πολυποίκιλος (polupoikilos)
polupoikilos
manifold
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The adjective polupoikilos describes something marked by a great variety of colors or patterns, literally meaning "much-variegated." In classical Greek, it often referred to textiles or paintings with intricate, multi-colored designs. The New Testament uses this vivid imagery in only one verse, Ephesians 3:10, to describe the wisdom of God.
Here, Paul explains that this manifold wisdom is made known to the spiritual rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms through the church. The word suggests a complex, multifaceted display rather than a simple or uniform message. It implies that God’s plan is rich with diverse elements, woven together into a single, coherent purpose that reveals His character to all creation.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
When Paul writes about the church in Ephesians, he uses a rare word to describe God’s wisdom: polupoikilos. This term literally means "manifold" or "many-colored," evoking images of intricate tapestries with countless threads woven together. It suggests that divine wisdom is not a single, flat color but a rich mosaic of diverse elements working in harmony.
This imagery offers comfort when life feels chaotic or confusing. Just as a complex pattern only reveals its beauty from the right distance, God’s plans often make more sense in retrospect. The church becomes the place where this multifaceted wisdom is displayed to spiritual powers, showing that variety and unity can coexist under His sovereign design.
You do not need to understand every thread of your own story to trust the Weaver. His wisdom is vast enough to hold your joys and sorrows together in a purposeful whole, revealing His character to a watching world through your faithful presence.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- manifold1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- πολυποίκιλος1×
Key Verses
-
Ephesians 3:10
to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,
This is the only New Testament occurrence of the word, where Paul uses it to describe how the church displays God's complex, multi-faceted wisdom to spiritual authorities.