θεμέλῐ-ος G2310
Foundation or base on which a structure rests; used literally of buildings and figuratively of doctrinal or spiritual groundwork.
In both classical and biblical Greek, themelios denotes the lowest course of stones on which a building rises. Jesus contrasts a house built on rock with one lacking a foundation (Luke 6:48-49), and Paul speaks of Christ as the only true foundation (1 Cor 3:11). The word extends naturally into metaphor: apostles and prophets form the foundation of God's household (Eph 2:20), and the heavenly Jerusalem has twelve foundation stones inscribed with their names (Rev 21:14, 19). Every major target language renders it with a single transparent construction term—Spanish cimiento, French fondement, German Grundlage—confirming its unified semantic profile.
Senses
1. foundation, base structure — The structural base upon which a building or wall is erected, and by extension any fundamental groundwork on which something is established. Literal usage appears in Luke 6:48-49 (a house’s foundation on rock) and Acts 16:26 (prison foundations shaken). Figurative usage in Paul identifies Christ as the sole foundation of the church (1 Cor 3:11) and the apostles as foundational stones (Eph 2:20). Multilingual glosses uniformly select basic architectural terms, showing no semantic split. 16×
AR["أَساساتٌ", "أَساساتُ", "أَساساً", "أَساسًا", "أَساسٍ", "أَساسُ", "أَساسِ", "أَسَاسًا", "أَسَاسٍ", "أُسُس", "الأَساسُ", "الأَساسِ"]·ben["ভিত্তি", "ভিত্তিগুলি", "ভিত্তির", "ভিত্তিসমূহ"]·DE["Grundlage", "θεμέλια", "θεμέλιον", "θεμελίου"]·EN["a-foundation", "foundation", "foundations"]·FR["fondement"]·heb["הַ-יְסוֹד", "יְסוֹד", "יְסוֹדוֹת"]·HI["नींव", "नींवें", "नेएनव"]·ID["berfondasi", "dasar", "dasar-dasar", "fondasi"]·IT["fondamento", "themelion", "themeliou"]·jav["dhasar", "pondasi"]·KO["기초", "기초-위에", "기초가", "기초들을", "기초들이", "기초를", "터에"]·PT["alicerce", "alicerces", "fundamento", "fundamentos"]·RU["основание", "основании", "оснований", "основания"]·ES["cimiento", "cimientos", "fundamento", "fundamentos"]·SW["Msingi", "misingi", "msingi"]·TR["attım", "o-", "temel", "temel;", "temeli", "temeller", "temelleri"]·urd["بنیاد", "بنیادیں", "دریا", "پر"]
Luke 6:48, Luke 6:49, Luke 14:29, Acts 16:26, Rom 15:20, 1 Cor 3:10, 1 Cor 3:11, 1 Cor 3:12, Eph 2:20, 1 Tim 6:19, 2 Tim 2:19, Heb 6:1 (+4 more)
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
θεμέλῐ-ος, ον, of or for the foundation, λίθοι Refs 5th c.BC+, ὁ, foundation-stone, Refs 4th c.BC+; οἱ θ. ἐκ παντοίων λίθων ὑπόκεινται the foundations, Refs 5th c.BC+: also neuter θεμέλιον Refs 4th c.BC+, of the foundations of the world, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ τῶν θ. from the foundations, Refs 5th c.BC+: metaphorically, ἐκθ. ἐσφαλμένοι Refs 2nd c.BC+; also ἀνεκτίσθη τὸ τεῖχος ἐκ θεμελείων (sic) Refs…