noun · feminine
mataiotas
Greekματαιότης (mataiotēs)
Strong’sG3153
vanity, purposelessness
stem mataiot-3 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books2 of 10 forms occur
Translated as
What it means
† ματαιότης, -ητος, ἡ
(< μάταιος), [in LXX for הֶבֶל, Ps 30 (31):6 38 (39):5 61 (62):9, al., and nearly 40 times in Ec; for שָׁוְא, Ps 25:4, al.; רִיק, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3153 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmat-ah-yot'-ace
inutility; figuratively, transientness; morally, depravity
Fromfrom G3152;
King Jamesvanity.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Every form
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | mataiotas | mataiotais |
| object accusative | mataiotan | mataiotain |
| direct address vocative | mataiotar | mataiotair |
| of, belonging to genitive | mataiotau1×ματαιότητος | mataiotaiu |
| to, for dative | mataiota2×ματαιότητι | mataiotai |
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
mataiota 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
3 occurrences, every one of them listed
mataiotau“empty words”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
2 Peter 2:18“empty words”huperonkeim gar mataiotau fthengerōtois deleazalō en epithumiai sarxau aselgeiai toin oligōs apofeugarōtoin toin en plana anastrefirōtoin,With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
mataiota“futility”to, fordative singular2×
Romans 8:20“futility”ta gar mataiota tas ktisias hupotassita, ouk hekōnas alla dia ton hupotassaraton, epi elpiaFor the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
Ephesians 4:17“futility”Houtem oun legamō kai marturemō en kurio, mēketi vin peripatarō kathōs kai teim ethneim peripatatō en mataiota tou nouou auteiu,So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.