noun · feminine
thusias
Strong’sG2378
a sacrifice
stem thusi-28 times in the New Testamentin 10 of 27 books8 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
Sacrifice — either the act of offering something to God, or the thing offered itself 1234. In its everyday sense it is used of the animal or gift presented in worship, particularly in the sacrificial system described in the Old Testament, with related verbs describing this sacrifice being brought, offered up, given, or eaten 1. The word can also stand for the whole ritual act of sacrificing rather than the object offered 12.
The word is also used figuratively, of actions or attitudes described as a "sacrifice" in a non-literal sense — such as a life offered up, praise, good deeds, generosity, or faith itself being called a sacrifice 1.
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
θυσία, -ας, ἡ
(θύω), [in LXX chiefly for מִנְחָה, זֶבַח;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2378 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidthoo-see'-ah
sacrifice (the act or the victim, literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G2380;
King Jamessacrifice.
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
Ionic dialect -ιη, ἡ, (θύω) properly burnt-offering, sacrifice, mostly in plural, variant in Refs 5th c.BC+; θυσίας ἔρδειν, ἐπιτελέειν, ἀνάγειν, Refs 5th c.BC+; θ. σωτηρίου, αἰνέσεως, τῆς τελειώσεως, LXX; of the gods, θυσίαν δέχεσθαι Refs 4th c.BC+
2 mode of sacrifice, θ. ἡ αὐτὴ πᾶσι κατέστηκε Refs 5th c.BC+
3 festival, at which sacrifices were offered, Refs 5th c.BC+; περὶ τῶν ἐν Ῥόδῳ θ., title of work by Theognis Hist.
3.b generally, rite, ceremony, Refs 1st c.AD+
II victim, offering, Refs 1st 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 | thusias1×θυσία | thusiais1×θυσίαι |
| object accusative | thusian11×θυσίαν | thusiain8×θυσίας |
| direct address vocative | thusiar | thusiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | thusiau1×θυσίας | thusiaiu2×θυσιῶν |
| to, for dative | thusia1×θυσίᾳ | thusiai3×θυσίαις |
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
thusia 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.
28 occurrences, every one of them listed
thusias“sacrifice”subjectnominative singular1×
Hebrews 10:26… tau alētheiau, ouketi peri hamartaiu apolipotō thusias,… knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
thusian“sacrifice”objectaccusative singular11×
Matthew 9:13… tinem atō; Elesem thelamō kai ouk thusian; ouk gar erchama kalara dikaioin alla …… this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to …
Matthew 12:7… tinem atō; Elesem thelamō kai ouk thusian, ouk an katadikazava toin anaitioin.… meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the …
Luke 2:24kai teu dōara thusian kata tem legorēntem en to nomo …and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the …
Acts 7:41… en tai hēmerai ekeinai kai anagala thusian te eidōle, kai eufranole en tei …… made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the …
Romans 12:1“sacrifice”… tou theou parastēara teim sōmeim vu thusian zōarōntan hagian euarestan to theo, tan …… to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is …
Ephesians 5:2“sacrifice”… paradōata heauton huper nu prosforan kai thusian to theo eis osman euōdiau.… us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
Philippians 4:18… Epafroditou teim para vu, osman euōdiau, thusian dektan, euarestan to theo.… are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
Hebrews 10:5dio eiserchorōntos eis ton kosmon legatō; Thusian kai prosforan ouk thelasa, sōmem de …… came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire …
Hebrews 10:12houtos de henan huper hamartaiu prosferarantos thusian eis tem diēnekem kathizata en dexa …… had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at …
Hebrews 11:4Pistia polloteran thusian Habel para Kain prosferata to theo, …… faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he …
Hebrews 13:15dia autou oun anaferaneiō thusian ainesiau dia pantou to theo, houtem …… us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips …
thusiau“sacrifice”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Hebrews 9:26… aiōnoiu eis athetēsian hamartau dia tau thusiau autou fanerotē.… do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
thusia“sacrifice”to, fordative singular1×
Philippians 2:17alla ei kai spendomō epi ta thusia kai leitourgia tau pistiau vu, chairamō …… like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I …
thusiais“sacrifices”subjectnominative plural1×
Hebrews 9:9… enstēarēnton, kata han dōreim tē kai thusiais prosferolō mē dunorōntais kata suneidēsian teleiara …… present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse …
thusiain“sacrifices”objectaccusative plural8×
Acts 7:42… bibla toiu profētoiu; Mē sfagieim kai thusiain prosferava mi eteim tesserakonta en ta …… the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the …
1 Corinthians 10:18… kata sarkan; ouk tois esthiarōntois tain thusiain koinōnois teu thusiastērieu alō?… Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?
Hebrews 5:1… theon, hina prosferateiō dōreim tē kai thusiain huper hamartaiu,… to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Hebrews 7:27… archierevois, proterem huper taiu idiaiu hamartaiu thusiain anaferarō, epeita taiu tou laou houtem …… does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and …
Hebrews 8:3… eis tem prosferarō dōreim tē kai thusiain katastēotō; hothen anankaiem echarō tinem kai …… appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it was necessary for this One …
Hebrews 10:8anōterem legarōntos hoti Thusiain kai prosforain kai holokautōmeim kai peri …In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin …
Hebrews 10:11… leitourgarōntos kai tain autain pollakis prosferarōntos thusiain, hotinais oudepote dunolō periairara hamartain.… offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
1 Peter 2:5… pneumatikos eis hierateumem hagiem, anaferara pneumatikain thusiain euprosdektain theo dia Iēsu Christou;… be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
thusiaiu“sacrifices”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Mark 12:33… perissoterem atō panteiu teiu holokautōmeiu kai thusiaiu.… important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Luke 13:1… tem haimem Pilatos migata meta taiu thusiaiu autoiu.… blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
thusiai“sacrifices”to, fordative plural3×
Hebrews 9:23… katharizorō, auteim de teim epouraneim kreittonai thusiai para houtain.… the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Hebrews 10:1… teiu pragmeiu, kata eniauton tai autai thusiai hain prosferalō eis tem diēnekem oudepote …… It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect …
Hebrews 13:16… kai koinōniau mē epilathovōr, toioutai gar thusiai euarestotō tos theos.… share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.