Greek word · G5211

Ὑμεναῖος

hymenaios

Hymenaeus

A personal name from Hymen/Hymenaios, the Greek god of marriage and the wedding song. It was a fairly common name.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Ὑμέναιος, -ου, ὁ

Hymenæus: 1 Timothy 1:20, 2 Timothy 2:17.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 2 Timothy 2:17

Range of meaning

A personal name from Hymen/Hymenaios, the Greek god of marriage and the wedding song. It was a fairly common name.

Against the English

Simply transliterated in all versions.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Timothy 1:19–20: 'some have shipwrecked their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.' The phrasing there ('among whom are...') is very close to this verse.

Where it appears

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 1:20 Ὑμέναιος Hymenaeus

    Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

    Here: A Greek name taken from Hymen, the god of weddings. In 2 Timothy 2:17–18 this man, or someone with the same name, teaches with Philetus that 'the resurrection has already happened' and so is 'overturning the faith of some'.

2 Timothy · 1

  1. 2 Timothy 2:17 Ὑμέναιος Hymenaeus

    and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

    Here: A personal name, taken from Hymen, the Greek god of weddings. A Hymenaeus also appears in 1 Timothy 1:20 as someone Paul had 'handed over to Satan' for blasphemy, very probably the same man.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.