What does μάτην · σέβομαι mean in the Bible?
μάτην · σέβομαι is a Greek phrase meaning "worship in vain".
Greek · G3155, G4576
μάτην σέβονταί
In vain · be devout
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Words in this compound — expand to study each participant
μάτην G3155 in vain
Pronunciation mátēn
Futile effort or speech that fails to achieve its intended purpose or desired result.
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σέβομαι G4576 be devout
Pronunciation sébomai
Reverent worship expressing fear of God; often describes non-Jews observing Jewish practices.
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What does μάτην σέβονταί (matēn sebontai) mean in the Bible?
μάτην · σέβομαι is a Greek phrase meaning "worship in vain".
Full entry for μάτην σέβονταί (G3155, G4576) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How many biblical occurrences are listed for G3155, G4576?
G3155, G4576 is connected to 2 lexical occurrence verses in the lexicon data.
Evidence Summary
Greek phrase. worship in vain
Source Gloss
worship in vain
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 1 Aligned forms 2
Matt 15:9 · Mark 7:7 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 10 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 10
Voice
middle 10
Mood
participle 6 indicative 3 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 15:9 σέβονταί present middle indicative ongoing Mark 7:7 σέβονταί present middle indicative ongoing Acts 13:43 σεβομένων present middle participle participle Acts 13:50 σεβομένας present middle participle participle Acts 16:14 σεβομένη present middle participle participle Acts 17:17 σεβομένοις present middle participle participle Acts 17:4 σεβομένων present middle participle participle Acts 18:13 σέβεσθαι present middle infinitive infinitive Acts 18:7 σεβομένου present middle participle participle Acts 19:27 σέβεται present middle indicative ongoing
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Origins
μάτην σέβονταί is built from this root:
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain