adjective
mataios
Strong’sG3152
vain, unproductive, godless
stem matai-6 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books5 of 26 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.
μάταιος, -ον
(as in Att., but -αία, -αιον, I Co 15:17, I Pe 1:18; < μάτην), [in LXX for שָׁוְא, הֶבֶל, כָּזָב, etc.;]
SYN.: κενός, q.v.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3152 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmat'-ah-yos
empty, i.e. (literally) profitless, or (specially), an idol
Fromfrom the base of G3155;
King Jamesvain, vanity.
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
Refs 4th c.BC+; also ος, ονRefs 5th c.BC+: (μάτη):—
I vain, empty, idle:
I.1 of words, acts, etc., μάταια νομίζομεν Refs 6th c.BC+; μ. λόγοι idle tales or words, Refs 5th c.BC+.; μ. ἔπεαRefs 4th c.BC+; μ. ὑλάγματα, ποιφύγματα,Refs; μ. εὐχή E.[same place]; μάταια βάζειν τινά Refs 5th c.BC+; μ. ἡδονή S.[same place]; δοξοσοφία Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ μ. ἀναλώματα useless expenses, Refs 3rd c.AD+; but also, μ. ἔπος a word of offence, Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2 of persons, empty, foolish, ματαιότεροι νόον Refs 6th c.BC+; φῦλον ματαιότατον Refs 5th c.BC+; worthless, Refs 5th c.BC+
II rash, irreverent, profane, frequently in Refs 4th c.BC+; αὐτουργίαι μ., of matricide and the like, “Eu.” [same place]; χαρὰ μ. mad merriment, Refs; τὸ μὴ μ. seriousness, gravity,Refs 5th c.BC+
III adverb -ως idly, without ground,Refs 5th c.BC+; μ. ἐρεῖν to no purpose, Refs 5th 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 | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | mataios | mataias2×μάταιος | mataiem | mataiois1×μάταιοι | mataiais1×μάταιοι | mataieim |
| object accusative | mataion | mataian | mataioin | mataiain | ||
| direct address vocative | mataior | mataiar | mataioir | mataiair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | mataiou | mataiau1×ματαίας | mataieu | mataioiu | mataiaiu | mataieiu1×ματαίων |
| to, for dative | mataio | mataia | mataie | mataioi | mataiai | mataiei |
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
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.
6 occurrences, every one of them listed
mataias“futile”subjectnominative singular2×
1 Corinthians 15:17ei de Christos ouk egerotē, mataias tas pistias vu, ēti avō en …… not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
James 1:26… autou alla apatarōntos kardian autou, houtou mataias tas thrēskeias.… his heart and his religion is worthless.
mataiau“futile”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
1 Peter 1:18“futile”… argurie ē chrusie, lutriva ek tau mataiau vu anastrofau patroparadotau,… such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
mataiois“futile”subjectnominative plural1×
1 Corinthians 3:20… toin dialogismoin toiu sofoiu hoti alō mataiois.… the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
mataiais“worthless”subjectnominative plural1×
Titus 3:9… nomikain peristēosōr, alō gar anōfelais kai mataiais.… because these things are pointless and worthless.
mataieiu“worthless”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Acts 14:15… anthrōpois, euangelizorōntois vin apo houteiu teiu mataieiu epistrefarō epi theon zōarōnton hos poiata …… that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who …