‘Ο πονηρος/”Evil”/”Evil
One”
The word for evil (ο πονηρος) appears
forty-one times in the Synoptic Gospels. On word statistics alone, one can see
the prevalence of references to evil in Matthew with twenty-seven of the forty-one
instances, including the Lord’s Prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount references,
Matthew has five additional references compared to Luke, which includes the seventh
petition. Among his eighteen other references, only six are paralleled in Luke.
(Matthew 5:37, 45; 6:13; 7:17; and 7:18) Among his eighteen other references,
only six are paralleled in Luke. (Matthew 12:35/Lk 6:45 [3], Mt. 12:45/Lk. 11:26)
The other twelve references to “evil” are original to Matthew. Matthew uses his
references to “evil” to describe a variety of things. He refers to evil
thoughts/intentions (9:4; 15:1; 22:18), evil people (Pharisees, 12:34; generic
men, 13:49; a slave, 18:32; wedding guests, 22:10), evil generations (12:39,
45), the evil one (13:19), children of the evil one (13:38), and an evil eye
(20:15).
Interestingly, Matthew is the only
Synoptic Gospel that refers to the devil as ο πονηρος. These instances are in Mt. 13:19 and
13:38. In the parallel passage to Mt. 13:19, Mark has “evil” with ο σατανας (Mk. 4:15). (The
reference in Lk. 8:12 is paralleled in Mt. 13:19) Mark refers elsewhere to the
devil as ο σατανας
in 1:13; 3:23 (x2), 26; 4:15; and 8:33. Luke uses ο σατανας in 10:18; 11:18; 13:16; and 22:3, 31.
Matthew only uses the term GK to refer to the devil in 4:10, 12:26 (x2), and
16:23. The references to Mt. 4:10 may well be borrowed from Mark (see 1:13) as well
as the direct quote in 16:23 (see Mk. 8:33). This leaves only two instances in
Matthew where he uses ο σατανας
(12:26 [x2]) instead of ο πονηρος.
In Mt. 13:38, the evil one is
identified as “the devil” (ο διαβολος) in v. 39. Matthew uses the phrase (ο διαβολος) on six occasions
(4:1, 5, 8, 11; 13:39; 25:41) elsewhere. (Mark only uses to refer ο σατανας to the devil.)
Only two of these instances are without parallel (Mt. 13:39 and 25:41). In
Luke, references to the devil as ο διαβολος are found in 4:2, 3, 6, 13 and 8:12. The
references in Luke 4 are paralleled in Mt. 4:1-11.
In conclusion, Matthew has both
generic references to evil and references to the evil one, that is, the devil.
In the cases that Mark and Luke prefer the devil (ο διαβολος) or Satan (ο σατανας), Matthew prefers ο πονηρος. Matthew does
have references to ο διαβολος
and ο
σατανας,
but they are less frequent than the other Gospel writers. The use of ο πονηρος is therefore
distinctive in Matthew’s Gospel. (Charles Nathan Ridlehoover, The Lord’s
Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel [Library of New
Testament Studies 616; London: T&T Clark, 2020], 108-9)
