Word Summary
mataios: vain, useless
Original Word: μάταιοςTransliteration: mataios
Phonetic Spelling: (mat'-ah-yos)
Part of Speech: Adjective
Short Definition: vain, useless
Meaning: vain, useless
Strong's Concordance
vain, vanity.
From the base of maten; empty, i.e. (literally) profitless, or (specially), an idol -- vain, vanity.
see GREEK maten
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3152: μάταιοςμάταιος,
μάταια (
1 Corinthians 15:17; (
1 Peter 1:18)),
μάταιον, also
μάταιος,
μάταιον (
James 1:26;
Titus 3:9) (cf.
WHs Appendix, p. 157;
Winer's Grammar, § 11, 1) (from
μάτην), the
Sept. for
הֶבֶל,
שָׁוְא,
כָּזָב (a lie), etc.; as in secular authors (Latin
canus)
devoid of force, truth, success, result (
A. V. uniformly
vain): universally,
ἡ θρησκεία,
James 1:26;
useless, to no purpose, ἡ πίστις,
1 Corinthians 15:17; foolish,
διαλογισμοί,
1 Corinthians 3:20;
ζητήσεις,
Titus 3:9; given to vain things and leading away from salvation,
ἀναστροφή,
1 Peter 1:18.
τά μάταια,
vain things, vanities, of heathen deities and their worship (
הֶבֶל,
Jeremiah 2:5;
Jeremiah 10:3;
הַהֶבֶל אַחֲרֵי יָלַך,
πορεύεσθαι ὀπίσω τῶν ματαίων,
2 Kings 17:15;
הֲבָלִים,
μάταια,
Jeremiah 8:19;
εἴδωλα,
Deuteronomy 32:21;
Jeremiah 14:22):
Acts 14:15. (Cf.
Trench, Synonyms, § xlix.)