A Discourse on the English Word “Godhead”
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Table of Contents
The English Word “Godhead” ...................................................................................3
Word Frequency .........................................................................................................3
The Greek Word θεῖος ............................................................................................ 3
The Greek Word θειότης......................................................................................... 5
The Greek Word θεότης.......................................................................................... 5
Lexical Analysis .........................................................................................................6
The Greek Word θεῖος ............................................................................................ 6
The Greek Words θειότης and θεότης .................................................................... 7
References ................................................................................................................11
The English Word “Godhead”
The English noun “Godhead” occurs three (3) times in three (3) verses in the King
James Version translation of the Bible:1
1. Acts 17:29
2. Rom. 1:20
3. Col. 2:9
It is translated from three (3) distinct Greek words in the Textus Receptus:2
1. the adjective θεῖος (theios)
2. the noun θειότης (theiotēs)
3. the noun θεότης (theotēs)
Greek Words Translated as “Godhead” in the King James Version
1, 33.3%
1, 33.3%
1, 33.3%
θεῖος
θειότης
θεότης
Word Frequency
The Greek Word θεῖος
The Greek word θεῖος occurs three (3) times in three (3) verses in the Textus
Receptus, yet it is only translated into English as “Godhead” in one (1) verse in the
King James Version: Acts 17:29.
1
2
1769 ed.
Robert Estienne, 1550.
3
Verse
Textus Receptus (1550)
King James Version (1769)
γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ
ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ
Acts 17:29
λίθῳ χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως
ἀνθρώπου τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring
of God, we ought not to think that the
Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or
stone, graven by art and man's device.
2 Pet. 1:3
Ὡς πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ
τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν δεδωρημένης
διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς
διὰ δόξης καὶ ἀρετῆς
According as his divine power hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue:
2 Pet. 1:4
δι᾽ ὧν τὰ μέγιστα ἡμῖν καὶ τίμια
ἐπαγγέλματα δεδώρηται ἵνα διὰ τούτων
γένησθε
θείας
κοινωνοὶ
φύσεως
ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ
φθορᾶς
Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by
these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust.
Acts 17:29 in the King James Version, 1611 Edition
4
English Translation of the Greek Word θεῖος in the King James Version
1, 33%
2, 67%
Godhead
divine
The Greek Word θειότης
The Greek word θειότης occurs once (1) in one (1) verse in the Textus Receptus,
Rom. 1:20, being translated into English as “Godhead” in the King James Version.
Rom. 1:20 in the King James Version, 1611 Edition
The Greek Word θεότης
The Greek word θεότης occurs once (1) in one (1) verse in the Textus Receptus, Col.
2:9, being translated into English as “Godhead” in the King James Version.
Col. 2:9 in the King James Version, 1611 Edition
5
In summary, the English noun “Godhead” occurse three (3) times in three (3) verses
in the King James Version, being translated from three Greek words: one adjective
and two nouns.
Lexical Analysis
The Greek Word θεῖος
The Greek word θεῖος is an adjective formed by the inclusion of the diphthong ει in
the noun θεός.3 Its primary definition is “divine.”4
θεός (noun) + ει = θεῖος (adjective)
The same analogy may be demonstrated in the formation of the adjective ἀνθρώπειος,
meaning “human.”5
ἄνθρωπος (noun) + ει = ἀνθρώπειος (adjective)
As an adjective, θεῖος can be declined according to gender and number.
Masculine
Singular
Nominative θεῖος
Plural
Feminine
Singular
Plural
Neuter
Singular
Plural
θείοι
θεία
θείαι
θεῖον
θεία
Genitive
θείου
θείων
θείας
θείων
θείου
θείων
Dative
θείῳ
θείοις
θείᾳ
θείαις
θείῳ
θείοις
Accusative
θεῖον
θείους
θείαν
θείας
θεῖον
θεία
Vocative
θεῖον
θείοι
θεία
θείαι
θεῖον
θεία
3
Epic Greek has the attested form θέειος. In Koine Greek, one ε is simply dropped, leaving the form θεῖος.
BDAG, p. 446; LSJ, p. 778; Thayer, p. 285
5
LSJ, p. 141. Interestingly, LSJ states that ἀνθρώπειος means “human, opp[osite of]. θεῖος.”
4
6
The Greek Words θειότης and θεότης
The Greek words θειότης and θεότης both contain the suffix -της. Like the English
suffix -ness,6 the Greek suffix -της converts an adjective into an abstract noun.7
Abstract words name ideas: beauty, inflation, management, culture, liberal.
Concrete words name qualities and things we can know by our five senses of
sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell: sleek, humming, rough, salty, musty.8
For example, “The horse is white,” or in Greek, «ὁ ἵππος ἐστὶ λευκός». We can see
that the horse is white; thus, the adjective “white” (λευκός) is a concrete word. We
may convert the English adjective “white” into an abstract noun by simply adding
the suffix -ness, hence “whiteness.” “Whiteness” is defined as “the quality or state
of being white.”9 In the sentence, “The horse’s whiteness exceeds that of its kin,”
whiteness itself cannot be discerned or known by any of the five senses. It is the
quality or state of being white, and therefore, it is an abstract noun. The Greek
adjective λευκός may be converted into an abstract noun by addending the suffix της, hence λευκότης.10
Other English and Greek words are formed based on the same analogy:
English
Adjective
Abstract Noun
Greek
Adjective
Abstract Noun
dry
dryness
ξηρός
ξηρότης
wet
wetness
ὑγρός
ὑγρότης
fat
fatness
πίων
πιότης
thin
thinness
λεπτός
λεπτότης
However, the adjective need not be a concrete word in order for it to be converted
into an abstract noun. Abstract adjectives may also be converted into abstract nouns.
6
Dictionary.com defines -ness as “a native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract
nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state).”
7
However, not every Greek word that ends in -της is an abstract noun.
8
Fowler, p. 518
9
“whiteness.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.
10
LSJ, p. 1042
7
The Greek word θεῖος is an abstract adjective which means “divine.”11 Based on the
same analogy described above, θειότης may be defined as an abstract noun meaning
“the quality or state of being divine.”
But, what about the English equivalent of θειότης? In the examples above, we formed
an English abstract noun by adding the suffix -ness to the root word. Yet, there is no
such English word as “divineness.” However, another way to form an abstract noun
from an adjective is to add the suffix -ity to the root word.
The main suffixes that derive abstract nouns from adjectives are the native ness and the French-derived -ity. Both are very productive in Early Modern
English and have partly overlapping input ranges. Both are used to form
derivatives that denote abstract states, conditions, and qualities, and this is the
semantic domain that prevails with -ness…
The suffix -ity has a wider semantic range than -ness; in addition to the
abstract notions of state, condition and quality, it is found in coinages such as
capability, oddity, peculiarity, and regularity, which may have concrete
denotations and appear in the plural. The suffix was adopted from late Middle
English French and Latin loan words, but from the sixteenth century onwards
it became synchronically associated especially with adjectives ending in able/ible, -ic, -al, and -ar. Except for a few cases with native bases such as
oddity, -ity was applied to Latinate bases…12
The English word “divine” is etymologically derived from the Latin word divinus;13
hence, “divine” is a Latinate base. Therefore, instead of “divineness” which is not
an actual word, the abstract noun derived from the adjective “divine” would be the
noun “divinity.” Among its several definitions, “divinity” may be defined as “the
quality of being divine.”14 It is not surprising that St. Jerome translated the Greek
word θειότης in Rom. 1:20 into the Latin Vulgate as divinitas, the Latin equivalent
of the English word “divinity.”15
11
One cannot know that something is divine according to one’s five senses. “Divine” is the word’s primary meaning.
BDAG, p. 446: 1. pert. to that which belongs to the nature or status of deity, divine: (a) adj. divine. LSJ, p. 788: 1. of
or from the gods, divine. Thayer, p. 285: “divine”
12
The Cambridge History of the English Language, p. 398
13
Dictionary.com states, “1275-1325; Middle English < Latin dīvīnus, equivalent to dīv (us) god + -īnus -ine;
replacing Middle English devin (e) < Old French devin < Latin, as above.” “divinity.” Dictionary.com Unabridged.
Random House, Inc.
14
Ibid.
15
Rom. 1:20 in the Latin Vulgate: invisibilia enim ipsius a creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt intellecta
conspiciuntur sempiterna quoque eius virtus et divinitas ut sint inexcusabiles
8
However, unlike the English words “dry,” “wet,” “fat,” “thin,” and the Greek word
θεῖος, the Greek word θεός, from which θεότης is derived, is a noun, not an adjective.
Therefore, it doesn’t seem that we can determine its meaning using the same
analogy:
English adjective + suffix -ness/-ity = abstract noun
Greek adjective + suffix -της = abstract noun
Another analogy is based on the Greek word ἀνθρωπότης. This abstract noun16 is
formed from the Greek noun ἄνθρωπος, meaning “human” or “man,” and the suffix
-της. The English equivalent of ἀνθρωπότης would be the abstract noun “humanity”17
which may be defined as “the quality or condition of being human.”18 We may
discern an ἄνθρωπος and a “human” by our five senses. On the other hand,
ἀνθρωπότης and “humanity” cannot be discerned by our five senses, and therefore,
they are abstract nouns. More importantly, we find the following analogy:
Concrete Noun
Suffix
Abstract Noun
Quality or Condition of Being
English Human
-ity
Humanity
Human
Greek
-της
ἀνθρωπότης
ἄνθρωπος
ἄνθρωπος
Like ἄνθρωπος, the Greek word θεός is also a concrete noun. In other words, it refers
to a particular person who may be discerned or known by one of the five senses
(certainly θεός is not an abstract noun). Based on the same analogy formed above,
we may now understand the meaning of θεότης.
Concrete Noun
Suffix
Abstract Noun
Quality or Condition of Being
English God
-ity
Deity19
God
Greek
-της
θεότης
θεός
θεός
16
It is found in Patristic writings but not in the New Testament corpus.
The abstract noun “humanity” uses the suffix -ity rather than -ness since the English word “human” is a Latinate
base, derived from the Latin word homo.
18
“humanity.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.
19
I prefer the abstract noun “deity” for obvious reasons, mainly that the theoretical English words “godness” and
“goddity” would appear bizarre. The English word “deity” is derived from the Latin word deus, meaning “god/God,”
with the removal of the case ending and the addition of the suffix -ity to convert it into an abstract noun in English.
17
9
Since neither the word “godness” nor the word “goddity” are legitimate English
words, we would then use the Latinate root dei- and then append the suffix -ity (one
“i” would drop in the process). Hence, the abstract noun “deity” is produced, which
would be defined as “the quality or condition of being God.”
In summary, θεότης is an abstract noun defined as “deity” or “the quality or condition
of being God,” and θειότης is also an abstract noun defined as “divinity” or “the
quality or state of being divine.” The Latin equivalent of the former is deitas, while
the Latin equivalent of the latter is divinitas. The remaining Greek word, θεῖος, is an
adjective meaning “divine”; its Latin equivalent is the adjective divinus. The Greek
word θεῖος is the adjective from which the abstract noun θειότης is derived. Rather
than translate all three words into English as “Godhead,” the reader should endeavor
to understand the composition of each word and its primary meaning.
10
References
Arndt, William; Danker, Frederick William; Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed.
Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2000.
Fowler, H. Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Handbook. 11th ed. London:
Longman, 2009.
Lass, Roger. The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume III.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart; McKenzie, Roderick.
9th ed. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being
Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti. New York: American Book, 1889.
11