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εἰδωλολάτρης

eidōlolátrēs

G1496 noun

SILEX Entry

Root εἴδωλον, λατρ- image, representation, worship, cultic service

Definition

A person who offers service, reverence, or worship to an image (εἴδωλον), typically as a representation of a deity; by extension, one who practices or participates in the veneration of material representations as divine. While its core meaning is 'image-worshipper,' it can expand to refer to anyone engaging in cultic activity, rituals, or devotion directed at physical objects or foreign deities in Greco-Roman or other non-Israelite/Judean religious contexts. In figurative use, the term may encompass broader notions of misplaced religious loyalty or false worship.

Semantic Range

worshipper of images, participant in image cults, devotee of foreign gods, one who serves or reverences material representations, figuratively—person guilty of false or unauthorized worship

Root / Etymology

Compound of εἴδωλον ('image, idol, representation') and a nominalized, agentive suffix from the verbal root of λατρεύω ('to serve, worship, especially of cultic service to a deity'). Thus, εἰδωλολάτρης means 'one who serves or worships images.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

The term εἰδωλολάτρης is a post-classical coinage, not attested in classical Greek literature but found in later Greek, including Jewish Hellenistic writings, the Septuagint (e.g. Wisdom of Solomon), and New Testament texts. It was used by writers influenced by the biblical critique of image worship. In these contexts, the term often implied opposition to non-Israelite or non-Judean religious practices, marking adherents of Greco-Roman religious traditions as idolaters, but it could also be directed polemically against Israelites or Judeans accused of apostasy. In the New Testament, especially in Pauline literature, εἰδωλολάτρης is used both literally (of participants in pagan cults) and figuratively (for those whose ultimate loyalties are misplaced, as in Col 3:5, where greed is equated with idolatry). English translations often render the term as 'idolater,' but this sometimes narrows the scope to explicit pagan ritual rather than the broader critique of misplaced devotion or unauthorized forms of worship that the term may imply in ancient usage.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from εἴδωλον and the base of λατρεύω; an image- (servant or) worshipper (literally or figuratively):--idolater.

Root Family

εἰδωλολάτρης (eidōlolatrēs) — image, representation, worship, cultic service

Word Forms

3 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
G1496-01 εἰδωλολάτραι eidololatrai N NOM M PL idolaters image-worshippers 3
G1496-02 εἰδωλολάτραις eidololatrais N DAT M PL idolaters to image-worshippers 2
G1496-03 εἰδωλολάτρης eidololatres N NOM M SG idolater image-worshipper 2

Occurrences in Scripture

7 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
G1496-02 1 Corinthians 5:10 εἰδωλολάτραις eidololatrais N DAT M PL idolaters to image-worshippers
G1496-03 1 Corinthians 5:11 εἰδωλολάτρης eidololatres N NOM M SG idolater image-worshipper
G1496-01 1 Corinthians 6:9 εἰδωλολάτραι eidololatrai N NOM M PL idolaters image-worshippers
G1496-01 1 Corinthians 10:7 εἰδωλολάτραι eidololatrai N NOM M PL idolaters image-worshippers
G1496-03 Ephesians 5:5 εἰδωλολάτρης eidololatres N NOM M SG idolater image-worshipper
G1496-02 Revelation 21:8 εἰδωλολάτραις eidololatrais N DAT M PL idolaters to image-worshippers
G1496-01 Revelation 22:15 εἰδωλολάτραι eidololatrai N NOM M PL idolaters image-worshippers
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