noun · feminine
dianoias
Strong’sG1271
understanding, intellect, mind
stem dianoi-12 times in the New Testamentin 9 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
Understanding, the mind, or the faculty of thinking – the inner capacity by which a person perceives, reasons, and comprehends 1234. Strong's adds that this faculty can also be spoken of in terms of its actual exercise, i.e. the thinking itself rather than just the capacity for it 2.
The word can also denote thought, intention, or purpose, as in the phrase "with all one's heart," where it points to the direction of one's inner disposition rather than the bare faculty of reasoning 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
διάνοια, -ας, ἡ
[in LXX chiefly for לֵב, לֵבָב;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1271 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Aeolic dialect διανοιΐα Refs 7th c.BC+, poetry also διανοίᾱ accusative to Refs:— thought, i.e. intention, purpose, Refs 5th c.BC+; τῇ διανοίᾳ in the spirit of his action, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δ. with all one's heart, NT+2nd c.AD+
2 thought, notion, Refs 5th c.BC+
II process of thinking, thought, ὁ ἐντὸς τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς αὑτὴν διάλογος.. ἐπωνομάσθη δ. Refs 5th c.BC+; especially discursive thought, opposed to νόησις, Refs 5th c.AD+
III thinking faculty, intelligence, understanding, ὡς μεταξύ τι δόξης τε καὶ νοῦ τὴν δ. οὖσαν Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to σῶμα, LXX+4th c.BC+
IV thought expressed, meaning of a word or passage, Refs 5th c.BC+; so δ., opposed to ῥητόν, spirit, opposed to letter, Refs 2nd c.AD+
V intellectual capacity revealed in speech or action by the characters in drama, Refs 4th 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 | dianoias | dianoiais |
| object accusative | dianoian4×διάνοιαν | dianoiain |
| direct address vocative | dianoiar | dianoiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | dianoiau2×διανοίας | dianoiaiu1×διανοιῶν |
| to, for dative | dianoia5×διανοίᾳ | dianoiai |
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
dianoia 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
dianoian“minds”objectaccusative singular4×
Hebrews 8:10… kurios, dōarōntos nomoin mu eis tan dianoian autoiu, kai epi kardiain autoiu epigrafami …… will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts …
Hebrews 10:16… epi kardiain autoiu, kai epi tan dianoian autoiu epigrafami autoin,… hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
2 Peter 3:1“mind”… diegeiramō vu en hupomnēsia tan eilikrinan dianoian,Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking
1 John 5:20… tou theou hēkatō, kai dōatē ni dianoian hina gnōskaneiō ton alēthinon; kai anō …… has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him …
dianoiau“mind”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Mark 12:30… psuchau su kai ek holau tau dianoiau su kai ek holau tau ischuau …… your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
1 Peter 1:13Dio anazōnerantois tain osfuain tau dianoiau vu, nēfarōntois teleiōs, elpizavar epi tan …Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your …
dianoia“mind”to, fordative singular5×
Matthew 22:37… psucha su kai en hola ta dianoia su;… your soul and with all your mind.’
Luke 1:51… kratem en brachiono autou, diaskorpizata huperēfanoin dianoia kardiau autoiu;… those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
Luke 10:27… ischua su kai en hola ta dianoia su, kai ton plēsion su hōs …… your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Ephesians 4:18skotorēntois ta dianoia arōntois, apallotriorēntois tau zōau tou theou, …They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of …
Colossians 1:21“mind”… pote arōntoin apallotriorēntoin kai echthroin ta dianoia en tei ergei tei ponēreiOnce you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
dianoiaiu“mind”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Ephesians 2:3“mind”… teim thelēmeim tau sarkau kai taiu dianoiaiu, kai one tekneim fusia orgau hōs …… of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.