”

A-3

Noun

Strong’s Number: g2237

Greek: hedone

Lust (Noun and Verb):

“pleasure,” is translated “lusts,” in the AV of Jam 4:1, 3 (RV, “pleasure”).
See PLEASURE.

Note: In 1Th 4:5, AV, pathos, “passion” (RV, “passion”), is translated “lust,” which is the better rendering of the next word epithumia, rendered “concupiscence.” Pathos is described by Trench as “the diseased condition out of which epithumia springs.” In 1Cr 12:6: epithumetes, a luster after, is rendered “to lust.”

Nouns are affected by adjectives used in a sentence and have relevance to a particular subject at hand. Lust is not as cut and dried as one simple noun or verb. In our translations it is a matter of how it is used in connection with a subject matter. Quoted: “Such “lusts” are not necessarily base and immoral, they may be refined in character, but are evil if inconsistent with the will of God.”

I would like to acknowledge my sister-in-law Joyce for challenging my understanding of lust and setting me on a course to discover what God’s Word says on the matter. This is a follow up for “lean not on your one understanding.”

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Lust:

sinful longing; the inward sin which leads to the falling away from God (Rom 1:21). “Lust, the origin of sin, has its place in the heart, not of necessity, but because it is the centre of all moral forces and impulses and of spiritual activity.” In Mark 4:19 “lusts” are objects of desire.

Romans 1:21 English Standard Version (ESV) For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Mark 4:19 English Standard Version (ESV) but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary makes lust a simple thing to understand until we check the reference verses in another translation other than the KJV favored by Easton’s link.

It would appear from those references that the comment “lust, the origin of sin” is not supported by the referenced bible scripture. While that comment may well be true, it is not supported directly by references. That would indicate that simple questions have more complicated answers and investigation in more depth seems appropriate.

This comes down to a matter of personal satisfaction. If we do not question what is said we will trust the source and move on. This is not about proving a  point, it is about doing an in depth study on an issue that affects us all.

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Lust:

(5 Hebrew and 5 Greek words are so rendered, namely: [lists removed for brevity]

The word both as verb and as substantive has a good and a bad meaning. It probably meant at first a strong desire, a craving, abnormal appetite, not only for physical but for spiritual satisfaction. It has come, however, to be confined in its use almost entirely to the bad sense. Some old translations are not accepted now, the word being used in connections which at present seem almost irreverent. Shades of meaning are learned from an examination of the Hebrew and Greek originals.

Rather than going into a lengthy discourse of the differences between Hebrew and Greek origins, can we agree on two issues that appear in here, that some things are no longer accepted and some things appear to be irreverent.