G3178 — μέθη (méthē)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3178
Original: μέθη
Transliteration: méthē
Pronunciation: meth'-ay
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Apparently a primary word; cognate with μεθύω (G3184, "to be drunk") and μέθυσος (G3183, "a drunkard")
Occurrences: 3 in NT (3 unique verses, 3 books)
First Occurrence: Luke 21:34 — "lest... your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From Strong's: "Apparently a primary word; an intoxicant, i.e. (by implication) intoxication — drunkenness." The noun denotes the state or act of being intoxicated with strong drink, not merely the beverage itself. Verbal cognate μεθύω (G3184) = "to be drunk"; agent noun μέθυσος (G3183) = "a drunkard"; causative μεθύσκω (G3182) = "to make drunk, become drunk."

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - Domain: 88 — Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior - Subdomain: 88.37 — Drunkenness - Other words in subdomain: κραιπάλη (G2897, surfeiting/dissipation), κῶμος (G2970, revelling/carousing), μεθύσκω (G3182, to make drunk), μέθυσος (G3183, drunkard), μεθύω (G3184, to be drunk), οἰνοπότης (G3630, winebibber), οἰνοφλυγία (G3632, excess of wine), πάροινος (G3943, given to wine), πότος (G4224, banqueting/drinking bout)

This entire cluster is grouped under moral-ethical failure, not mere physiological state — Louw-Nida classifies drunkenness as an ethical category, not a medical one.

UBS Semantic Domains: - [088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
drunkenness	3	100.0%

KJV renders μέθη uniformly. No interpretive variation across its three occurrences.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Galatians	1	0.7
Romans	1	0.2
Luke	1	0.1

All three occurrences are NT. Absent from LXX at the word level (though cognates μεθύω/μεθύσκω render Hebrew שָׁכַר and related drinking verbs freely). Concentrated in paraenetic (exhortation) contexts — never narrative.

Semantic Categories¶

All three NT occurrences fall into a single semantic register: μέθη is cited in vice-list or ethical-warning contexts. Sub-categorization reflects the rhetorical frame.

1. Eschatological Vigilance — drunkenness as spiritual dulling¶

Luke 21:34 — "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares."

Here μέθη is paired with κραιπάλη (surfeiting, over-indulgence) and βιωτικαὶ μέριμναι (cares of this life) as things that "weigh down" (βαρύνω G925) the heart and cause the Day of the Lord to come unexpectedly. The concern is spiritual stupor, not merely physical intoxication.

2. Conduct Becoming Believers — drunkenness as night-behavior¶

Romans 13:13 — "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."

Paired with κῶμος (revelling), κοίτη (chambering/sexual immorality), ἀσέλγεια (wantonness), ἔρις (strife), ζῆλος (envy). The paired-opposites structure (day/night walking) frames μέθη as darkness behavior incompatible with the believer's eschatological "day."

3. Works of the Flesh — drunkenness as fleshly output¶

Galatians 5:21 — "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Listed among the ἔργα τῆς σαρκός (works of the flesh, Gal 5:19-21). Paired with κῶμος (revellings), φθόνος (envyings), φόνος (murders). Paul explicitly attaches an inheritance-exclusion formula (οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν, G2816): those who practice it will not inherit God's kingdom.

Across all three, μέθη is never a neutral descriptor of a physical condition — it is always a moral-ethical category warranting warning.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
κραιπάλη (kraipálē, surfeiting)	G2897	1x	Luke 21:34 — paired with μέθη as heart-weighing indulgence
κῶμος (kōmos, revelling)	G2970	1x	Rom 13:13, Gal 5:21 — standard NT pairing: carousing + drunkenness
ἀσέλγεια (asélgeia, wantonness)	G766	1x	Rom 13:13 — vice pair: intoxication + sexual license
κοίτη (koítē, chambering)	G2845	1x	Rom 13:13 — nocturnal/illicit sexual imagery
ἔρις (éris, strife)	G2054	1x	Rom 13:13 — intoxication produces contention
ζῆλος (zēlos, envying)	G2205	1x	Rom 13:13, Gal 5:21 — paired fleshly passions
καρδία (kardía, heart)	G2588	1x	Luke 21:34 — seat of spiritual vigilance compromised by μέθη
βασιλεία (basileía, kingdom)	G932	1x	Gal 5:21 — inheritance-exclusion formula
κληρονομέω (klēronoméō, inherit)	G2816	1x	Gal 5:21 — those who do such things shall not inherit

Pattern: μέθη never appears alone. It is always bracketed with at least one other vice — most characteristically κῶμος (revelling) — functioning as a member of a vice-cluster rather than an isolated concept.

Word Family / Cognates¶

G3182 μεθύσκω (methýskō) — causative verb: to make drunk / become drunk (Luke 12:45; Eph 5:18; 1 Thess 5:7)
G3183 μέθυσος (méthysos) — agent noun: a drunkard (1 Cor 5:11; 1 Cor 6:10)
G3184 μεθύω (methýō) — stative verb: to be drunk (Matt 24:49; Acts 2:15; 1 Cor 11:21; 1 Thess 5:7; Rev 17:6)

All four share the μεθ- root. Distribution across the paradigm: μέθη (state/act, 3x), μεθύω (stative, 5x), μεθύσκω (causative, 3x), μέθυσος (person, 2x).

Synonyms¶

G2970 κῶμος (kōmos) — revelling/carousing; the nearest NT vice-term and the standard partner of μέθη in Rom 13:13 and Gal 5:21.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G3178.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
κραιπάλη	G2897	near-synonym; KJV "surfeiting"	kraipálē = hangover/aftermath of debauch; méthē = act/state of intoxication itself. Paired in Luke 21:34 as two distinct phases.
οἰνοφλυγία	G3632	"excess of wine" (1 Pet 4:3)	Specifically wine-flooding; méthē is generic intoxication from any strong drink.
πότος	G4224	"banquetings" (1 Pet 4:3)	pótos = the drinking party / occasion; méthē = the resulting condition.
רָוֶה (râveh)	H7302	Hebrew "drunkenness" (once)	OT Hebrew cognate domain; LXX commonly uses μέθη for שִׁכָּרוֹן and related nouns, but G3178 itself is NT-only.

Hebrew Source (via LXX alignment of cognate semantic field)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	PMI Score	Notes
שֵׁכָר (shêkâr)	H7941	12.32	"strong drink" — the substance producing μέθη
יַיִן (yayin)	H3196	10.50	"wine" — the most common biblical intoxicant
שָׁתָה (shâthâh)	H8354	7.59	"to drink" — the action leading to μέθη

The noun μέθη itself does not appear in Luke–Galatians as a translation of any single Hebrew word (these are NT compositions, not LXX renderings), but its semantic field aligns tightly with the שֵׁכָר / יַיִן / שָׁתָה cluster in the Hebrew Bible.