← G2939 G2941 →

κυβεία

kybeía

G2940 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

The practice or act of dice-throwing, gambling; by extension, trickery or cunning deception, especially in the sense of calculated or manipulative artifice. Initially refers to the literal action of casting dice for gambling, but in Koine Greek appears predominantly in a figurative sense, denoting deceitful scheming, craftiness, or manipulation, particularly as used in persuasive discourse or practices intended to mislead or defraud.

Semantic Range

dice-playing, gambling, sleight of hand, trickery, cunning, artifice, deception, craftiness

Root / Etymology

From the root κυβ-, related to κύβος ('cube', 'die'), referring to the cubic shape of dice used in games of chance. The derivational suffix -εία forms abstract nouns. Thus, κυβεία literally denotes 'dice-playing'.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical and Hellenistic Greek, κύβος means 'cube' and specifically refers to dice used in gambling. The abstract noun κυβεία is comparatively rare and attested almost exclusively in later Koine sources, including the New Testament (notably in Ephesians 4:14). There, it does not refer narrowly to gambling, but serves metaphorically to indicate craftiness or deceit akin to that of a gambler manipulating dice, i.e., skillful deceit or trickery. This sense developed as dice players were stereotypically associated with deceitful tactics. The usage in Ephesians is strongly figurative, denoting cunning devices by which people are led astray. English translations often render it as 'sleight', 'trickery', or 'deceit', but none capture the underlying image of gambling with weighted or trick dice. The term never came to refer to gambling in the abstract but always retained the sense of calculated deception, especially in rhetorical or manipulative contexts.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from (a "cube", i.e. die for playing); gambling, i.e. (figuratively) artifice or fraud:--sleight.

Root Family

κυβεία (kybeia) — dice-playing, gambling, trickery, cunning deception, artifice

Root κυβ- cube, die, to gamble, to deceive by trickery

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G2940-01 κυβίᾳ kubia N DAT F SG sleight to dice-trickery trickery 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G2940-01 Ephesians 4:14 κυβίᾳ kubia N DAT F SG sleight to dice-trickery trickery
← G2939 Greek Lexicon G2941 →