What does θῆλυς (thēlys) mean in the Bible?
θῆλυς (thēlys): Biological sex distinction; used theologically in Galatians 3:28 to affirm equality transcending gender categories.
Greek · G2338
θῆλυς
Female
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θῆλυςG2338
Pronunciationthēlys
What does θῆλυς (thēlys) mean in the Bible?
θῆλυς (thēlys): Biological sex distinction; used theologically in Galatians 3:28 to affirm equality transcending gender categories.
Full entry for θῆλυς (G2338) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2338?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include female (3), women (2).
Where does θῆλυς (thēlys) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 19:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (2), Galatians (1), Mark (1), Matthew (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itfemale3×Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6, Galatians 3:28
women2×Romans 1:26, Romans 1:27
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 19:4θῆλυtofemaleAdjective - Accusative Neuter SingularMark 10:6θῆλυtofemaleAdjective - Accusative Neuter SingularRomans 1:26θήλειαιtowomenAdjective - Nominative Feminine PluralRomans 1:27θηλείαςtowomenAdjective - Genitive Feminine SingularGalatians 3:28θῆλυtofemaleAdjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 19:4
Aligned rows5
Books represented4
Matthew1Mark1Romans2Galatians1
Source forms
θῆλυ3xthēlyMatthew 19:4, Mark 10:6, Galatians 3:28
θήλειαι1xthēleiaiRomans 1:26
θηλείας1xthēleiasRomans 1:27
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular2xMatthew 19:4, Mark 10:6
Adjective - Genitive Feminine Singular1xRomans 1:27
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Plural1xRomans 1:26
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular1xGalatians 3:28
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Biological sex distinction; used theologically in Galatians 3:28 to affirm equality transcending gender categories.
Strong'sG2338
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms4 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
female
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Biological sex distinction; used theologically in Galatians 3:28 to affirm equality transcending gender categories.
female: as subst., ἡ θ., a female, a woman: Rom.1:26-27; τὸ θ.., Mat.19:4, Mrk.10:6, Gal.3:28.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 19:4Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
θῆλυqhlu
female
Read verseMark 10:6Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
θῆλυqhlu
female
Read verseRomans 1:26Adjective Nominative Plural Feminine
θήλειαιqhleiai
female
Read verseRomans 1:27Adjective Genitive Singular Feminine
θηλείας,qhleiav
female
Read verseGalatians 3:28Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
θῆλυ·qhlu
female
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns4Aligned forms5Case patternAccusative (2)Number patternSingular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · FeminineRom 1:261×
Nominative · Singular · NeuterGal 3:281×
Genitive · Singular · FeminineRom 1:271×
Accusative · Singular · NeuterMatt 19:4 · Mark 10:62×
Word Origins
θῆλυς is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.