Bible Lexicons

γενεά, ᾶς,

Ion. γενεή, ῆς, ἡ, dat. γενεῆφι Il. 14.112: (γενέσθαι):

I of the persons in a family,

1 race, family, Πριάμου γ. Il. 20.306, cf. Od. 1.222, 16.117; γενεήν τε τόκον τε Il. 15.141; ἴδμεν.. γενεήν, ἴδμεν δὲ τοκῆας 20.203, cf. 214; γενεῇ ὑπέρτερος higher by birth or blood, 11.786 (but younger in Archil. ap. Sch.ad l.); ταύτης εἶναι γ. καὶ αἵματος of this race and blood, Il. 6.211; πατρόθεν ἐκ γενεῆς ὀνομάζειν 10.68; γενεῇ by birthright, Od. 1.387; Αἰτωλὸς γενεήν by descent, Il. 23.471; γενεὴν Διός 21.187; γενεὴ ἔκ τινος descent from.., ib. 157; γενεὴν ἀπὸ Θρηίκης Hdt. 2.134; of horses, breed, stock, Il. 5.265, 268: pl., χρήματα καὶ γενεάς families, Plu. Tim. 34; γενεὰν ποιεῖσθαι to have issue, GDI 1798 (Delph.); πατριὰ καὶ γ., = φρατρία καὶ γένος, ib.1152 (Elis): hence, tribe, nation, Περσῶν γ., Τυρρηνῶν γ., A. Pers. 912 (lyr.), Eleg. 2: — rare in Prose, τίς ὢν γενεάν; X. Cyr. 1.1.6; καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ τὰν γ. ἀπολέσθαι SIG 306.8 (Tegea, iv B. C.).

2. race, generation, οἵηπερ φύλλων γ. τοιήδε καὶ ἀνδρῶν Il. 6.146; δύο γ. μερόπων ἀνθρώπων 1.250, etc., cf. Hdt. 2.142, Th. 1.14, Heraclit. ap. Plu. 2.415e (but, = μήν, Id. ap. Lyd. Mens. 3.14); ἀστὴν ἐξ ἀστῶν ἀμφοτέρων ἐπὶ τρεῖς γ. γεγενημένην SIG 1015.6 (Halic.); age, γ. ἀνθρωπηΐη the historical, opp. to the mythical, age, Hdt. 3.122; ἐπὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας γ. D.H. 3.15.

3. offspring, Il. 21.191, Orac. ap. Hdt. 6.86, S. Aj. 189 (lyr.); of a single person, Τυροῦς γ. (i. e. Pelias) Pi. P. 4.136, cf. l. 8(7).71.

4. metaph., class, kind, τὸ σύμμετρον καὶ καλὸν καὶ ὁπόσα τῆς γ. ταύτης ἐστίν Pl. Phlb. 66b; ταύτης τοι γενεᾶς ὁ νοῦς οὗτος Plot. 5.1.7.

II of Time or Place,

1 birthplace, γ. ἐπὶ λίμνῃ Γυγαίῃ Il. 20.390, cf. Od. 1.407; of an eagle's evrie, 15.175.

2. age, time of life, γενεῆφι νεώτατος Il. 14.112; γενεῇ πρεσβύτατος, προγενέστερος, ὁπλότερος, 6.24, 9.161, Od. 19.184.

3. after Hom., time of birth, ἐκ γενεῆς Hdt. 3.33, 4.23; ἀπὸ γ. X. Cyr. 1.2.8.

γενεά, γενεάς, ἡ (ΓΑΝΩ, γίνομαι (crf. Curtius, p. 610)); the Sept. often for דּור; in Greek writings from Homer down;

1. a begetting, birth, nativity: Herodotus 3, 33; Xenophon, Cyril 1, 2, 8, etc.; (others make the collective sense the primary significance, see Curtius as above).

2. passively, that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family;

a. properly, as early as Homer; equivalent to מִשְׁפָּחַה, Genesis 31:3, etc. σῴζειν Ρ᾽αχαβην καί τήν γενεάν αὐτῆς, Josephus, Antiquities 5, 1, 5. the several ranks in a natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy: Matthew 1:17 (ἑβδόμῃ γενεά οὗτος ἐστιν ἀπό τοῦ πρώτου, Philo, vit. Moys. i. § 2).

b. metaphorically, a race of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character; and especially in a bad sense a perverse race: Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41; Luke 16:8; (Acts 2:40).

3. the whole multitude of men living at the same time: Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 1:48 (πᾶσαι αἱ γενεαί); ; Philippians 2:15; used especially of the Jewish race living at one and the same period: Matthew 11:16; Matthew 12:39, 41f, 45; Matthew 16:4; Matthew 23:36; Mark 8:12, 38; Luke 11:29f, 32, 50; Luke 17:25; Acts 13:36; Hebrews 3:10; ἄνθρωποι τῆς γενεάς ταύτης, Luke 7:31; ἄνδρες τῆς γενεάς ταύτης, Luke 11:31; τήν δέ γενεάν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται, who can describe the wickedness of the present generation, Acts 8:33 (from Isaiah 53:8 the Sept.) (but cf. Meyer, at the passage).

4. an age (i. e. the time ordinarily occupied by each successive generation), the space of from 30 to 33 years (Herodotus 2, 142, et al.; Heraclitus in Plutarch, def. orac. c. 11), or ὁ χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ γεννωντα παρέχει τόν ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγεννημένον ὁ γεννησας (Plutarch, the passage cited); in the N. T. common in plural: Ephesians 3:5 (Winers Grammar, § 31, 9 a.; Buttmann, 186 (161)); παρῳχημέναις γενεαῖς in ages gone by, Acts 14:16; ἀπό τῶν γενεῶν for ages, since the generations began, Colossians 1:26; ἐκ γενεῶν ἀρχαίων from the generations of old, from ancient times down, Acts 15:21; εἰς γενεάς γενεῶν unto generations of generations, through all ages, forever (a phrase which assumes that the longer ages are made up of shorter; see αἰών, 1 a.): Luke 1:50 R L (דּורִים לְדור, Isaiah 51:8); εἰς γενεάς καί γενεάς unto generations and generations, ibid. T Tr WH equivalent to וָדור לְדור, Psalm 89:2; Isaiah 34:17; very often in the Sept.; (add, εἰς πάσας τάς γενεάς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων, Ephesians 3:21, cf. Ellicott at the passage) (γενεά is used of a century in Genesis 15:16, cf. Knobel at the passage, and on the senses of the word see the full remarks of Keim, iii. 206 (v. 245 English translation)).

γενεά , -ᾶς , ἡ

(< γίγνομαι ),

[in LXX chiefly for H1755 (Cremer, 148);]

1. race, stock, family (in NT, γέννημα , q.v.).

2. generation;

(a) of the contemporary members of a family: p1., Matthew 1:17 (cf. Genesis 31:3, metaph., of those alike in character, in bad sense, Matthew 17:17 Mark 9:19, Luke 9:41; Luke 16:8, Acts 2:40;

(b) of all the people of a given period: Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32, Philippians 2:15; pl., Luke 1:48; esp. of the Jewish people, Matthew 11:16; Matthew 12:39-42; Matthew 12:45; Matthew 16:4; Matthew 23:36, Mark 8:12; Mark 8:38, Luke 7:31; Luke 11:29-32; Luke 11:50-51; Luke 17:25, Acts 13:36, Hebrews 3:10 (LXX); τὴν γ . αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται , Acts 8:33 (LXX); the period covered by the life-time of a generation, used loosely in pl. of successive ages: Acts 14:16; Acts 15:21, Ephesians 3:5, Colossians 1:26; εἰς γενεὰς καὶ γ . (= H1755, Isaiah 34:17, al.), Luke 1:50; εἰς πάσας τὰς γ . τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰῶνων , Ephesians 3:21 (Ellic., in l; DCG, i, 639 f.).†