Bible Dictionaries

1: συνείδησις
(Strong's #4893 — Noun Feminine — suneidesis — soon-i'-day-sis )

lit., "a knowing with" (sun, "with," oida, "to know"), i.e., "a co-knowledge (with oneself), the witness borne to one's conduct by conscience, that faculty by which we apprehend the will of God, as that which is designed to govern our lives;" hence (a) the sense of guiltness before God; Hebrews 10:2 ; (b) that process of thought which distinguishes what it considers morally good or bad, commending the good, condemning the bad, and so prompting to do the former, and avoid the latter; Romans 2:15 (bearing witness with God's law); Hebrews 9:1 ; 2 Corinthians 1:12 ; acting in a certain way because "conscience" requires it, Romans 13:5 ; so as not to cause scruples of "conscience" in another, 1 Corinthians 10:28,29 ; not calling a thing in question unnecessarily, as if conscience demanded it, 1 Corinthians 10:25,27 ; "commending oneself to every man's conscience," 2 Corinthians 4:2 ; cp. 2 Corinthians 5:11 . There may be a "conscience" not strong enough to distinguish clearly between the lawful and the unlawful, 1 Corinthians 8:7,10,12 (some regard consciousness as the meaning here). The phrase "conscience toward God," in 1 Peter 2:19 , signifies a "conscience" (or perhaps here, a consciousness) so controlled by the apprehension of God's presence, that the person realizes that griefs are to be borne in accordance with His will. Hebrews 9:9 teaches that sacrifices under the Law could not so perfect a person that he could regard himself as free from guilt. For various descriptions of "conscience" see Acts 23:1 ; 24:16 ; 1 Corinthians 8:7 ; 1 Timothy 1:5,19 ; 3:9 ; 4:2 ; 2 Timothy 1:3 ; Titus 1:15 ; Hebrews 9:14 ; 10:22 ; 13:18 ; 1 Peter 3:16,21 .