Quick Definition
ὕλη, ης, ἡ n.f. wood, fuel
Strong's Definition
perhaps akin to 3586; a forest, i.e. (by implication) fuel
KJV Usage: matter
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ης | διϋλίζω
3.3 · Plants · Trees
forest a dense growth of trees covering a relatively large area In JAS 3:5 it is also possible to interpret ὕλη as wood which has been cut up, either firewood or wood used for construction (see ὕλη[b] wood, pile of wood, 3.64).
In some languages spoken by people living in tropical forest areas the equivalent of ‘forest’ is simply the expression ‘where no one lives,’ based upon the fact that people live in clearings and everything else is forest. Such a rendering, however, may not lead to a satisfactory translation of JAS 3:5 (the only occurrence of ὕλη in the NT), in which case one is better advised to interpret ὕλη in the sense of ‘pile of wood’ (3.64).
3.64 · Plants · Wood and Wood Products
wood, pile of wood the woody part of trees or bushes In JAS 3:5 ὕλη may be interpreted as a forest (see 3.3).
As already noted in the case of ξύλον[a] (3.60), a number of languages make a distinction between wood used as building material and wood employed in heating or cooking.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ὕλη, -ns, 7, a forest, a wood; felled wood, fuel: Jas. iii. 5. (From Hom. down; Sept.)
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ὕλη hylē 1x
wood, a forest; in NT firewood, a mass of fuel, Jas. 3:5*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
ὕλη, -ης, ἡ
[in LXX: Jb 19:29 (†) 38:40 (סֻכָּה), Ps 68 (69):2 Blא(יָוֵן), Is 10:17 (שָׁמִיר), Wi 11:17 15:13, Si 28:10, II Mac 2:24, IV Mac 1:29 * ;]
wood, forest, woodland (Thuc., Xen., al.).
wood, timber, fuel (Hom., Hdt., Thuc., al.): Ja 3:5 (v. Hort, Ja., 70, 104 f.).
= Lat. materia, esp. in Philosophy, matter (Arist. and later writers; Wi, ll. c.).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
ὕλη. Hort’s contention (ad Jas 3°, cf. p. 104 ff.) that ὕλη, when applied to living wood, “is either woodland as opposed to mountains and cultivated plains, specially the rough bushy skirts of the hills, or brushwood” may be supported by PSI VI. 5778 (b.c. 248-7) τήν τε γῆν ἐϊκάθαρα ὑπάρχουσαν ἢ] ὕλης μεστήν. The word is used in the account of a purchase of wood P Cairo Zen I. 591124 (B.C. 257) ξύλων ὧν ἠγόρακεν ἐκ τῆς ὕλης : cf. also P Lond 166 4,4 (a.D. 186) (ΞΞ 11. p. 106) ἐφ᾽ ὕλ(ης) καινῆς, wood for the sluice-gates of an embankment, and P Oxy XIV. 16744 (iii/A.D.) ποίησον τὴν ἄκανθαν καταβληθῆναι Kal τὴν ὕλην αὐτῆς βάλε εἰς τὸν Tpustvov, “have the acacia tree cut down and throw the wood into the . εὐ (Edd.). For the meaning ‘‘ furniture,” see «ε ἡ ὑπάγω P Oxy XVI. τροιϑὸ (a Will—vi/a.p.) τὴν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου πᾶσαν ὕλην ἀπὸ κεφαλαίου μέχρι ἐλαχίστου τινός, “all the furniture in my house from the chief pieces down to the smallest item ”’ (Edd.). It may be noted that in P Par 479 (B.c. 152-1) (= Selections, p. 22) ἐνβέβληκαν ὑμᾶς εἰς ὕλην μεγάλην, Wilcken (UPZ i. p. 334) understands ὕλη as = ‘‘mud,”’ “slime” : cf. ὑλίζω, “41 filter, strain,” in P Lond 4671 (iv/a.p.) (=I. Ρ- 67). “Y μέναιος, “* Hymenaeus,” a back-sliding Christian (1 Tim 12°, 2 Tim 217). For the adj. ὑμέναιος (from Ὑμήν, “the god of marriage ᾽᾽) cf. the sepulchral inscr. Pyezsigke 67064— οὐδ᾽ ἐτέλεσσα νυμφιδίων θαλάμων εἰς ὑμέναια λέχη.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ὕλη (hulē) — forest. ὕλη [ῡ], ἡ, forest, woodland, [NT+8th c.BC+]; ὕλα ἀεργός virgin forest, [Refs]; τὰ δένδρα καὶ ὕλη fruit-trees and forest-trees, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; not only of forest-trees, but also of copse, brushwood, undergrowth (compare ὕλημα), directly opposed to to timber-trees, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also in plural, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II. wood cut down, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; firewood, fuel, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; brushwood, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; timber, ὕ. ναυπηγησίμη [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also, twigs for birds' nests, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
III. the stuff of which a thing is made, material, (perhaps so of wood), [Refs 8th c.BC+]; rarely of other material, as metal, οἱ παρ᾽ ἄκμονι.. ὕλην ἄψυχον δημιουργοῦντες [Refs 5th c.BC+]: generally, materials, [Refs 6th c.AD+]
III.2. in Philosophy, matter, first in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; defined as τὸ ὑποκείμενον γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς δεκτικόν, [Refs]; as τὸ ἐζ οὗ γίγνεται, [Refs] in later philosophical writers, mostly opposed to to the intelligent and formative principle (νοῦς), [Refs 4th c.AD+]
III.3. matter for a poem or treatise, ὕ. τραγική, ποιητικαὶ ὗλαι, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕ. the subject-matter, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.4. ὕ. ἰατρική materia medica, Dsc.at Title Page; so ὕλη alone, materia medica, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; ὗλαι τῆς τέχνης [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
III.4. b ἡ μέση ὕλη the middle range of diet, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
III.5. plural, material resources, βασιλικαὶ ὗλαι [Refs 1st c.AD+]
IV. sediment, [Refs 5th c.BC+] (ἀφ-, δι-), ὑλώδης [Refs]; mud, slime, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ὕλῃ, ὕλει, and ἰλυῖ are conjecture for ὕδει in [Refs 6th c.BC+]
IV.2. matter excreted from the human body, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; phlegm, catarrh, PMed. in [Refs 3rd c.AD+]