BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY

Elements

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G2588

καρδία

kardia — heart

καρδία, -ας, ἡ, [in LXX chiefly for לֵבָב ,לֵב ;] the heart, 1. the bodily organ which is regarded as the seat of life ( 2Ki.18:14, 4Ki.9:24, al.). 2. In a psychological sense, the seat of man's collective energies, the focus of personal life, the seat of the rational as well as the emotional and volitional elements in human life, hence that wherein lies the moral and religious condition of the man (DB, ii, 317f.; DGG, ii, 344a); (a) of the seat of physical life ( Jdg.19:5, Psa.101 (102):5 103 (104):15): Act.14:17, Jas.5:5; (b) of the seat of spiritual life: Mat.5:8, Mrk.7:19, Luk.1:51, Act.5:3, Rom.10:9, 10 Eph.6:5, al.; pl., Mat.9:4, Mrk.2:6, al.; opposite to στόμα, χείλεα, πρόσωπον, Mat.15:8, Mrk.7:6, Rom.10:8, 9 2Co.5:12; περιτομὴ καρδίας, Rom.2:29; ἐκ κ., Rom.6:17, 1Pe.1:22; ἀπὸ τῶν κ., Mat.18:35; ἐν ὅλῃ (ἐξ ὅλης), Mat.22:37, Mrk.12:30" (LXX) ; γινώσκειν (ἐρευνᾶν, δοκιμάζειν) τὰς κ., Luk.16:15, Rom.8:27, 1Th.2:4; to think, etc., ἐν τ. κ., Mat.9:4, Mrk.2:6, Luk.12:45, Rom.10:6; συνιέναι (νοεῖν) τῇ κ., Mat.13:15, Jhn.12:40; ἐπαχύνθη ἡ κ., Mat.13:15 (LXX); πωροῦν τὴν κ., Jhn.12:40; κ. εὐθεῖα, Act.8:21; πονηρά, Heb.3:12; ἀμετανόητος, Rom.2:5; εἶναι (ἔχειν) ἐν τῇ κ., 2Co.7:3, Php.1:7; ὀδύνη τῇ κ., Rom.9:2. 3. Of the central or innermost part of anything (of the pith of wood, Arist.): τ. γῆς, Mat.12:40 (Cremer, 343ff.). (AS)

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GREEK · G106

ἄζυμος

azumos — unleavened

ἄζυμος, -ον (ζύμη), [in LXX for מָצָּה; τὰ ἄ. (sc. λάγανα, cakes) = הַמָצָּה ;] unleavened: ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ἄ. (הַג הַמָצָּה), the paschal feast (also called τὰ ἄ., Mrk.14:1), Luk.22:1; ἡμέρα τῶν ἄ., Mat.26:17, Mrk.14:12, Luk.22:7; ἡμέραι, Act.12:3 20:6. Fig., of Christians, free from corruption: 1Co.5:7; exhorted to keep festival, ἐν ἀζύμοις (sc. ἄρτοις, λάγανοις, or, indefinitely, "unleavened elements"), ib. 8 (Cremer, 724).† (AS)

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GREEK · G4747

στοιχεῖον

stoicheion — principle

στοιχεῖον, -ου, τό [in LXX: Wis.7:17 19:18, 4Ma.12:13 * ;] prop., one of a row (στοῖχος) or series, hence, 1. the shadow-line of a dial (Aristoph.). 2. an elementary sound or letter of the alphabet (Anth., Plut., π.). 3. the elements or rudiments of knowledge (Arist., al.) Heb.5:12; πτωχὰ σ., Gal.4:9; σ. τοῦ κόσμου, Gal.4:3, Col.2:8, 20 (but see infr.). 4. The material elements of the universe (Plat.; LXX, ll. with): 2Pe.3:10 3:12. 5. The heavenly bodies (Ding. Laert.). 6. The demons or tutelary spirits of nature (Enoch., Test., Sol., al.; for this sense in Ga, Col, ll. with, see ICC on Col.2:8; Enc. Bibl., see word " Elements ").† (AS)

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Historical dictionary entry

In its primary sense, as denoting the first principles or constituents of things, it is used in 2 Pet. 3:10: “The elements shall be dissolved.” In a secondary sense it denotes the first principles of any art or science. In this sense it is used in Gal. 4:3, 9; Col. 2:8, 20, where the expressions, “elements of the world,” “week and beggarly elements,” denote that state of religious knowledge existing among the Jews before the coming of Christ, the rudiments of religious teaching. They are “of the world,” because they are made up of types which appeal to the senses. They are “weak,” because insufficient; and “beggarly,” or “poor,” because they are dry and barren, not being accompanied by an outpouring of spiritual gifts and graces, as the gospel is.

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Elements in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →