Acts 5:36

"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.