What does μάτην (mátēn) mean in the Bible?
μάτην (mátēn): Futile effort or speech that fails to achieve its intended purpose or desired result.
Greek · G3155
μάτην
In vain
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
μάτην G3155
Pronunciation mátēn
What does μάτην (mátēn) mean in the Bible?
μάτην (mátēn): Futile effort or speech that fails to achieve its intended purpose or desired result.
Full entry for μάτην (G3155) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3155?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include in vain (2).
Where does μάτην (mátēn) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 15:9. Its strongest book concentrations include 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 It in vain 2× Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 15:9
Aligned rows 2
Books represented 2
Matthew 1 Mark 1
Source forms
Μάτην 2x Matēn Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7
Parsing patterns
Adverb 2x Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Futile effort or speech that fails to achieve its intended purpose or desired result.
Strong's G3155
Lexical occurrences 2 verses Greek text appearances 2 times Word forms 1 form 2 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Proverbs 26:2 Source Gloss
in vain
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 15:9 Adverb
μάτην mathn
in vain
Read verse Mark 7:7 Adverb
μάτην mathn
in vain
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 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
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Matt 15:9 · Mark 7:7 2×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Curse that comes without cause has no effect, accomplishes nothing
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
μάτην 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.
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