the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #725 - ἁρπαγμός
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- the act of seizing, robbery
- a thing seized or to be seized
- booty to deem anything a prize
- a thing to be seized upon or to be held fast, retained
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- Word
- Parsing
did not use
this Strong's Number
did not use
this Strong's Number
did not use
this Strong's Number
ἁρπαγ-μός, ὁ,
1. robbery, rape, Plu. 2.12a; ἁ. ὁ γάμος ἔσται Vett.Val. 122.1.
2. concrete, prize to be grasped, Philippians 2:6; cf. ἅρπαγμα 2.
ἁρπαγμός, ἁρπαγμου, ὁ (ἁρπάζω);
1. the act of seizing, robbery (so Plutarch, de book educ. c. 15 (others 14, 37), vol. 2:12 a. the only instance of its use noted in secular authors).
2. a thing seized or to be seized, booty: ἁρπαγμόν ἡγεῖσθαι τί to deem anything a prlze — a thing to be seized upon or to be held fast, retained, Philippians 2:6; on the meaning of this passage see μορφή; (ἡγεῖσθαι or ποιεῖσθαι τί ἅρπαγμα, Eusebius, h. e. 8, 12, 2; vit. Const. 2, 31; (commentaries in Luc. vi., cf. Mai, Nov. Biblical Patr. iv., p. 165); Heliodorus 7, 11 and 20; 8, 7; (Plutarch, de Alex. virt. 1, 8, p. 330d.);ut omnium bona praedam tuam duceres, Cicero, Verr. 2:5, 15, 39; (see Lightfoot on Phil., p. 133f (cf. p. 111); Wetstein at the passage; Cremer, 4te Aufl., p. 153f)).
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*† ἁρπαγμός , οῦ , ὁ
(< ἁρπάζω );
1. prop., acc, to the rule of its formation (Bl., § 27, 2), actively, the act of seizing, robbery (Plut., Deu Puer. Educ., p. 12A), Philippians 2:6, AV (Waterland, Works, II, 108; Cremer, 649 f.; Meyer, in l; cf. also JThS, July, 1909, April, 1911; MM, s.v.).
2. Passively = ἅρπαγμα (Ezekiel 22:25, of a lion's prey, ), a thing seized, hence, a prize: Phi, l.c., RV (Lft., Ellic., ICC, in l; Donaldson, NCrat., 450 ff.; and esp. Gifford, The Incarnation, 59-71, and reff. in DB, ii, 835 B). The lexical data favour the active meaning, but as they also admit the possibility of the alternative, most modern expositors have accepted the latter as seeming to suit the logic of the passage better. The lexical difficulty, however, remains (MM, s.v., esp. the last ref.). As to the usage of St. Paul, he seems inclined to adopt the -μα form where it is appropriate (e.g. Romans 11:9, where cf. LXX; 1 Corinthians 13:9, 2 Co 19), and there is certainly a presumption in favour of the active meaning here from the fact that he does not use the LXX ἅρπαγμα . Suggestions looking to a fresh exegesis are given in JThS, ll c.†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
ἁρπαγμός occurs in the MS. of Vettius Valens, p. 122.1, ἐὰν Ἄρης κληρώσηται τὸν δαίμονα, Σελήνη δὲ τὸν γαμοστόλον, ἁρπαγμὸς ὁ γάμος ἔσται. Kroll says ";nempe ἁρπάγιμος,"; but why not render ";the marriage will be one of force,"; or perhaps ";will be a great catch";? The closely parallel ἅρπαγμα, which modern commentators generally regard as a practical synonym of the rare ἁρπαγμός in Philippians 2:6, may be cited from a magical text. The leaden tablet from Hadrumetum, printed with a commentary by Deissmann, BS pp. 274–300, and with slightly amended text by Wünsch AF no. 5, has in l. .34 δι᾽ ὃν ὁ λείων ἀφείησιν τὸ ἅρπαγμα, the noun denoting the lion’s ";prey"; as in LXX of Ezek 22.35. One apt though not exact literary parallel seems to have escaped Lightfoot’s net : Pindar Pyth 8.65 ἁρπαλέαν δόσιν ";a gift to be eagerly seized"; (Gildersleeve, who compares Phil l. c.), ";the keen-sought prize"; (Myers). This comes very near to the meaning res rapienda (rather than res rapta) by which ἁρπαγμόν seems best explained if really equivalent to ἅρπαγμα ";spoil, prize."; Against the solitary profane instance of ἁρπαγμός, in Plutarch 2. 12 A τὸν ἐκ Κρήτης καλούμενον ἁ., ";seizure, rape,"; may be set a very close parallel also quoted by Lightfoot, οὐκ ἐστὶν ἁρπαγμὸς ἡ τιμή (from a catena on Mark 10:41 ff.). Without discussing the crux interpretum, we might supply a list of the -μός nouns parallel to ἁρπαγμός in formation, as found in NT, such as may be cited to support the practical identity of ἁ. with ἅρπαγμα, and its distinctness from it, respectively, (1) Nouns which are or may be passive, like ἅρπαγμα = τὸ ἁρπακτόν or τὸ ἁρπακτέον : ὑπογραμμός, ψαλμός, θερισμός, ἱματισμός, ἐπισιτισμός, χρηματισμός. In these the abstract has become concrete, as our writing, clothing, warning have done, so that they are what the noun in -μα would have been. (Brugmann-Thumb pp. 218, 222, defines the -μός and -μή nouns and the -μα as ";verbal abstracts"; and ";nomina actionis"; respectively; but both ";partially pass into names of things.";) (2) By far the larger number, some forty or more, denote the action of the verb—βρυγμός ";gnashing,"; σεισμός ";shaking,"; which in concrete development produces ἀσπασμός ";a greeting,"; δεσμός ";chain,"; etc. The statement that Plut. Mor. p. 12 is ";the only instance of its use noted in prof. auth."; as a matter of fact overlooks an instance of the identical ἁρπασμός given in Wyttenbach’s index verborum—viz. p. 644 A (Symposiaca II. 10), where ὑφαίρεσις καὶ ἁρπασμὸς καὶ χειρῶν ἅμιλλα καὶ διαγκωνισμός are mentioned as conduct not tending to friendliness or convivial enjoyment; we may render ";snatching and grabbing, fisticuffs and elbowing."; Here again, therefore, the word is a nomen actionis, as in the other Plutarch passage.
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