adverb
matēn
Strong’sG3155
in vain
stem matēn-2 times in the New Testamentin 2 of 27 booksnever changes form
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.
μάτην
(prop. acc. of μάτη, a fault, folly),
adv.,[in LXX for הֶבֶל, שָׁוְא, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3155 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmat'-ane
folly, i.e. (adverbially) to no purpose
Fromaccusative case of a derivative of the base of G3145 (through the idea of tentative manipulation, i.e. unsuccessful search, or else of punishment);
King Jamesin 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
Doric dialect μάτᾱν [μᾰ], adverb in vain, Refs 5th c.BC+; with a Noun, τὸ μ. ἄχθος the fruitless burden, Refs; Διὸς μ. ἄκοιτις his bedfellow to no good end, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 at random, without reason, οὔ σε μ. τιμῶσι Refs 6th c.BC+; ὁ νοσῶν μ., i.e. he that is mad, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 idly, falsely, λέγοντες εἴτ᾽ ἀληθές, εἴτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ οὖν μ. Refs 5th c.BC+; μ. βέβακεν, of a dream, 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.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
2 occurrences, every one of them listed
matēn2×
Matthew 15:9matēn de sebolō min, didaskarōntois didaskaliain entalmeim …They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts …
Mark 7:7matēn de sebolō min, didaskarōntois didaskaliain entalmeim …They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts …