Bible Lexicons

Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary

Strong's #4678 - σοφία

Transliteration

sophía

Phonetics

sof-ee'-ah

Origin

from (G4680)

Parts of Speech

Noun Feminine

TDNT

7:465,1056

Definition

Thayer's

wisdom, broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters
1. the wisdom which belongs to men
  1. spec. the varied knowledge of things human and divine, acquired by acuteness and experience, and summed up in maxims and proverbs
  2. the science and learning
  3. the act of interpreting dreams and always giving the sagest advice
  4. the intelligence evinced in discovering the meaning of some mysterious number or vision
  5. skill in the management of affairs
  6. devout and proper prudence in intercourse with men not disciples of Christ, skill and discretion in imparting Christian truth
  7. the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living
2. supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God
  1. to Christ
  2. the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and executing counsels in the formation and government of the world and the scriptures

Thayer
Strong
Mounce

Hebrew Equivalent Words:

Strong #: 999 ‑ בִּינָה (bee‑naw'); 1847 ‑ דַּעַת (dah'‑ath); 2451 ‑ חָכְמָה (khok‑maw'); 4148 ‑ מוּסָר (moo‑sawr'); 4284 ‑ מַחֲשֶׁבֶת (makh‑ash‑aw‑baw', makh‑ash‑eh'‑beth); 7922 ‑ שֵׂכֶל (seh'‑kel, say'‑kel);

Frequency Lists

Book
Word
Parsing

KJV (51)

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Ephesians

Colossians

James

2 Peter

Revelation

NAS (51)

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Ephesians

Colossians

James

2 Peter

Revelation

HCS (51)

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Ephesians

Colossians

James

2 Peter

Revelation

BSB (51)

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Ephesians

Colossians

James

2 Peter

Revelation

ESV (51)

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Ephesians

Colossians

James

2 Peter

Revelation

WEB (50)

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Ephesians

Colossians

James

2 Peter

Revelation

Verse Results

Liddell-Scott-Jones Definitions

σοφία, Ion. -ιη, ἡ, prop. cleverness or skill in handicraft and art, as in carpentry, τέκτονος, ὅς ῥά τε πάσης εὖ εἰδῇ ς . Il. 15.412; of the Telchines, Pi. O. 7.53; ἡ ἔντεχνος ς ., of Hephaestus and Athena, Pl. Prt. 32 1d; of Daedalus and Palamedes, X. Mem. 4.2.33, cf. 1.4.2; in music and singing, τέχνῃ καὶ ς . h.Merc. 483, cf. 511; in poetry, Sol. 13.52, Pi. O. 1.117, Ar. Ra. 882, X. An. 1.2.8, etc.; in driving, Pl. Thg. 123c; in medicine or surgery, Pi. P. 3.54; in divination, S. OT 502 (lyr.); δυσθανατῶν ὑπὸ σοφίας εἰς γῆρας ἀφίκετο Pl. R. 406b; ς. δημηγορική, δικανική, ib. 365d; ἡ περὶ Ὁμήρου ς . Id. Ion 542a; οὐ σοφίᾳ ἀλλὰ φύσει ποιεῖν Id. Revelation 22:1-21 b; σημαίνοντες τὴν ς . . ., ὅτι ἀρετὴ τέχνης ἐστίν Arist. EN 1141a12: rare in pl., Pi. O. 9.107, Ar. Ra. 676 (lyr.), IG 12.522 (vase, v B.C. ).

2. skill in matters of common life. sound judgement, intelligence, practical wisdom, etc., such as was attributed to the seven sages, like φρόνησις, Thgn. 790, 876, 1074, Hdt. 1.30, 60; ἡ τῶν δεινῶν ς ., opp. ἀμαθία, Pl. Prt. 360d; τὴν τότε καλουμένην ς., οὖσαν δὲ δεινότητα πολιτικὴν καὶ δραστήριον σύνεσιν Plu. Them. 2; also, cunning, shrewdness, craft, Hdt. 1.68, etc.; τὸ λοιδορῆς αι θεοὺς ἐχθρὰ ς . Pi. O. 9.38 .

3. learning, wisdom, μείζω τινὰ ἢ κατ' ἄνθρωπον σοφίαν σοφοί Pl. Revelation 20 Revelation 20:1-15 e; opp. ἀμαθία, ib. 22e; freq. in E., e.g. μόρσιμα . . οὐ σοφίᾳ τις ἀπώσεται Heracl. 615 (lyr.); τὸ σοφὸν οὐ σοφία (v. σοφός 1.3 ) Ba. 395 (lyr.), etc.; freq. in Arist., speculative wisdom, EN 1141a19, Metaph. 982a2, 995b12 (pl.), 1059a18; defined as θείων τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων ἐπιστήμη, Stoic. 2.15; but also of natural philosophy and mathematics, ς. τις καὶ ἡ φυσική Arist. Metaph. 1005b1, cf. 1061b33 .

4. among the Jews, ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου LXX Proverbs 1:7, cf. Job 28:28, al.; Σοφία, recognized first as an attribute of God, was later identified with the Spirit of God, cf. LXX Proverbs 8:1-36 with Si. 24s q.

5. later as a title, ἡ ὑμετέρα, ἡ ὑμῶν ς ., POxy. 1165.6, PSI 7.790.14 (both vi A.D. ).

Abbott-Smith Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament

σοφία , -ας , ἡ ,

[in LXX chiefly for H2451;]

skill, intelligence, wisdom, ranging from knowledge of the arts and matters of daily life to mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense;

(a) of human wisdom: 1 Corinthians 2:1; 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, James 3:15, Revelation 13:18; Revelation 17:9; σ . Σολομῶνος , Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31; Αἰγυπτίων , Acts 7:22; Ἕλληνες σ . ζητοῦσιν , 1 Corinthians 1:22; σ . λόγου , 1 Corinthians 1:17; τ . σοφῶν , 1 Corinthians 1:19 (LXX); τ . κόσμου , 1 Corinthians 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 3:19; ἀνθρωπίνη , 1 Corinthians 2:13; σαρκική , 2 Corinthians 1:12;

of wisdom in spiritual things: Luke 21:15, Acts 6:3; Acts 6:10; Acts 7:10, 1 Corinthians 2:6, Colossians 1:28; Colossians 2:23; Colossians 3:16; Colossians 4:5, James 1:5; James 3:13; James 3:17, 2 Peter 3:15; λόγος σοφίας , 1 Corinthians 12:8; πνεῦμα σοφίας , Ephesians 1:17; σ . καὶ φρόνησις , Ephesians 1:8; σ . καὶ σύνεσις , Colossians 1:9;

(b) of divine wisdom: of God, Romans 11:33, 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 2:7, Revelation 7:12; πολυποίκιλος , Ephesians 3:10;

of Christ, Matthew 13:54, Mark 6:2, Luke 2:40; Luke 2:52, 1 Corinthians 1:30 Colossians 2:3, Revelation 5:12;

of wisdom personified, Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:35; Luke 11:49.†

SYN.: σύνεσις G4907, intelligence; φρόνησις G5428, prudence, which with σ . make up (Arist., N. Eth., i, 13) the three intellectual ἀρεταί . σ . is wisdom primary and absolute; in distinction from which φ . is practical, σύνεσις critical, both being applications of σ . in detail (cf. Lft., and ICC on Colossians 1:9; Lft., Notes, 317 f.; Tr., Syn., § LXXv; Cremer, 870 ff.).

Abbott-Smith Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament.
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.

Vocabulary of the Greek NT

";endure adversity with,"; c. dat. in Hebrews 11:25. According to Grimm-Thayer the verb ";is not round elsewhere,"; but cf. the corr. form συνκακουργοῦντες in BGU I. 15 ii. 11 (A.D. 194).

List of Word Forms

σοφια σοφία σοφίᾳ σοφιαν σοφίαν σοφιας σοφίας sophia sophía sophíāi sophian sophían sophias sophías

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