Acts 5:36

Πρὸ γὰρ τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀνέστη Θευδᾶς, λέγων εἶναί τινα ἑαυτόν, ᾧ προσεκλήθη ἀριθμὸς ἀνδρῶν ὡσεὶ τετρακοσίων· ὃς ἀνῃρέθη, καὶ πάντες ὅσοι ἐπείθοντο αὐτῷ διελύθησαν καὶ ἐγένοντο εἰς οὐδέν.

RBT Translation:

προσκλίσις - Leaning out of Balance

For before these ones, the Days, Godly ("Theudas")²² stood up, the one who is speaking his own self to be someone, to whom a number of men were leaning against just like four hundred, who was taken up. And everyone, as many as were persuaded by self, they were dissolved and they became into nothing.

διαλύω - loose apart, dissolve, untwined, thaw

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
For before these days Theudas arose, saying himself to be somebody: which a number of men followed, about four hundred, who was slain; and all, as many as believed him, were destroyed, and were for nothing.

LITV Translation:
For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming himself to be somebody, to whom was joined a number of men, about four hundred, who was done away, and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed and came to nothing.

Footnotes

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"I'm of God!"

θευ- is a dialectal form (Doric and Ionic) corresponding to the more common θεο- root, which means "god."

This aligns with known theophoric compounds such as:

• Θεοδαίσιος (Theodaisios) — “divinely inspired” or “god-given”

• θεομορία (theomoria) — “oracle” or “divine lot”

• θεόμορος (theomoros) — “doom appointed by god” or “fated by god”

The example θευ-εργέσια (theu-ergesia), a festival name in an inscription from Delos, literally means "festival of the θεὸς εὐεργέτης"—"god benefactor" or "god-helper," where θευ- substitutes for θεο- in dialectal usage.

Implication for Θευδᾶς

• Given θευ- = θεο- ("god"), the root Θευδ- in Θευδᾶς clearly incorporates the divine root.

• The suffix -ᾶς is a typical masculine nominative ending.

• Therefore, Θευδᾶς can be understood as a Doric or Ionic dialectal theophoric name meaning roughly "of God", "godly," or "god’s [man/servant]" depending on contextual usage.

θευ- is an archaic/dialectal variant of θεο- ("god").

Names or words with θευ- are related to the divine, with Θευδᾶς as a personal name meaning essentially “godly” or “divine one” in the sense of “one associated with God.”

This usage is well attested in Doric and Ionic inscriptions and names.