Element; Elements

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

el´ē̇ - ment , (τὰ στοιχεῖα , tá stoicheı́a , "the letters of the alphabet," "the elements out of which all things are formed," "the heavenly bodies," "the fundamental principles of any art or science"):

(1) In  2 Peter 3:10 , the constituent parts of the physical universe ("elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat," the American Revised Version, margin "the heavenly bodies").

(2) In  Galatians 4:3 ,  Galatians 4:1 , the Revised Version (British and American) has "rudiments," as in the King James Version margin, and in  Colossians 2:8 ,  Colossians 2:20 , where the reference is to imperfect Jewish ordinances. See Rudiments .