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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #173 - ἄκανθα
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- thorn, bramble
- bush, brier, a thorny plant
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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.
ἄκανθα, (ης, ἡ (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
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ἄκανθα , -ης , ἡ
(<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.).†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
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.
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Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.