anankē · necessity, distress

What it means

anankē (ἀνάγκη) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “necessity, distress”.

Necessity, what cannot be avoided; also distress, hardship.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Something that cannot be avoided.
2. A time of trouble and suffering.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• necessity ×4
• distress ×3
• compulsion ×2
• hardships ×2
• it is necessary ×2
• need ×2
• must ×1
• necessary ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×1
• Luke×2
• Romans×1
• 1 Corinthians×3
• 2 Corinthians×3
• 1 Thessalonians×1
• Philemon×1
• Hebrews×4
• Jude×1

• Matthew 18:7

  Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! For it is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!

• Luke 14:18

  And they all began alike to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I have need to go out and see it; I ask you, have me excused.’

• Luke 21:23

  Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in those days! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.

• Romans 13:5

  Therefore it is necessary to be subject, not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.

• 1 Corinthians 7:26

  I think, then, that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

• 1 Corinthians 7:37

  But whoever stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, will do well.

• 1 Corinthians 9:16

  For if I proclaim the good news, I have nothing to boast about, for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is to me if I do not proclaim the good news.

• 2 Corinthians 6:4

  but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God: in great perseverance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,

• 2 Corinthians 9:7

  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not out of grief or out of compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.

• 2 Corinthians 12:10

  Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions and distresses, for the sake of the Messiah; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

• 1 Thessalonians 3:7

  for this reason, brothers, we were comforted about you in all our distress and affliction through your faith;

• Philemon 1:14

  but without your consent I wanted to do nothing, so that your good deed might not be as by compulsion but of free will.

• Hebrews 7:12

  For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity a change of law also takes place.

• Hebrews 7:27

  who does not have the need every day, as those high priests do, to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

• Hebrews 9:16

  For where there is a covenant, the death of the one who made it must be established.

• Hebrews 9:23

  It was necessary, then, for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

• Jude 1:3

  Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you, urging you to contend for the faith once for all handed down to the saints.