θεῖον

See also: θείο and θείον

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰêː.on/ → /ˈθi.on/ → /ˈθi.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰêː.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰi.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈθi.on/

Etymology 1

Substantivized neuter form of θεῖος (theîos, “divine”).

Noun

θεῖον • (theîon) n (genitive θείου); second declension

1. divinity
   • New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 17:29:

     γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ, χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως ἀνθρώπου, τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον.

     génos oûn hupárkhontes toû theoû ouk opheílomen nomízein khrusôi ḕ argúrōi ḕ líthōi, kharágmati tékhnēs kaì enthumḗseōs anthrṓpou, tò theîon eînai hómoion.

     Literally: offspring therefore being of the god, we should not think to gold or silver or stone formed things of skill and of idea of man, the divine being similar.
     Idimatically: Therefore, since we are God's offspring, we should not consider things of gold or silver or stone, being made by human skill and ingenuity, to be similar to the divine.

2. (in the plural) the acts of the gods

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ θεῖον; τοῦ θείου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ θεῖον tò theîon	τὼ θείω tṑ theíō	τᾰ̀ θεῖᾰ tà theîa
Genitive	τοῦ θείου toû theíou	τοῖν θείοιν toîn theíoin	τῶν θείων tôn theíōn
Dative	τῷ θείῳ tôi theíōi	τοῖν θείοιν toîn theíoin	τοῖς θείοις toîs theíois
Accusative	τὸ θεῖον tò theîon	τὼ θείω tṑ theíō	τᾰ̀ θεῖᾰ tà theîa
Vocative	θεῖον theîon	θείω theíō	θεῖᾰ theîa
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

• “θεῖος (A)”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Etymology 2

From earlier θέειον (théeion), *θέϝειον (*théweion). Usually connected to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze”), implying an original meaning of "fumigant", the same root as θυμιάω (thumiáō, “to burn, smoke”).

Alternative forms

• θέειον (théeion), θήϊον (thḗïon) — Epic

Noun

θεῖον • (theîon) n (genitive θείου); second declension

1. Sulfur.
   • 50 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of Luke 17:29:

     ᾗ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ἐξῆλθεν Λὼτ ἀπὸ Σοδόμων, ἔβρεξεν πῦρ καὶ θεῖον ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀπώλεσεν πάντας.

     hêi dè hēmérāi exêlthen Lṑt apò Sodómōn, ébrexen pûr kaì theîon ap' ouranoû kaì apṓlesen pántas.

     Literally: and to the day departed Lot from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky and destroyed all.
     Idiomatic: And on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from the heavens and destroyed everyone.

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ θεῖον; τοῦ θείου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ θεῖον tò theîon	τὼ θείω tṑ theíō	τᾰ̀ θεῖᾰ tà theîa
Genitive	τοῦ θείου toû theíou	τοῖν θείοιν toîn theíoin	τῶν θείων tôn theíōn
Dative	τῷ θείῳ tôi theíōi	τοῖν θείοιν toîn theíoin	τοῖς θείοις toîs theíois
Accusative	τὸ θεῖον tò theîon	τὼ θείω tṑ theíō	τᾰ̀ θεῖᾰ tà theîa
Vocative	θεῖον theîon	θείω theíō	θεῖᾰ theîa
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

• “θεῖον (A)”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “θεῖον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• θεῖον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G2303 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • brimstone idem, page 99.
  • sulphur idem, page 837.