noun · neuter
mustēriem
Strong’sG3466
anything hidden, a mystery
stem mustēri-26 times in the New Testamentin 10 of 27 books4 of 6 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
μυστήριον means something hidden or kept secret — a secret of any kind, whether a private matter, a piece of information withheld from others, or the secret rites and practices of ancient religious cults into which only initiates were let in 1234. The word's link to secrecy goes back to the silence imposed on those admitted into such initiation rites 23, and from there it broadened to cover any secret that is not to be revealed, without implying that the thing itself is intrinsically hard to understand 1.
In the New Testament the word takes on a specific religious sense: a truth or plan belonging to God that was once concealed but has now been disclosed through the Christian message — either the Christian revelation as a whole, or a particular truth or detail within it 13.
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
μυστήριον, -ου, τό
(< μυέω), [in LXX: Da LXX TH 2:18 ff. (רָז), To 12:7, 11, Jth 2:2, Wi 2:22 6:22 14:15, 23, Si 3:18 22:22 27:16, 17, 21, II Mac 13:21*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3466 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmoos-tay'-ree-on
a secret or "mystery" (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites)
Fromfrom a derivative of μύω (to shut the mouth);
King Jamesmystery.
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
(μύστης, μυέω) mystery or secret rite: mostly in plural, τὰ μ. the mysteries, first in Refs 5th c.BC+ (of the mysteries of the Cabiri in Samothrace), etc.; especially those of Demeter at Eleusis, Refs 5th c.BC+; μυστηρίοις τοῖς μείζοσιν, τοῖς ὀλείζοσιν μ., Refs; but usually, τὰ μεγάλα, τὰ μικρὰ μ., Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπιέναι πρὸ τῶν μ., i.e. before you have reached the heart of the matter, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ τῆς θεοῦ (i.e. Μεγάλης Μητρὸς) μ. Refs 1st c.AD+; οἱ θεοὶ οἷς τὰ μ. ἐπιτελεῖται Refs 1st c.BC+; τὰ μ. ποιεῖν Refs 5th c.BC+; μ. ἐρεῖν And.[same place]: later in singular, Refs 2nd c.AD+
2 mystic implements and ornaments, σεμνὰ στεμμάτων μυστήρια Refs 5th c.BC+; especially properties, such as were carried to Eleusis at the celebration of the mysteries, ὄνος ἄγω μυστήρια, proverbial of an over-loaded beast, Refs 5th c.BC+
2.b later, object used in magical rites, talisman, δότε πνεῦμα τῷ ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ κατεσκευασμένῳ μ. Refs 3rd c.AD+
3 metaphorically, ὕπνος, τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ θανάτου μ. Refs 4th c.BC+; τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς σεμνὸν μ., of the military sacramentum, Refs 2nd c.AD+: generally, mystery, secret, LXX+5th c.BC+; προσήγγειλε τὰ μ. τοῖς πολεμίοιςLXX+2nd c.AD+; τοὐμὸν τὸ μ. [the remedy] is my secret, Refs 2nd c.AD+: hence, of a medicine, Refs 2nd c.AD+
4 secret revealed by God, i.e. religious or mystical truth, Corp. Herm.Refs, etc.; τὰ μ. τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν NT; τὸ μ. τῆς ἀνομίας the mystery of iniquity, NT+1st c.AD+; especially of the Gospel or parts of it, τὸ μ. τοῦ εὐαγγελίου NT; symbol, τὸ μ. τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων NT
5 σύνηθές τι μ. some vulgar superstition, Refs 2nd c.AD+
II Dionysius the tyrant called mouse-holes μυστήρια (μῦς, τηρεῖν), Refs 2nd c.AD+
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 or object direct | mustēriem8×μυστήριον | mustērieim |
| of, belonging to genitive | mustērieu3×μυστηρίου | mustērieiu1×μυστηρίων |
| to, for dative | mustērie2×μυστηρίῳ | mustēriei |
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
mustērie 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.
26 occurrences, every one of them listed
mustēriem“mystery”subject or objectdirect singular8×
Mark 4:11“secret”kai legate autoi; Vi tem mustēriem dōotē tau basileiau tou theou; ekeinoi …… mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything …
Ephesians 3:3kata apokalupsian gnōrizita mi tem mustēriem, kathōs prografama en olige,that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation …
Ephesians 5:32tem mustēriem houtem megem atō, mis de legamō …This mystery is profound, but I am speaking …
2 Thessalonians 2:7tem gar mustēriem ēdē energotō tau anomiau; monem tos …For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work …
1 Timothy 3:16… homologoumenōs megem atō tem tau eusebeiau mustēriem; Hos fanerita en sarka, dikaiita en …By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared …
Revelation 1:20tem mustēriem toiu hepta asteroiu hoin horasa epi …This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw …
Revelation 10:7… hotan mellateiō salpizarō, kai telita tem mustēriem tou theou, hōs euangelizata toin heautou …… begins to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just …
Revelation 17:5“mystery”… epi tem metōpem autau onomem graforēntem, mustēriem, Babulōnas tas megas, tas mētēras taiu …And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF …
mustērieu“mystery”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
Ephesians 3:9… fōtizara pantoin tinas tas oikonomias teu mustērieu teu apokruptorēnteu apo toiu aiōnoiu en …… for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept …
Colossians 1:27… tinem tem ploutem tau doxau teu mustērieu houteu en tei ethnei, hem atō …… Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the …
Colossians 2:2… plēroforiau tau sunesiau, eis epignōsian teu mustērieu tou theou, Christou,… so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
mustērie“mystery”to, fordative singular2×
1 Corinthians 2:7“mystery”alla lalanō theou sofian en mustērie, tan apokruptorēntan, han proorizata tos theos …No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined …
Ephesians 3:4… noara tan sunesian mu en te mustērie tou Christou,… to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
mustērieiu“mysteries”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
1 Corinthians 4:1… anthrōpos hōs hupēretoin Christou kai oikonomoin mustērieiu theou.… of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
mustēriem8×
Romans 11:25… gar thelamō vin agnoarō, adelfoir, tem mustēriem houtem, hina mē aveiō heautoi fronimois, …… you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not …
1 Corinthians 15:51idou mustēriem vi legamō; pantois ouk koimini pantois …Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but …
Ephesians 1:9gnōrizarantos ni tem mustēriem teu thelēmeu autou, kata tan eudokian …… has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His …
Ephesians 6:19… stomeu mu, en parrēsia gnōrizara tem mustēriem teu euangelieu… I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,
Colossians 1:26tem mustēriem tem apokruptorēntem apo toiu aiōnoiu kai …the mystery that was hidden for ages and …
Colossians 4:3… ni thuran tou logou, lalara tem mustēriem tou Christou, dia hem kai domē,… so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am …
1 Timothy 3:9echarōntoin tem mustēriem tau pistiau en kathara suneidēsia.They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear …
Revelation 17:7… tinem thaumazasa? mis legami si tem mustēriem tau gunaikau kai teu thēreu teu …… angel. “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the …
mustērieim4×
Matthew 13:11“secrets”… autoi; Hoti vi dōotē gnōskara teim mustērieim tau basileiau toiu ouranoiu, ekeinoi de …… knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Luke 8:10“secrets”… de legata; Vi dōotē gnōskara teim mustērieim tau basileiau tou theou, toi de …He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others …
1 Corinthians 13:2… ean echameiō profēteian kai oidameiē teim mustērieim panteim kai pantan tan gnōsian, kai …… of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I …
1 Corinthians 14:2… oudenos gar akouatō, pneume de lalatō mustērieim;… no one understands him; he utters mysteries in the Spirit.