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Bible Lexicons

Old & New Testament Greek Lexical DictionaryGreek Lexicon

Strong's #173 - ἄκανθα

Transliteration
ákantha
Phonetics
ak'-an-thah
Origin
probably from the same as (G188)
Parts of Speech
Noun Feminine
TDNT
None
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ἄκακος
 
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ἀκάνθινος
Definition   
Thayer's
  1. thorn, bramble
  2. bush, brier, a thorny plant
Hebrew Equivalent Words:
Strong #: 891 ‑ בְּאֻשׁ (be‑oo‑sheem');  2312 ‑ חֵדֶק (khay'‑dek);  2336 ‑ חוֹחַ (kho'‑akh);  5518 ‑ סִרָה (seer, see‑raw', see‑raw');  6975 ‑ קֹץ (kotse, kotse);  7898 ‑ שַׁיִת (shah'‑yith);  
Frequency Lists
Verse Results
KJV (14)
Matthew 5
Mark 3
Luke 4
John 1
Hebrews 1
NAS (14)
Matthew 5
Mark 3
Luke 4
John 1
Hebrews 1
HCS (14)
Matthew 5
Mark 3
Luke 4
John 1
Hebrews 1
BSB (14)
Matthew 5
Mark 3
Luke 4
John 1
Hebrews 1
ESV (9)
Matthew 2
Mark 1
Luke 4
John 1
Hebrews 1
WEB (14)
Matthew 5
Mark 3
Luke 4
John 1
Hebrews 1
Liddell-Scott-Jones Definitions

ἄκανθ-α [ ᾰκ], ης, ἡ, (ἀκή A) thorn, prickle, Arist. PA 655a19, Thphr. HP 6.1.3: hence,

1. any thorny or prickly plant (in Od. 5.328 (pl.) prob. Eryngium campestre), S. Fr. 718, Eub. 107.19, Theoc. 1.132, etc.: prov., οὐ γὰρ ἄκανθαι no thistles, i.e. 'an easy job', Ar. Fr. 272, 483: special kinds: ἄ. Ἀραβική smaller milk-thistle, Notobasis syriaca, Dsc. 3.13; ἄ. βασιλική fish-thistle, Cnicus Acarna, Thphr. CP 1.10.5; ἄ. Ἰνδική, = Balsamodendron Mukul, Id. HP 9.1.2; ἄ. λευκή Acacia albida, ib. 4.2.8; = ἄ. βασιλική, Dsc. 3.12; ἄ. λευκὴ τρίοζος, = Euphorbia antiquorum, Thphr. HP 4.4.12; ἄ. ἀκανώδης (prob.) cornthistle, Carduus arvensis, ib. 10.6.

2. of other plants, e.g. Spanish broom, Spartium junceum, Str. 3.5.10: = ἀκακία, ἄ. Αἰγυπτία, Thphr. HP 9.1.2. cf. POxy. 1188.10 (13 A. D.), etc.; ἄ. μέλαινα Acacia arabica, Thphr. HP 4.2.8, cf. Hdt. 2.96, Thd. Isaiah 41:19; ἄ. δψάς, = Acacia tortilis, Thphr. HP 4.7.1.

3. centralflowering-bud of χαμαιλέων λευκός, ib. 9.12.1, Dsc. 3.8.

4. = ἄκανθος, Ps.- Dsc. 3.17.

5. in pl., prickles or spines of the hedgehog and of certain fish, Ion Trag.38, Arist. HA 530b8.

6. backbone or spine of fish, A. Fr. 275, Ar. V. 969, Alex. 110.11,al.; of serpents, Hdt. 2.75, Theoc. 24.32, A.R. 4.150; of men, Hdt. 4.72, Hp. Art. 14, E. El. 492, Arist. PA 654a26, Gal. 2.451, etc.; improperly used of mammalia, acc. to Arist. AP 0.98a22; of the spinous processes of the vertebrae, Gal. 2.758; χονδρώδεις ἄ. false ribs, Ruf. Oss. 25.

7. metaph. in pl., thorny questions, Luc. Hes. 5, Ath. 3.97d.

Thayer's Expanded Definition

ἄκανθα, (ης, (ἀκή a point (but see in ἀκμή));

a. a thorn bramble-bush, brier: Matthew 7:16; Luke 6:44; Hebrews 6:8; εἰς τάς ἀκάνθας i. e. among the seeds of thorns, Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:7 (L margin: ἐπί), 18 (Tdf. ἐπί); Luke 8:14 (Luke 8:7 ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀκανθῶν); ἐπί τάς ἀκάνθας, i. e. upon ground in which seeds of thorns were lying hidden, Matthew 13:7.

b. a thorny plant: στέφανον ἐξ ἀκανθῶν, Matthew 27:29; John 19:2 — for bare thorns might have caused delirium or even death; what species of plant is referred to, is not clear. Some boldly read ἀκανθῶν, from ἄκανθος, acanthus, bear's foot; but the meaning of ἄκανθα is somewhat comprehensive even in secular writings cf. the classical Greek Lexicons under the word (On the see BB. DD. under the word, and for references McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia.)


Thayer's Expanded Greek Definition, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights rserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com
Abbott-Smith Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament

ἄκανθα , -ης ,

(<ἀκή , a point),

[in LXX chiefly for H6975, also for H5518, H7898, etc.;]

a prickly plant, thorn, brier; in NT always pl.:

Matthew 7:16 Matthew 13:7; Matthew 13:22 Matthew 27:29, Mark 4:7; Mark 4:18, Luke 6:44; Luke 8:7; Luke 8:14 John 19:2, Hebrews 6:8 (v. MM, VGT, s.v.).†


Abbott-Smith Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament.
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
Vocabulary of the Greek NT

In P Oxy III. 646 (time of Hadrian) a legacy includes κλείνη ἀκανθίνη, i.e. a couch made of acantha-wood (Herod. ii. 96, Strabo 175). Sir F. G. Kenyon (P Lond I. p. 140), calls it ";the Egyptian acacia from which gum arabic is obtained, and whose branches were in early times used for boat-building."; Its pods are mentioned in P Leid X (iii/iv A.D.), a long list of chemical prescriptions : xii. 35 (p. 237) ἀκάνθης κεράτια. The name, or derivatives of it, may be seen in P Lond 214.13 ff. (A.D. 270–5) ( = II. p. 162), ib. 1177177 (A.D. 113) ( = III. p. 186), P Oxy I. 121.4 (iii/A.D.), ib. VI. 909.17 (A.D. 225), ib. VIII. 1112.5 (A.D. 188), P Flor I. 50.72 (A.D. 268), etc. This evidence isolates further the word as used in Mark and John (Isaiah 34:13); but the meaning there is not shaken. We need not discuss the identification of ἄκανθα, ἄκανθος (so MGr ἀγκάθι, Pontic ἀχάντι, ";thorn";), and the derived adjective, as occurring in Egypt : in the NT the exact nature of the thorny plant indicated is indeterminate : see Enc. Bibl. 5059 f.

 


The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.
List of Word Forms
άκανθα ακανθαι άκανθαι ἄκανθαι ακάνθαις άκανθαν ακανθας ακάνθας ἀκάνθας ακάνθης ακανθων ακανθών ἀκανθῶν akanthai ákanthai akanthas akánthas akanthon akanthôn akanthōn akanthō̂n
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