noun · feminine
paradosias
Strong’sG3862
an instruction, tradition
stem paradosi-13 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books4 of 10 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
The word denotes a tradition, that is, a teaching or instruction that has been handed down and is now held or passed on 124. Concretely it refers to the content of what is transmitted rather than the act itself: a body of teaching, precept, or doctrine 13. In the New Testament it is used especially of Jewish traditional teachings passed down among the people, and also of Christian instruction passed on by the apostles 123.
The same word can also describe the act of handing something down or over — a transfer, transmission, or bequest, such as passing on an office, money, or a kingdom 13. This more abstract sense of transmission is found in the Greek Old Testament and in classical Greek writers, but is not the way the word is used in the New Testament itself 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
παρά-δοσις, -εως, ἡ
(< παραδίδωμι), [in LXX: Es 7:26 (אֱסוּר), Je 39 (32):4 (נתן ni.), Je 41 (34):2*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3862 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpar-ad'-os-is
transmission, i.e. (concretely) a precept; specially, the Jewish traditionary law
Fromfrom G3860;
King Jamesordinance, tradition.
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
handing down, bequeathing, transmission, τοῦ σκήπτρου Refs 5th c.BC+; handing over, transfer, ἡ π. τῶν χρημάτων Refs 5th c.BC+; σίτου, etc., Refs 3rd c.AD+; τῆς βασιλείας Refs 1st c.AD+; ἐν παραδόσει παραλαμβάνειν ἀεί, of a reserve fund, Refs 3rd c.BC+
2 transmission of legends, doctrines, etc., tradition, διδασκαλία καὶ π. Refs 5th c.BC+; treatment, exposition, ὅπως πᾶσιν εὐπαρακολούθητος γένηται ἡ π. Refs 2nd c.BC+; ἡ βοτανικὴ π. the subject of botany, Refs 5th c.BC+; σύντομος π. succinct account, Refs 5th c.AD+
2.b in military sense, transmission of orders, Refs 2nd c.AD+
3 that which is handed down or bequeathed, tradition, doctrine, teaching, ἡ π. τῶν πρεσβυτέρων NT+5th c.AD+: also in Grammars, Ἑλληνικὴ π. Refs 2nd c.AD+; in textual criticism, defined as ἡ τῶν γραμματικῶν μαρτυρία, Refs 2nd c.BC+
II surrender, πόλεως Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ παραδόσεως, opposed to κατὰ κράτος, Refs 2nd c.BC+; giving up to punishment or torture, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 Astrology texts, handing over, τῶν χρόνων 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 nominative | paradosias | paradosiais |
| object accusative | paradosian9×παράδοσιν | paradosiain2×παραδόσεις |
| direct address vocative | paradosiar | paradosiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | paradosiau | paradosiaiu1×παραδόσεων |
| to, for dative | paradosia1×παραδόσει | paradosiai |
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
paradosia 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.
13 occurrences, every one of them listed
paradosian“tradition”objectaccusative singular9×
Matthew 15:2… tinem tois mathētois su parabainalō tan paradosian toiu presbuteroiu? ouk gar niptolō tain …“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not …
Matthew 15:3… tan entolan tou theou dia tan paradosian vu?… God for the sake of your tradition?
Matthew 15:6… ton logon tou theou dia tan paradosian vu.… God for the sake of your tradition.
Mark 7:3… tain cheirain ouk esthialō, kratarōntois tan paradosian toiu presbuteroiu,Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and …
Mark 7:5… peripatalō tois mathētois su kata tan paradosian toiu presbuteroiu, alla koinai cheirai esthialō …… disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat …
Mark 7:8… tan entolan tou theou kratavō tan paradosian toiu anthrōpoiu.… commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”
Mark 7:9… tan entolan tou theou, hina tan paradosian vu tēraveia;… of God to maintain your own tradition.
Colossians 2:8… filosofiau kai kenau apatau kata tan paradosian toiu anthrōpoiu, kata teim stoicheieim tou …… deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the …
2 Thessalonians 3:6… ataktōs peripatarōntou kai mē kata tan paradosian han paralabala para nu.… is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.
paradosia“tradition”to, fordative singular1×
Mark 7:13akurarōntois ton logon tou theou ta paradosia vu ha paradōava; kai paromoieim toiouteim …… the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you …
paradosiain“traditions”objectaccusative plural2×
1 Corinthians 11:2… mimnēskovē kai kathōs paradōama vi tain paradosiain katechavō.… in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on …
2 Thessalonians 2:15… oun, adelfoir, stēkavōr, kai kratavōr tain paradosiain hain didaskiva eite dia logou eite …… stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech …
paradosiaiu“traditions”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Galatians 1:14… perissoterōs zēlōtos huparcharōntos taiu patrikaiu mu paradosiaiu.… and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.