θέλημα

Forms

θέλημᾰ (thélēma) n (genitive θελήμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek θέλω (thélō, “to wish”) + -μα (-ma), with the ⟨η⟩ that the verb adds outside the present.^[1][2] θέλω (thélō) is the shortened form of ἐθέλω (ethélō), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁gʷʰel- (“to wish”).^[2][1] It is cognate with Old Church Slavonic желѣти (želěti, “to wish, desire”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest record is a fragment of Antiphon the Sophist, in the plural, meaning “wills”, wishes.^[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

It was rare in classical Greek and became common in the Septuagint, where it renders “will”, “wish” and a king's decree, and “pleasure” in Ecclesiastes.^[5][3][6] In the New Testament it is above all the will of God, as in the Lord's Prayer, “thy will be done”, and also a person's desire or impulse.^[4][7][8]

In medieval vernacular Greek it meant desire, a request, and a frame of mind.^[9] Modern Greek θέλημα (thélima) continues the ancient word, meaning a wish and also a small errand done for someone.^[10]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aeneas Tacticus uses it for will.^[3][4][11]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it in Samuel and Kings for will and wish.^[6][5]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the will of God, as in the Lord's Prayer.^[4]
• 4th century AD – A papyrus from Oxyrhynchus uses it.^[3]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for desire, a request and a frame of mind.^[9]
• Modern Greek – θέλημα (thélima) means a wish, and also an errand.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. That which is willed; will, wish, intention, especially the will of God.^[7][4][3]
2. The act of willing; desire, impulse.^[7][4]
3. (Septuagint) Pleasure, delight in something.^[3][5]

Related words

• θέλω (thélō)
• ἐθέλω (ethélō)
• θέλησις (thélēsis)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
5. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge