📖 Biblical Definition
Wavering, unsteady, double-minded. James 1:6-8 names the disposition that gets nothing in prayer: For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 2 Peter 3:16 applies the term to those who twist Scripture: which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 2 Peter 2:14 names the type: beguiling unstable souls. The unstable man has no center of gravity; he is whatever the latest pressure makes him — theologically, morally, emotionally. The biblical cure is rootedness in Christ (Eph 3:17), the Word (Col 2:7), and the communion of the saints. Stability is not personality; it is sanctified character, cultivated over time.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Wavering; double-minded; unsettled.
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The unsteady soul: double-minded in James 1:8 (gets nothing from prayer), unsteady in 2 Peter 2:14 and 3:16 (twisting Scripture and following error), wavering between two opinions; opposite of the established believer rooted and grounded in love.
📖 Key Scripture
James 1:8 — "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
2 Peter 3:16 — "In which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."
Genesis 49:4 — "Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Often pathologized as 'mental health'; while sometimes that, Scripture's primary use is moral-spiritual unsteadiness.
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Scripture's unstable man is not first medical — he is moral. He is double-minded, divided in loyalty, wavering between God and world. The cure is single-mindedness, rooted faith, and the steady habits Paul calls 'rooted and grounded.' Pursue stability.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek astēriktos — unstable.
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['Greek', 'G793', 'astēriktos', 'unstable']
['Greek', 'G1374', 'dipsychos', 'double-minded']
Usage
"Pursue stability through single-mindedness."
"Double-minded gets nothing from prayer."