Quick Definition
ἱεροσυλέω v. I commit sacrilege
Strong's Definition
from 2417; to be a temple-robber (figuratively)
KJV Usage: commit sacrilege
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
verb | ἱερατεύω + συλάω
57.241 · Possess, Transfer, Exchange · Steal, Rob
to rob temples to take by force or stealth objects from a temple It is also possible to interpret ἱεροσυλέω in ROM 2:22 as meaning ‘to commit sacrilege,’ in the sense of doing harm or damage to sacred objects in temples (see 53.104).
53.104 · Religious Activities · Sacrilege
to commit sacrilege, to desecrate to commit sacrilege by doing harm or damage to sacred objects in temples In biblical times the damaging of valuable objects in a temple was more than simply a criminal act, since it involved a serious breach of respect for supernatural beings. Accordingly, doing harm to sacred objects in a temple would be regarded as a particularly godless deed. For another interpretation of ἱεροσυλέω in ROM 2:22, see 57.241.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ἱερο-συλέω, -ὦ ; (ἱερόσυλος, 4. V.); to commit sacrilege, to rob a temple: Ro. ii. 22, where the meaning is, ‘thou who abhorrest idols and their contamination, dost yet not hesitate to plunder their shrines’; cf. Fritzsche [and Delitzsch] ad loc. (Arstph., Plat., Dem., al.)
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ἱεροσυλέω hierosyleō 1x
to despoil temples, commit sacrilege, Rom. 2:22*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** ἱερο-συλέω, -ῶ
(< ἱερόσυλος, q.v.), [in LXX: II Mac 9:2*;]
to rob a temple (commit sacrilege, R, mg.): Ro 2:22.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
ἱεροσυλέω is used in its literal sense of robbing temples in δ γ.}2.378»10 (end of iii/B.c.) ἐξήλεγξαν τοὺς tepoovAnkdtas ... καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἃ αὐτοὶ ἐκτημέν[οι] ἤσαν οἱ ἱεροσυλήσαντες ἱερὰ ἐγένοντο τῶι θεῶι, with reference to those who had stolen part of the Phocians’ ἀνάθεμα at Delphi. Cf. also PseudoHeracleitus 2:2. 7, p. 64 (Bernays) φίλους φαρμακεύσαντες, ἱεροσυλήσαντες. It is probable, however, that the word, which is here used with special reference to Ephesus, should be understood in the wider sense of ‘* doing sacrilege,” as in the RV margin of Rom 2”, the only place where it occurs in the NT: see, in addition to the commentators on this passage, ZV TV ix. p. 167 and s.v. ἱερόσυλος.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ἱεροσυλέω (hierosuleō) — to despoil a temple. ἱεροσῡλ-έω, perfect ἱεροσύληκα [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—rob a temple, commit sacrilege, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II. with accusative, ἱ. τὰ ὅπλα steal the sacred arms, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἱ. τὰ ἱερά rob or plunder the temples, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]