Oh, if I can remember and I'm slow in finding the exact original data,.... it was in the form of divinity or divine nature.
let me find it in my brain again and on some papers..
Godhead (or middle English
godhood) refers to the divine nature, essence or substance (
ousia) of the one Father God.
Here are some more data points that I wrote over the years..
For Godhead, these three different words are used:
Theiotés is used in Romans 1:20
Theion is used in Acts 7:29 – means God in general.
Divine Being
Θεῖον (Theion)
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2304: Divine; subst: the Deity. From theos; godlike: - divine, godhead.
Because Greek adjectives are inflected for case, gender, and number, they are often used to stand in as nouns.
G2304 appears exactly 2 other times.
2 Peter 1:
3 His
divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Theotes is used in Col 2:9
In other translations godhead is replaced by: invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature.
For a Trinitarian YHWH means all three of their persons are of the godhead of course.
John Wycliffe introduced the term
godhede into English
Bible versions in two places, and, though somewhat archaic, the term survives in
modern English because of its use in three places of the
Tyndale New Testament (1525), the
Geneva Bible (1560/1599), and
King James Version (1611). In that translation, the word was used to translate three different
Koine Greek words:
Verse | Greek | Romanization | Type | Translation | Vulgate 405 | Wycliffe 1395 | Tyndale 1525 | ESV 2001 |
Acts 17:29 | θεῖον | theion[3] | adjective | "divine, godly" | divinum | that godli thing | godhed | the divine being |
Romans 1:20 | θειότης | theiotēs[4] | noun | "divinity, divine nature" | divinitas | godhed | godhed | divine nature |
Col 2:9 | θεότης | theotēs[5] | noun | "deity" | divinitas | the Godhed | the godheed | deity |
I hope this helps you appreciate and know the confusion this artificial word has causes over the centuries.
Fortunately, some new Bible translations have rediscovered the truth and reverted back to words such as deity, divine being, nature.
And you must remember that this divine sense was IN the Son not that the Son was or the source of this divinity in the first place. It was placed into him by design and by the desire of his God. Most folks though just dismiss this obvious written fact clearly visible in pertinent scripture out of hand, and just pompously waltz over it and prefer to parrot words that force the Son to be the same as God himself. Can can I say ignorance with a capital I, to use the word strictly as per the dictionary. Cannot they read and think I wonder...as they read and understand the local context surround the verses under study. Of course, it's not that is not their nature to be truthful it seems.