noun · masculine
dialogismos
Strong’sG1261
a calculation, reasoning, thought, plotting
stem dialogism-14 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books7 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
Inward thought, reasoning, or deliberation — the process of thinking something through, questioning within oneself, or forming a judgment or purpose in the mind 124. This can include forming a plotting or intention rather than neutral thought 4, and in one passage may specifically carry the sense of an evil intention rather than a mere idea 1.
The word can also mean debate, dispute, or argument — the external act of arguing or disputing with others, as opposed to private thought 2. Classical Greek additionally used it for calculating or balancing accounts and for formal judicial hearings or inquiries, though these uses do not occur in the Bible 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
δια-λογισμός, -οῦ, ὁ
(< διαλογίζομαι) [in LXX chiefly for מַחֲשָׁבָה;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1261 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddee-al-og-is-mos'
discussion, i.e. (internal) consideration (by implication, purpose), or (external) debate
Fromfrom G1260;
King Jamesdispute, doubtful(-ing), imagination, reasoning, thought.
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
balancing of accounts, Refs 4th c.BC+
II calculation, consideration, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὁ δ. οὗτος this consideration, Refs 1st c.BC+
III debate, argument, discussion, Refs 4th c.BC+
IV circuit court, τοῦ νομοῦ δ. ποιῆσαι Refs 2nd c.AD+
V judicial inquiry, Refs 2nd c.BC+
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 | dialogismos1×διαλογισμὸς | dialogismois4×διαλογισμοὶ |
| object accusative | dialogismon1×διαλογισμὸν | dialogismoin3×διαλογισμοὺς |
| direct address vocative | dialogismor | dialogismoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | dialogismou1×διαλογισμοῦ | dialogismoiu3×διαλογισμῶν |
| to, for dative | dialogismo | dialogismoi1×διαλογισμοῖς |
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
dialogismo 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
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
dialogismos“argument”subjectnominative singular1×
Luke 9:46Eiserchata de dialogismos en autoi, tem tinos an atoiō …Then an argument started among the disciples as to …
dialogismon“thoughts”objectaccusative singular1×
Luke 9:47tos de Iēsus horarēntos ton dialogismon tau kardiau autoiu epilaberantos paidiem stēata …But Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, had a little …
dialogismou“argument”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
1 Timothy 2:8“argument”… epararōntoin hosiain cheirain chōris orgau kai dialogismou.… to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.
dialogismois“thoughts”subjectnominative plural4×
Matthew 15:19ek gar tau kardiau exercholō dialogismois ponērois, fonois, moicheiais, porneiais, klopais, pseudomarturiais, …… out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false …
Mark 7:21… ek tau kardiau toiu anthrōpoiu tois dialogismois tois kakosois ekporeuolō, porneiais, klopais, fonois,… the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
Luke 2:35… hopōs an apokaluptileia ek pollaiu kardiaiu dialogismois.so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed …
Luke 24:38… Tinem tarassorēntois avō, kai dia tinem dialogismois anabainalō en ta kardia vu?… troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
dialogismoin“thoughts”objectaccusative plural3×
Luke 5:22“thoughts”epignōskarantos de tos Iēsus toin dialogismoin autoiu apokrinirantos legata pros autoin; Tinem …… were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you …
Luke 6:8autos de oidatelē toin dialogismoin autoiu, legata de to andro to …But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with …
1 Corinthians 3:20kai palin; Kurios gnōskatō toin dialogismoin toiu sofoiu hoti alō mataiois.… again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
dialogismoiu“arguing”of, belonging togenitive plural3×
Romans 14:1… ta pistia proslabovōr, mē eis diakrisiain dialogismoiu.… weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.
Philippians 2:14Panteim poiavōr chōris gongusmoiu kai dialogismoiu,Do everything without complaining or arguing,
James 2:4… diakriniva en heautoi kai geneva kritois dialogismoiu ponēroiu?… yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
dialogismoi“thinking”to, fordative plural1×
Romans 1:21… ē eucharistala, alla mataiila en toi dialogismoi autoiu kai skotizita tas asunetas autoiu …… but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.