G1238 — διάδημα (diádēma)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1238
Original: διάδημα
Transliteration: diádēma
Pronunciation: dee-ad'-ay-mah
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: From διά (around/through) + δέω (to bind) — "that which is bound around the head"
Occurrences: 3 in NT (all Revelation); also appears in LXX (Esther 1:11; 2:17)
First Occurrence: Rev 12:3 — "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads"
Hapax Legomenon: No (3 occurrences)

Lexicon Definition¶

From a compound of διά and δέω (to bind); a "diadem" — the royal headband tied or bound around the head as a symbol of sovereign kingly authority. Distinguished from στέφανος (stephanos), which is a victory or honor wreath. The diadem specifically marks regal dominion rather than competitive achievement.

LXX usage: Appears in Esther 1:11 and 2:17 for the Persian royal crown placed on Vashti and Esther.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 6 — Artifacts
Subdomain: 6.018 — Adornments
Other words in subdomain: δακτύλιος (G1146, ring), κόσμος (G2889, adornment/world), στέμμα (G4725, garland), στέφανος (G4735, crown/wreath), χρυσίον (G5553, gold ornament)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[006] Artifacts — search_relationships.py keeps διάδημα in the artifact/adornment field as the royal headpiece of sovereignty.

Domain Neighbors (Subdomain 006018 — Adornments)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total vv	Primary KJV Translation
G1146	δακτύλιος	1	a ring
G2889	κόσμος	151	world
G2899	κράσπεδον	5	border, hem
G4725	στέμμα	1	garlands
G4735	στέφανος	17	a crown, crown
G5553	χρυσίον	8	gold

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
crowns	3	100%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	3	0.7

Confined entirely to Revelation. Absent from Gospels, Acts, and all epistles.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Emblem of Usurped Royal Authority (Dragon and Beast)¶

The diadem appears on the dragon and the sea beast as a visual claim to sovereign dominion. The count of diadems corresponds to the heads or horns that bear them — a display of claimed universal rule.

Rev 12:3 — "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads"
Rev 13:1 — "a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy"

2. Supreme Sovereign Authority of Christ¶

In deliberate contrast to the dragon and beast, the Rider on the white horse wears "many" diadems — an unqualified and unlimited claim to all royal sovereignty.

Rev 19:12 — "His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself"

Common Collocations¶

With only 3 occurrences, no statistically dominant collocations exist. All content words co-occur exactly once (33%). Contextually significant co-occurring words:

Word	Strong's	Co-occ	Contextual Role
δράκων (drákōn)	G1404	1x	Bearer of seven diadems (Rev 12:3)
θηρίον (thēríon)	G2342	1x	Bearer of ten diadems (Rev 13:1)
βλασφημία (blasphēmía)	G988	1x	Accompanies beast's diadems (Rev 13:1)
μέγας (mégas)	G3173	1x	Qualifies the dragon (Rev 12:3)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1210 δέω (deō) — root verb: to bind, tie
G1223 διά (dia) — prepositional component: through, around

Synonyms¶

G4735 στέφανος (stephanos) — the other major NT "crown" word; search_relationships.py surfaced it as the closest lexical parallel, though the distinction between victor's wreath and royal diadem remains important.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G1238.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
στέφανος (stéphanos)	G4735	both "crown" (KJV)	στέφανος = victor's wreath or honor crown (earned, awarded); διάδημα = royal diadem (inherent sovereignty, bound to the head as a mark of rule)
עֲטָרָה (ʻăṭârâh)	H5850	both "crowns" (KJV)	Hebrew OT word for a crown or wreath; overlaps in English translation but broader in referent

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew	Strong's	Co-occ	Notes
מַלְכוּת (malkûwth)	H4438	3	"kingdom/royalty" — all 3 occurrences appear in royal-sovereignty contexts
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	3	"face" — contextual presence in same verses
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	3	"king" — consistent kingly context across all 3 verses

These alignments reflect OT sovereignty imagery underlying Revelation's vision sequences (drawing on Daniel and Ezekiel), not direct lexical equivalence between διάδημα and these Hebrew words.