Bible Dictionaries
Faction, Factious

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: ἐριθεία

(Strong's #2052 — Noun Feminine — erithia — er-ith-i'-ah )

denotes "ambition, self-seeking, rivalry," self-will being an underlying idea in the word; hence it denotes "party-making." It is derived, not from eris, "strife," but from erithos, "a hireling;" hence the meaning of "seeking to win followers," "factions," so rendered in the RV of 2 Corinthians 12:20 , AV, "strifes;" not improbably the meaning here is rivalries, or base ambitions (all the other words in the list express abstract ideas rather than factions); Galatians 5:20 (ditto); Philippians 1:17 (RV; AV, ver. 16, "contention"); Philippians 2:3 (AV, "strife"); James 3:14,16 (ditto); in Romans 2:8 it is translated as an adjective, "factious" (AV, "contentious"). The order "strife, jealousy, wrath, faction," is the same in 2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20 . "Faction" is the fruit of jealousy. Cp. the synonymous adjective hairetikos, Titus 3:10 , causing division (marg., "factious"), not necessarily "heretical," in the sense of holding false doctrine.

Bibliography Information
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Faction, Factious'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ved/​f/faction-factious.html. 1940.