στοιχεῖον

From the study of 2 Peter 3:10

Range of meaning

Basically, one item in a row or series. It was used for letters of the alphabet, for the basic rules of a subject (Heb 5:12), and in physics for the basic parts of the cosmos, usually the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. In later Greek it was also used for the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars, planets). Paul uses it in Gal 4:3, 9 and Col 2:8, 20 in a debated sense ('elemental principles' or 'elemental spirits').

Against the English

'Elements' is a fair translation, but a modern reader hears the periodic table: hydrogen, carbon, atoms. This has fed readings of the verse as a prediction of nuclear fission. Peter's word belonged to ancient physics and astronomy, not modern chemistry.

How it drifted

Since the 1800s 'element' has become a technical term in chemistry, and after 1945 the verse was often read as describing atomic explosions. Neither meaning was available to the first readers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Wisdom 7:17 ('the structure of the world and the activity of the elements'). Wisdom 19:18. 4 Maccabees 12:13. Philo uses the word often for the four elements. Second-century Christian writers (Justin, Dialogue 23.3 and 2 Apology 5.2; Theophilus, To Autolycus 1.4) use stoicheia for the heavenly bodies. Isaiah 34:4 in some Greek manuscripts reads 'all the powers of the heavens will melt,' which is closely echoed in 2 Pet 3:12 ('the elements will melt').

From the study of Colossians 2:20

Range of meaning

The word comes from stoichos, "a row" or "a line". Its basic sense is one item in a series, a basic component. In the biblical period it was used for: (1) the letters of the alphabet, and from there the ABCs or elementary principles of a subject; (2) the physical elements from which the world was thought to be made (earth, water, air, fire); (3) by extension, the heavenly bodies, which were thought to be made of or to govern the elements and which regulate the calendar; (4) in some Jewish and pagan thought, the elements and stars were closely linked with the spirits or gods that animate or rule them. The clear use of stoicheia to mean "spirits" on its own is mostly attested later.

Against the English

KJV/YLT "rudiments" and NASB "elementary principles" take sense (1). ESV/WEB "elemental spirits", NIV "elemental spiritual forces" and BSB "spiritual forces" take sense (4). No modern major version takes the plain physical sense (2), although that is the most common meaning of the phrase in ancient Greek.

How it drifted

The English renderings do not so much drift as each choose one strand of a word that, for Paul's hearers, could hold several together. Readers of "rudiments" hear only "basics". Readers of "spirits" may picture demons in a modern sense, without the link to the physical elements and the stars.

Used elsewhere in the period

Letters and basics: Plato, Theaetetus 201e; Heb 5:12 ("the elementary principles of God's oracles"). Physical elements: Wisdom 7:17; 4 Maccabees 12:13; Philo, On the Eternity of the World 107–109; 2 Pet 3:10, 12 ("the elements will melt"). Elements treated as divine: Philo, On the Contemplative Life 3–4, attacks those who honour the elements under divine names; Wisdom 13:1–2 criticizes those who thought fire, wind, air, the circle of stars and water were gods. Jewish texts assign angels to the elements and stars (1 Enoch 60:11–12; 75; 80; Jubilees 2:2). Testament of Solomon 8:2 and 18:1 call spirits "elements, world-rulers", but this text is probably centuries later than Paul. In Paul: Gal 4:3, 9, where being under the stoicheia is tied to observing "days, months, seasons and years" (Gal 4:10).

From the study of 2 Peter 3:12

Range of meaning

Basically, one of a series of basic components: letters of the alphabet, the ABCs or first principles of a subject (Heb 5:12), the physical elements of the world (earth, water, air, fire), the heavenly bodies, and in some Pauline passages the 'elemental' powers or principles of the world (Gal 4:3, 9; Col 2:8, 20).

Against the English

English 'elements' is a fair gloss. But modern readers hear the periodic table, atoms and nuclear physics, none of which existed as concepts in the first century.

How it drifted

Modern chemistry (from the 18th-19th centuries) and the atomic age reshaped what 'elements' means. Since 1945, 'elements melting with fervent heat' has often been read as a prediction of nuclear fission or nuclear war.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek philosophy, Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics used stoicheia for the four elements. Wisdom 7:17 and 19:18 use it for the components of the cosmos. 4 Maccabees 12:13 also uses the word. Second-century Christian writers such as Justin (2 Apology 5) and Theophilus of Antioch use stoicheia for the heavenly bodies. Isaiah 34:4 in the Greek Old Testament, 'all the powers of the heavens will melt (takēsontai) and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll,' is very close in wording.