Greek a / g:adv · G3152
μάταιος
mataiosmat'-ah-yos
futile
6 uses in the Greek text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: mátaios
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's G3152is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 5 of 27New Testament books
- 6spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · G3152
empty, i.e. (literally) profitless, or (specially), an idol
The King James renders it: vain, vanity.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
mataios is rendered "futile". It stands 6 times in the Greek text, across five books.
- Two of the uses stand in 1 Corinthians, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
- The Greek text spells it six different ways.
The first use
“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
Acts 14:15ματαίων
The first use, in the order of the New Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Two of the word's six uses are in 1 Corinthians.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- futile3
- worthless2
- vanities1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
| Word | Written | Meaning | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| ματαιότης | mataiotes | futility | Uses3 |
| ματαιόω | mataioo | to make futile | Uses1 |
| ματαιολογία | mataiologia | babble | Uses1 |
| ματαιολόγος | mataiologos | babbler | Uses1 |
All 6, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
6 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- ματαία1
- ματαίας1
- μάταιοι1
- μάταιοι.¶1
- μάταιος1
- ματαίων1
The grammar of each form
- adjective · nominative (subject) · feminine singular2A-NSF
- adjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter plural1A-GPN
- adjective · genitive (“of”) · feminine singular1A-GSF
- adjective · nominative (subject) · feminine plural1A-NPF
- adjective · nominative (subject) · masculine plural1A-NPM
Acts
one use
“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
- ματαίωνmataionadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter pluraltagged: vanities
1 Corinthians
two uses
And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
- μάταιοι.¶mataioiadjective · nominative (subject) · masculine pluraltagged: futile
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
- ματαίαmataiaadjective · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: futile
Titus
one use
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
- μάταιοιmataioiadjective · nominative (subject) · feminine pluraltagged: worthless
James
one use
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- μάταιοςmataiosadjective · nominative (subject) · feminine singulartagged: worthless
1 Peter
one use
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- ματαίαςmataiasadjective · genitive (“of”) · feminine singulartagged: futile
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.