verb
mataiomō
Strong’sG3154
I become vain
stem matai-once in the New Testament1 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
† ματαιόω, -ῶ
(< μάταιος), [in LXX: IV Ki 17:15, Je 2:5, al. הבל, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3154 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmat-ah-yo'-o
to render (passively, become) foolish, i.e. (morally) wicked or (specially), idolatrous
Fromfrom G3152;
King Jamesbecome vain.
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
bring to naught, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 ματαιοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς ὅρασιν invent a vision of their own, LXX
II more frequently in passive, to be brought to naught, οὐ ματαιωθήσεται τὰ ῥήματαLXX
II.2 become foolish, act foolishly, ἐματαιώθην σφόδραLXX+NT; μεματαίωταί σοι thou hast done foolishly, LXX
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
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| mataiilaἐματαιώθησαν | happened · theyaorist passive indicative 3rd person plural | became futile | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 1 occurrence
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | mataiomō | mataiome | mataiomē | mataiomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | mataiosō | mataiose | mataiosē | mataioselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiotō | mataiote | mataiotē | mataiotelē |
| we 1st person plural | mataionō | mataione | mataionē | mataionelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiovō | mataiove | mataiovē | mataiovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | mataiolō | mataiole | mataiolē | mataiolelē |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | will happen future | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | mataiimi | mataiima |
| you 2nd person singular | mataiisi | mataiisa |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiiti | mataiita |
| we 1st person plural | mataiini | mataiina |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiivi | mataiiva |
| they 3rd person plural | mataiili | mataiila1×ἐματαιώθησαν |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | mataiomeiō | mataiomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | mataioseiō | mataioseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataioteiō | mataioteiē |
| we 1st person plural | mataioneiō | mataioneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataioveiō | mataioveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | mataioleiō | mataioleiē |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | mataiimeia |
| you 2nd person singular | mataiiseia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiiteia |
| we 1st person plural | mataiineia |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiiveia |
| they 3rd person plural | mataiileia |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | mataiosōr | mataiosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiotōr | mataiotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiovōr | mataiovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | mataiolōr | mataiolēr |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | mataiisar |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiitar |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiivar |
| they 3rd person plural | mataiilar |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | mataiomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | mataiosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | mataionoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | mataioloiō |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | mataiimoia |
| you 2nd person singular | mataiisoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | mataiitoia |
| we 1st person plural | mataiinoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | mataiivoia |
| they 3rd person plural | mataiiloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | mataiorō | mataiorē | ||
| acted on passive voice | mataiiri | mataiira |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | mataiorōntos | mataiorēntos | ||
| acted on passive voice | mataiirintos | mataiirantos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
matai 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.
1 occurrence, every one of them listed
mataiila“became futile”happened · theyaorist passive indicative 3rd person plural1×
Romans 1:21… hōs theon doxazala ē eucharistala, alla mataiila en toi dialogismoi autoiu kai skotizita …… gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in …