Epithumetes appears once in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 10:6) as a noun describing 'those who crave evil things' — specifically the Israelites in the wilderness whose intense desire for meat led to judgment (Numbers 11). The word derives from epi (upon) + thumos (passion/desire), denoting one whose desire is fixed upon, obsessively focused on an object. The cognate verb epithumeo and noun epithumia are far more common, but this personal noun form is unique.
Paul's use of epithumetes in 1 Corinthians 10:6 is deliberately typological: 'These things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.' The wilderness generation's craving for meat — though the request itself was not sinful — revealed a heart that trusted its own appetites over God's provision. The theology of epithumia (desire) is central to the NT: James 1:14-15 traces all sin to desire that conceives and gives birth to sin; 1 John 2:16 identifies 'the lust of the flesh' as foundational to worldliness. Epithumetes — the one who craves — is the person who has surrendered lordship of their desires to the flesh.