THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

un-god'-li (rasha` (Ps 1:1), "wicked," beliya`al (2Sa 22:5), "worthless"; in the New Testament asebes (Ro 5:6), e.g. indicating that the persons so called are both irreverent and impious): Trench says that the idea of active opposition to religion is involved in the word, that it is a deliberate withholding from God of His dues of prayer and of service; a standing, so to speak, in battle array against God and His claims to respect, reverence and obedience. Those whose sins are particularly aggravating and deserving of God's wrath are the "ungodly." And yet it is for such that Jesus Christ died (Ro 5:6).

William Evans