In short
Lawlessness; literally "without law," the privative a- negating nomos (law/Torah). Matthew 7:23.
The full definition
When Yeshua turns people away in Matthew 7, the charge He levels is anomia. The word is built from nomos, law, with the a that negates it, so at its root it means simply without law, and for a Hebraic ear, without Torah. It is the word rendered "lawlessness" or "iniquity," but notice what Yeshua binds it to: not "you broke a rule," but "I never knew you." The lawless life and the unknown life are the same life. To live sourced from oneself rather than from the Father's instruction is anomia, and its end is not a failed exam but a relationship that never was.
Key passages
- Matthew 7:23
- Matthew 24:12
- 1 John 3:4