noun · masculine
themelios
Strong’sG2310
belonging to the foundation
stem themeli-15 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books6 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
Foundation — the word describes something belonging or relating to a foundation, and as a noun denotes the foundation itself 413. It is used of the literal base of a building, whether spoken of as a single foundation stone or as the foundations (plural) of a structure, and can also refer to the substructure or "underpinning" of a building generally 123. This literal sense includes the foundations of the world 3.
The word is also used figuratively, of a foundation laid down as a basis for something not physical — such as work, teaching, or faith that is built upon, whether that basis is sound or faulty 12.
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
θεμέλιος, -ον
(< τίθημι), [in LXX for אַרְמוֹן, מוֹסָד, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2310 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidthem-el'-ee-os
something put down, i.e. a substruction (of a building, etc.), (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom a derivative of G5087;
King Jamesfoundation.
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
of or for the foundation, λίθοι Refs 5th c.BC+, ὁ, foundation-stone, Refs 4th c.BC+; οἱ θ. ἐκ παντοίων λίθων ὑπόκεινται the foundations, Refs 5th c.BC+: also neuter θεμέλιον Refs 4th c.BC+, of the foundations of the world, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ τῶν θ. from the foundations, Refs 5th c.BC+: metaphorically, ἐκθ. ἐσφαλμένοι Refs 2nd c.BC+; also ἀνεκτίσθη τὸ τεῖχος ἐκ θεμελείων (sic) Refs 4th c.AD+
II θεμέλια, τά, buildingsites, Refs 2nd c.AD+
III substantive, the fourth τόπος,= ἀντιμεσουράνημα, Herm.Trism. in Refs
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 | themelios2×θεμέλιος | themeliois1×θεμέλιοι |
| object accusative | themelion8×θεμέλιον | themelioin2×θεμελίους |
| direct address vocative | themelior | themelioir |
| of, belonging to genitive | themeliou1×θεμελίου | themelioiu |
| to, for dative | themelio1×θεμελίῳ | themelioi |
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
themelio 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
15 occurrences, every one of them listed
themelios“foundation”subjectnominative singular2×
2 Timothy 2:19tos mentoi stereos themelios tou theou stēatē, echarōntos tan sfragidan …Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord …
Revelation 21:19… polau panto litho timio kosmorēntois; tos themelios tos prōtos iaspias, tos deuteros sapfiras, …… kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the …
themelion“foundation”objectaccusative singular8×
Luke 6:48… hos skaptata kai bathunata kai tithata themelion epi tan petran; plēmmurau de generantau …… dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood …
Luke 14:29hina mēpote titharantou autou themelion kai mē ischuarōntou ektelara pantois tois …Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the …
Romans 15:20… onomazita Christos, hina mē epi allotrion themelion oikodomameiō,… not be building on someone else’s foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:10… tan dōirantan mi hōs sofos architektonos themelion tithama, allosos de epoikodomatō. hekastos de …… has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone …
1 Corinthians 3:11themelion gar alloson oudenos dunotō tithara para …For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid …
1 Corinthians 3:12ei de tinos epoikodomatō epi ton themelion chruson, arguron, lithoin timioin, xuleim, chorton, …If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood …
1 Timothy 6:19apothēsaurizarōntoin heautoi themelion kalon eis tem mellarōntem, hina epilabeleia …treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they …
Hebrews 6:1… epi tan teleiotan feroneiō, mē palin themelion katabalorōntois metanoiau apo nekreiu ergeiu, kai …… to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and …
themeliou“foundation”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Luke 6:49… oikodomaranto oikian epi tan gēan chōris themeliou, ha prosrēgata tos potamos, kai euthuos …… his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house …
themelio“foundation”to, fordative singular1×
Ephesians 2:20epoikodomirantois epi to themelio toiu apostoloiu kai profētoiu, arōntou akrogōniaiou …built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with …
themeliois“foundations”subjectnominative plural1×
Revelation 21:19tois themeliois teu teicheu tau polau panto litho …The foundations of the city walls were adorned …
themelioin“foundations”objectaccusative plural2×
Hebrews 11:10ekdechote gar tan toin themelioin echarōntan polan, hau technitos kai dēmiourgos …… looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Revelation 21:14kai tem teichem tau polau echarōntos themelioin dōdeka, kai epi autoiu dōdeka onomeim …… wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve …