noun · neuter
teratem
Strong’sG5059
a wonder, portent
stem terat-16 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books3 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
τέρας denotes a wonder, marvel, or portent – a striking sign, often understood as supernatural or omen-like 1234. In the New Testament the word appears only in the plural, regularly paired with "signs" (as in the phrase "signs and wonders") 13. In wider Greek usage such wonders could include signs sent by a god or seen in the sky 3.
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
τέρας, -ατος, τό
[in LXX chiefly for מוֹפֵת;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5059 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidter'-as
a prodigy or omen
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jameswonder.
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
genitive Epic dialect αος (not in Refs 8th c.BC+, Ionic dialect εος Refs 5th c.BC+: plural, nominative Epic dialect τέραα Refs 8th c.BC+, Ionic dialect τέρεα Refs 5th c.BC+; genitive Epic dialect τεράων Refs 8th c.BC+; dative Epic dialect τεράεσσι LXX+8th c.BC+; genitive singular τέρως variant in Refs 8th c.BC+:— sign, wonder, marvel, portent, ἡμῖν μὲν τόδ᾽ ἔφηνε τ. Ζεύς Refs 8th c.BC+; ᾐτέομεν δὲ θεὸν φῆναι τ. Refs 8th c.BC+; Ζεὺς δ᾽ Ἔριδα προΐαλλε.., πολέμοιοτ. μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχουσαν a sign of coming battle, Refs 8th c.BC+; especially of signs in heaven, ἀστέρα ἧκε Κρόνου πάϊς.., ναύτῃσι τRefs; and with passive Verbs, τ. φανήτω Refs 8th c.BC+:—so always when the first syllable is lengthened, NT+8th c.BC+
II in concrete sense, monster, Διὸς τ. αἰγιόχοιο, of the Refs 8th c.BC+; of a serpent, Refs; δάϊον τ., of Typhoeus, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἀπρόσμαχον τ., of Cerberus, Refs 5th c.BC+; οὔρειον τ., of the Sphinx, Refs 5th c.BC+; ταῦρον, ἄγριον τ. Refs 4th c.BC+; used by Cicero of Caesar, Refs
II.2 monstrous birth, monstrosity, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὡς ἔθρεψεν ἔκπαγλον τ. Refs 4th c.BC+
III in colloquial language, τέρας λέγεις καὶ θαυμαστόν Refs 5th c.BC+; 'a marvel' of a cup, Refs 3rd c.BC+: plural, of incredible statements, Refs 1st 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | teratem | terateim2×τέρατα |
| of, belonging to genitive | terateu | terateiu1×τεράτων |
| to, for dative | terate | teratei4×τέρασιν |
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
terate 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.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
terateim“wonders”subject or objectdirect plural2×
Acts 2:43… de panta psucha fobos, polleim tē terateim kai sēmeim dia toiu apostoloiu genote.… everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs.
Acts 5:12… cheiraiu toiu apostoloiu genote sēmeim kai terateim polleim en to lao; kai ale …The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people, and with one …
terateiu“wonders”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Romans 15:19en dunamia sēmeiu kai terateiu, en dunamia pneumeu; hōste min apo …by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the …
teratei“wonders”to, fordative plural4×
Acts 2:22… tou theou eis vin dunamiai kai teratei kai sēmei hei poiata dia autou …… by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among …
2 Corinthians 12:12… en panta hupomona, sēmei tē kai teratei kai dunamiai.… marks of a true apostle — signs, wonders, and miracles — were performed among you …
2 Thessalonians 2:9“wonders”… en panta dunamia kai sēmei kai teratei pseudeu… of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
Hebrews 2:4sunepimarturarōntou tou theou sēmei tē kai teratei kai poikilai dunamiai kai pneumeu hagieu …… was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the …
terateim9×
Matthew 24:24… pseudoprofētois, kai dōali sēmeim megeim kai terateim hōste planara ei dunatem kai toin …… appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if …
Mark 13:22… kai pseudoprofētois kai dōali sēmeim kai terateim pros tem apoplanarō ei dunatem toin …… will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if …
John 4:48… pros auton; Ean mē sēmeim kai terateim horaveia, ouk mē pisteuaveia.… Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
Acts 2:19kai dōami terateim en to ourano anō kai sēmeim …I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs …
Acts 4:30… sin eis iasian kai sēmeim kai terateim genorō dia teu onomeu tou hagiou …… to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy …
Acts 6:8… de plēros charitau kai dunamiau poiate terateim kai sēmeim megeim en to lao.… grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
Acts 7:36houtos exagata autoin poiarantos terateim kai sēmeim en gēa Aigupta kai …He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of …
Acts 14:3… tau charitau autou, dōarōnto sēmeim kai terateim genorō dia taiu cheiraiu autoiu.… enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
Acts 15:12… hoseim poiata tos theos sēmeim kai terateim en tei ethnei dia autoiu.… and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles …