Word Summary
thelēma: will
Original Word: θέλημαTransliteration: thelēma
Phonetic Spelling: (thel'-ay-mah)
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Short Definition: will
Meaning: will
Strong's Concordance
desire, pleasure, will.
From the prolonged form of ethelo; a determination (properly, the thing), i.e. (actively) choice (specially, purpose, decree; abstractly, volition) or (passively) inclination -- desire, pleasure, will.
see GREEK ethelo
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2307: θέλημαθέλημα,
θελήματος,
τό (
θέλω), a word purely Biblical and ecclesiastical (yet found in
Aristotle, de plant. 1, 1, p. 815b, 21); the
Sept. for
חֵפֶץ and
רָצון;
will, i. e., a.
what one wishes or has determined shall be done (i. e. objectively,
thing willed):
Luke 12:47;
John 5:30;
1 Corinthians 7:37;
1 Thessalonians 5:18;
2 Timothy 2:26;
Hebrews 10:10;
Revelation 4:11;
θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ is used — of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ,
Acts 22:14;
Ephesians 1:9;
Colossians 1:9; of what God wishes to be done by us,
Romans 12:2;
Colossians 4:12 (
Winer's Grammar, 111 (105));
1 Peter 4:2; and simply
τό θέλημα,
Romans 2:18 (
Winer's Grammar, 594 (553)) (Sir. 43:16 (17) (but here the better text now adds
αὐτοῦ, see Fritzsche; in patristic Greek, however,
θέλημα is so used even without the article; cf.
Ignatius ad Rom. 1, 1 [ET]; ad Eph. 20, 1 [ET], etc.));
τοῦ κυρίου,
Ephesians 5:17; plural
commands, precepts: (
Mark 3:35 WH. marginal reading);
Acts 13:22 (
Psalm 102:7 (); 2 Macc. 1:3); ἐστι τό θέλημα τίνος, followed by ἵνα, John 6:39; 1 Corinthians 16:12, cf. Matthew 18:14; followed by an infinitive, 1 Peter 2:15; by an accusative with an infinitive 1 Thessalonians 4:3. (Cf. Buttmann, 237 (204); 240 (207); Winers Grammar, § 44, 8.) b. equivalent to τό θέλειν (i. e. the abstract act of willing, the subjective) will, choice: 1 Peter 3:17 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 604 (562)); 2 Peter 1:21; ποιεῖν τό θέλημα τίνος (especially of God), Matthew 7:21; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 21:31; Mark 3:35 (here WH marginal reading the plural, see above); John 4:34; John 6:38; John 7:17; John 9:31; Ephesians 6:6; Hebrews 10:7, 9, 36; Hebrews 13:21; 1 John 2:17; τό θέλημα (L T Tr WH βούλημα) τίνος κατεργάζεσθαι, 1 Peter 4:3; γίνεται τό θέλημα τίνος, Matthew 6:10; Matthew 26:42; Luke 11:2 L R; ; Acts 21:14; ἡ βουλή τοῦ θελήματος, Ephesians 1:11; ἡ εὐδοκία τοῦ θελήματος Ephesians 1:5; ἐν τῷ θελημάτω τοῦ Θεοῦ, if God will, Romans 1:10; διά θελήματος Θεοῦ, Romans 15:32; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1; κατά τό θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, Galatians 1:4; (1 Peter 4:19); 1 John 5:14. equivalent to pleasure: Luke 23:25; equivalent to inclination, desire: σαρκός, ἀνδρός, John 1:13; plural Ephesians 2:3. (Synonym: see θέλω, at the end.)