noun · feminine
aitias
Strong’sG156
a cause, reason, charge
stem aiti-20 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
αἰτία refers, in one sense, to a cause, reason, or occasion for something — the "why" behind a matter, as in a general explanation of a situation or state of affairs 1234.
In a legal or forensic sense, it refers to a charge or accusation brought against someone, and also to the crime or offense for which a person is being punished 1234. Abbott-Smith distinguishes this from a related word for a "charge," noting that αἰτία is simply an accusation, which may be true or false, rather than one already proven 1.
LSJ additionally notes uses found in wider Greek literature but not in the Bible: the word could describe guilt or blame more broadly, including being held responsible for something, being formally acquitted of guilt, or receiving credit or a good reputation for something; in oratory it could also mean an unproven accusation as opposed to a proven charge, and it could denote a category or heading under which something falls 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
αἰτία, -ας, ἡ,
[in LXX: Ge 4:13 (עָוֹן), Pr 28:17 (עָשַׁק), and freq. in Wi, II, III Mac;]
SYN.: ἔλεγχος, a charge, whether moral or judicial, which has been proven, αἰ. is an accusation simply, false or true.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G156 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidahee-tee'-a
a cause (as if asked for), i.e. (logical) reason (motive, matter), (legal) crime (alleged or proved)
Fromfrom the same as G154;
King Jamesaccusation, case, cause, crime, fault, (wh-)ere(-fore).
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
responsibility, mostly in bad sense, guilt, blame, or the imputation thereof, i.e. accusation, first in Refs 8th c.BC+ —Phrases: αἰτίαν ἔχειν bear responsibility for, τινόςRefs 5th c.BC+; but usually to be accused, τινός of a crime, φόνουRefs 5th c.BC+: with infinitive, Refs 5th c.BC+; followed by ὡς.., Refs 5th c.BC+; by ὡς with participle, Refs; ὑπό τινος by some one, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν αἰτίᾳ εἶναι or γίγνεσθαι, Refs 5th c.BC+; αἰτίαν ὑπέχειν lie under a charge, Refs 5th c.BC+; λαβεῖν ἀπό τινοςRefs 5th c.BC+; ἐν αἰτίῃ ἔχειν hold one guilty, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρειν τινί impute the fault to one, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀνατιθέναι, προστιθέναι, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπολύειν τινὰ τῆς αἰτίης to acquit of guilt, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 in forensic oratory, invective without proof (opposed to ἔλεγχος), Refs 4th c.BC+
3 in good sense, εἰ.. εὖ πράξαιμεν, αἰτία θεοῦ the credit is his, Refs 4th c.BC+; δι᾽ ὅντινα αἰτίαν ἔχουσιν Ἀθηναῖοι βελτίους γεγονέναι are reputed to have become better, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὧν.. πέρι αἰτίαν ἔχεις διαφέρειν in which you are reputed to excel, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἳ.. ἔχουσι ταύτην τὴν αἰ. who have this reputation, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 expostulation, μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἔχθρᾳ τὸ πλέον ἢ αἰτίᾳRefs 5th c.BC+
II cause, δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίην ἐπολέμησανRefs 5th c.BC+ {αἰτιάζομαι}, etc.; on the four causes of Refs 5th c.BC+ — _dative_ αἰτίᾳ for the sake of, κοινοῦ τινος ἀγαθοῦRefs 5th c.BC+ in the sense of cause, not in that of accusation.
III occasion, motive, αἰτίαν ῥοαῖσι Μοισᾶν ἐνέβαλε gave them a the me for song, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV head, category under which a thing comes, Refs 4th c.BC+
V case in dispute, ἡ αἰ. τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μετὰ τῆς γυναικόςNT
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | aitias2×αἰτία | aitiais |
| object accusative | aitian16×αἰτίαν | aitiain1×αἰτίας |
| direct address vocative | aitiar | aitiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | aitiau1×αἰτίας | aitiaiu |
| to, for dative | aitia | aitiai |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
aitia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
20 occurrences, every one of them listed
aitias“case”subjectnominative singular2×
Matthew 19:10… tois mathētois; Ei houtōs atō tas aitias tou anthrōpou meta tau gunaikau, ouk …… to Him, “If this is the case between a man and his wife …
Acts 10:21“reason”… mis amō hon zētavō; tinas tas aitias dia han pareiavō?… said, “Here am I, the one you are looking for. Why have you come?”
aitian“reason”objectaccusative singular16×
Matthew 19:3“cause”… apoluara tan gunaikan autou kata pantan aitian?… man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
Matthew 27:37… epitithala epanō tau kefalau autou tan aitian autou graforēntan; Houtos atō Iēsus tos …… His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE …
Luke 8:47“reason”… erchata kai prospiptarantas auto dia han aitian hapteta autou apangelata enōpion pantou tou …… escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she …
John 18:38“guilt”… autoi; Mis oudenan heuriskamō en auto aitian;… and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.
John 19:4“guilt”… auton exō, hina gnōskaveia hoti oudenan aitian heuriskamō en auto.… am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
John 19:6“guilt”… mis gar ouk heuriskamō en auto aitian.… Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
Acts 13:28kai mēdenan aitian thanatou heuriskarantois aitela Pilaton anairira auton;And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked …
Acts 22:24… anetazorō auton hina epignōskateia dia han aitian houtōs epifōnale auto.… flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
Acts 23:28“charge”boulorōntos tē epignōskara tan aitian dia han enkalale auto, katagama eis …and since I wanted to understand their charges against him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin.
Acts 25:18peri hou stēirantois tois katēgorois oudenan aitian ferale heiu mis huponoame ponēreiu,… rose to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes …
Acts 28:18“reason”… min boulole apoluara dia tem mēdenan aitian thanatou huparcharō en mi;They examined me and wanted to release me, because there was no basis for a death sentence against …
Acts 28:20dia houtan oun tan aitian parakalama vin horara kai proslalara, heneken …So for this reason I have called to see you …
2 Timothy 1:6dia han aitian anamimnēskamō sin anazōpurarō tem charismem tou …For this reason I remind you to fan into …
2 Timothy 1:12dia han aitian kai houteim paschamō, alla ouk epaischunomō, …For this reason, even though I suffer as I …
Titus 1:13“reason”… marturias houtas atō alēthas. dia han aitian elenchasōr autoin apotomōs, hina hugiainaleiō en …This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that they will be sound in the faith
Hebrews 2:11“reason”… hagiazorōntois ek henou pantois; dia han aitian ouk epaischunotō adelfoin autoin kalarō,… both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
aitiau“charge”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Mark 15:26kai ate tas epigrafas tau aitiau autou epigraforēntas; Tos basilevos toiu Ioudaioiu.And the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING …
aitiain“charges”objectaccusative plural1×
Acts 25:27… desmion mē kai tain kata autou aitiain sēmanara.… on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”