"religious worship, Col. 2:18; religion, a religious system, Acts 26:5; religion, piety, Jas. 1:26, 27*"
Definition and meaning
religious worship, Col. 2:18; religion, a religious system, Acts 26:5; religion, piety, Jas. 1:26, 27*
In the original Greek the word is written: θρησκεία
Historical context
The Roman Empire provided infrastructure no previous civilization had built — roads, sea routes, a common language in Greek, and relative peace across the Mediterranean. Jewish synagogues existed in every major city, giving Paul a starting point everywhere he traveled. The early church had no buildings, no political power, no social standing — and spread faster than any movement in ancient history.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of threskeia (G2356) across the King James Bible.
Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
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Common questions
Strong's G2356 (threskeia) is a Greek word that means: religious worship, Col. 2:18; religion, a religious system, Acts 26:5; religion, piety, Jas. 1:26, 27* It appears 4 times in the King James Bible.
The word threskeia (G2356) appears 4 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G2356 is threskeia, a Greek word defined as: religious worship, Col. 2:18; religion, a religious system, Acts 26:5; religion, piety, Jas. 1:26, 27*. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
threskeia is a Greek word found in the New Testament.