πλεονεξία

G4124 names greed, covetousness, or grasping desire. Its ten governed forms occur in lists of heart-level evils, warnings about possessions, descriptions of corrupt humanity, cautions about sexual and material appetite, teaching about holy community, defenses of ministry conduct, and exposures of false teachers. The noun can involve money, but its reach is wider: desire seeks advantage, possession, pleasure, control, or gain without regard for God or neighbor.

Jesus warns against every form of greed because life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Paul says greed is unfitting among saints and calls it idolatry in Colossians 3:5. These texts expose worship and desire, but they do not make all possessions, planning, ambition, or longing sinful. Nor do they justify shaming poverty or treating wealth itself as proof of guilt. The pastoral question is whether a person or system grasps for gain in ways that displace God, consume neighbors, or resist contentment and justice.

Second Corinthians distinguishes a willing gift from one extracted as greed. Paul denies using a mask of greed in ministry, and 2 Peter depicts false teachers exploiting people through deceptive words. These uses bring fundraising, spiritual authority, sexual exploitation, and institutional gain under scrutiny. Churches should answer such patterns with transparent finances, independent accountability, restitution where appropriate, safe reporting, and protection for vulnerable people, not with appeals for silence or loyalty.

Ten governed forms expose grasping desire in the heart, possessions, sexuality, ministry conduct, community holiness, and religious exploitation.