The Godhead, what does that mean?

Godhead is a word that appears three times in the KJV, and in all three it is a different word in the Greek (though all of them were derived from Theos, meaning God or god).  But first we need to discus the English word itself.

Originally, Godhead was just a variant spelling and pronunciation of Godhood before modern English spellings were fully standardized.  You may sometimes similarly see the spelling Maidenhead used where the author clearly means Maidenhood, probability as a synonym for Virginity.  And so Godhead originally carried the exact same meaning as Godhood, referring to the status of divinity.  It seems to be a coincidence that it looks like it has the word "head" in it.

But that's not how it's usually used today.

I've seen people who agree with the doctrine of The Trinity as it's usually defined, but don't like the word "Trinity" for whatever reason, say we should say The Godhead instead.  And even others not suggesting we use it as a synonym for Trinity, still seem to mean something similar by it.

Let's look at all three verses it is used in and their corresponding Greek words.

Acts 17:29

"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."

Godhead here is Theion, Strong Number 2304.  This is the only of the three words used more then once, though the others is a slightly different form, Theios in 2 Peters 1 verses 3 and 4, there it is translated "divine".  And I think likewise "the divine" is how it should be rendered in Acts 17.

Romans 1:20

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

Here it is Theiotes, Strong Number 2305, I agree with the Strongs that it should be rendered "Divinity".  And so it would be here that the "Godhood" meaning would be accurate.

Colossians 2:9

"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Here the Greek word is Theotes, Strong Number 2320.  This word is a bit more mysterious.  One website says it also means divinity but with "abstractly" in parentheses.  I've also seen it defined as "The substance of being God".

In this case it is useful to talk about some of the Greek words around it.

The word for "fulness" is Pleroma.  Because the Gnostics used Pleroma a certain way, it suits some people to say Paul is using it that way here.  But this is the same word for "fulness" used when he refers to the "fulness of the gentiles" in Romans 11:25.  It just means fullness.

The word translated "Bodily" is Somatikos Strong Number 4985.  It's a variation of Strong Number 4984.  It could also equally accurately be translated Corporeally or Physically.

The term Homoousion "of the same substance" was a key focus of controversy at the First Council of Nicea in defining The Trinity.  While I can sympathies with those who objected to the word because it was not used in The Bible and seems to have been coined by Modalists.  The point of the Nicene Homoousion doctrine is supported by Colossians 2:9.

If I were to make my own Bible translation, Colossians 2:9 might likely be the only place where "The Godhead" is used.

Update November 2018: Luke 15.

The Greek word Ousias is used in Scripture twice, in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15: 11-32, specifically in verses 12 and 13.

"And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living."

The Father is typologically God in this parable, now being a Father doesn't necessarily mean he represents only the first person of the Trinity, the full Godhead is a Father to all Humanity as our Creator, we just individually refer to the First Person as The Father while The Son.

So this Father's Ousias is divided into thirds because the older brother gets a Double Portion in Hebrew Custom.  The Ousias of God is in three parts.  Perhaps we could say the portion that was squandered is The Son who was made sin for us and died for our Sins.

You shouldn't build doctrine on parables, but it's still an interesting observation.