G5206 — υἱοθεσία (huiothesia)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G5206
Original: υἱοθεσία
Transliteration: huiothesia
Pronunciation: hwee-oth-es-ee'-ah
Part of Speech: Feminine noun (n-f)
Root: Compound of υἱός (huios, G5207) "son" + a derivative of τίθημι (tithemi, G5087) "to place" — literally "the placing as a son"
Occurrences: 5 in NT (5 unique verses, 3 books)
First Occurrence: Rom 8:15 — "ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From a presumed compound of υἱός (huios, G5207 "son") and a derivative of τίθημι (tithemi, G5087 "to place"); the placing as a son, i.e. adoption (figuratively, Christian sonship in respect to God).

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 35 — Help, Care For
Subdomain: 35.007 — Adopt
Other words in subdomain: ἀναιρέω (anaireō, G337) — to take up, adopt (also "to kill" in other senses)

Domain Neighbors (35.007 — Adopt)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G337	ἀναιρέω	7	to kill, kill

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
adoption	1	20%
adoption of sons	1	20%
of adoption	1	20%
for the adoption	1	20%
the adoption of children	1	20%

All 5 occurrences are rendered "adoption" (with varying syntactic framing). The KJV is completely uniform in its core translation.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Romans	3	0.69
Galatians	1	0.67
Ephesians	1	0.65

Exclusively Pauline. All three books are soteriological epistles dealing with justification, redemption, and the believer's standing before God. Absent from the Gospels, Acts, General Epistles, and Revelation.

Grammatical Forms¶

Reference	Form	Parsing
Rom 8:15	υἱοθεσίας	Genitive Singular Feminine
Rom 8:23	υἱοθεσίαν	Accusative Singular Feminine
Rom 9:4	υἱοθεσία	Nominative Singular Feminine
Gal 4:5	υἱοθεσίαν	Accusative Singular Feminine
Eph 1:5	υἱοθεσίαν	Accusative Singular Feminine

Accusative (object/purpose) is the dominant case (3 of 5). No plural forms occur.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Present Spiritual Status — Received Through the Spirit¶

Rom 8:15 — "ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father"
Gal 4:5 — "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons"

The adoption is something already "received" (λαμβάνω) — a present reality, not merely future. Paired with Spirit reception and the intimate cry "Abba, Father."

2. Future Eschatological Completion — Bodily Redemption¶

Rom 8:23 — "ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body"

Here adoption is still "waited for" (ἀπεκδέχομαι) — identified with the future redemption of the body. The Spirit is the "firstfruits" (ἀπαρχή) guaranteeing this completion.

3. Israel's Covenantal Privilege¶

Rom 9:4 — "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises"

Adoption listed among Israel's corporate privileges alongside glory, covenants, law, worship, and promises. Refers to Israel's historic status as God's "son" (cf. Exod 4:22, Hos 11:1).

4. Predestined Divine Purpose¶

Eph 1:5 — "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will"

Adoption as the predetermined goal of God's elective purpose, accomplished "by" (διά) Jesus Christ and motivated by divine good pleasure (εὐδοκία).

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	2x (40%)	"Spirit of adoption" — the Spirit mediates or evidences adopted status
Ἀββᾶ (Abba)	G5	1x (20%)	"Abba, Father" — the intimate cry enabled by adoption
ἀπαρχή (aparche)	G536	1x (20%)	"firstfruits of the Spirit" — pledge of adoption's completion
ἀπεκδέχομαι (apekdechomai)	G553	1x (20%)	"waiting for the adoption" — eschatological expectation
ἀπολύτρωσις (apolytrosis)	G629	1x (20%)	"the adoption, the redemption of our body" — adoption defined as bodily redemption
ἐξαγοράζω (exagorazo)	G1805	1x (20%)	"redeem... that we might receive adoption" — redemption precedes adoption
διαθήκη (diatheke)	G1242	1x (20%)	Listed alongside adoption in Israel's privileges
δόξα (doxa)	G1391	1x (20%)	Listed alongside adoption in Israel's privileges
δουλεία (douleia)	G1397	1x (20%)	"not the spirit of bondage... but adoption" — antithetical pairing
εὐδοκία (eudokia)	G2107	1x (20%)	"according to the good pleasure of his will" — motive for adoption

Word Family / Cognates¶

G5207 υἱός (huios) — son (382v); the root component; denotes the status conferred by adoption
G5087 τίθημι (tithemi) — to place, set, appoint (96v); the second root component; denotes the legal act of positioning

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
G5043 τέκνον (teknon)	—	"children" (Eph 1:5 KJV "adoption of children")	teknon = child by birth/nature; huiothesia = child by legal act/placement
G5207 υἱός (huios)	—	"sons" (Gal 4:5 KJV "adoption of sons")	huios = the status of son; huiothesia = the act of conferring that status

No other Strong's number is translated "adoption" in the KJV. The word is exclusively G5206.

Synonyms¶

G5043 τέκνον (teknon) — child (natural offspring; used in John 1:12 "children of God" — emphasis on birth/regeneration rather than legal standing)

Antonyms¶

G1397 δουλεία (douleia) — bondage, slavery (explicitly contrasted in Rom 8:15: "not the spirit of bondage... but the Spirit of adoption")

Hebrew Source¶

No Hebrew source via LXX mapping. The concept of huiothesia is a Greco-Roman legal institution (adoptio) without a direct Hebrew equivalent. The OT expresses the concept through relational declarations ("Israel is my son, my firstborn," Exod 4:22) rather than a technical adoption term.