Greek word · Strong's G3625

οἰκουμένη

oikouménē · noun · “world (inhabited)”

In a sentence

Oikoumenē is the inhabited world — the populated earth as a whole. It frames the New Testament’s reach: the gospel goes to every nation under heaven.

Oikoumenē comes from the same root as “house” — the inhabited, ordered world where people live. In the New Testament it often pictures the whole human family as the scope of God’s saving plan.

Jesus says the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed “throughout the whole oikoumenē as a testimony to all nations” (Matthew 24:14). Christian mission is not parochial; it is house-wide.

Strong's reference

Definition: land, i.e. the (terrene part of the) globe; specially, the Roman empire

KJV usage: earth, world

Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).

Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Romans 10:18 “But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”” Acts 17:31 “For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.””

Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.