G4690: σπέρμα (spérma)

G4690 σπέρμα (spérma)

Greek

Quick Definition

σπέρμα, ατος, τό n.n. seed, offspring

Strong's Definition

from 4687; something sown, i.e. seed (including the male "sperm"); by implication, offspring; specially, a remnant (figuratively, as if kept over for planting)

KJV Usage: issue, seed

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

σπέρμα (G4690)

noun, n. | -τος | σπείρω

3.35 · Plants · Fruit Parts of Plants

seed the kernel part of fruit, usually grain A number of languages make distinctions between two quite different types of seed: (1) those produced by grasses (that is to say, grains) and (2) those produced by other types of plants, for example, beans, squash, apples, etc. In all passages employing the Greek terms in this subdomain (κόκκος, σπέρμα, σπόρος), it is best to use some expression referring to ‘grain.’

MAT 13:24 · MAT 13:27 · MAT 13:32 · MAT 13:37 · MAT 13:38 · MRK 4:31 · 1CO 15:38

10.29 · Kinship Terms · Kinship Relations Involving Successive Generations

posterity, descendants, offspring (a figurative extension of meaning of σπέρμα[a] ‘seed,’ 3.35) posterity, with emphasis upon the ancestors role in founding the lineage See discussion at 10.28.

MAT 22:25 · MRK 12:19 · MRK 12:20 · MRK 12:21 · MRK 12:22 · LUK 1:55 · JHN 7:42 · JHN 8:33 · JHN 8:37 · ACT 3:25 · ACT 7:5 · ACT 7:6 · ACT 13:23 · ROM 1:3 · ROM 4:13 · ROM 4:16 · ROM 4:18 · ROM 9:7 · ROM 9:7 · ROM 9:8 · ROM 9:29 · ROM 11:1 · 2CO 11:22 · GAL 3:16 · GAL 3:16 · GAL 3:16 · GAL 3:19 · GAL 3:29 · 2TI 2:8 · HEB 2:16 · HEB 11:11 · HEB 11:18 · REV 12:17

58.13 · Nature, Class, Example · Nature, Character

nature, something of the nature of a derivative and imparted nature If in some languages it is not possible to speak literally of ‘God’s nature,’ it may still be possible to render the second clause in 1JN 3:9 as ‘because something of what God is like is in him’ or ‘because he has in himself something of what God is like.’

1JN 3:9

23.59 · Physiological Processes and States · Birth, Procreation

Collocation: ἀνίστημι σπέρμα · ἐξανίστημι σπέρμα

to beget, to procreate, to become the father of (idioms, literally: to raise up seed) the male role in begetting children In contexts such as MAT 22:24, MRK 12:19, and LUK 20:28 it may be important to add a note concerning levirate responsibilities, that is to say, the requirement for a younger brother to beget children by a deceased older brother’s wife and the reckoning of such an offspring as being the descendant of the older deceased brother.

MAT 22:24 · LUK 20:28

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

σπέρμα, -τος, τό, (σπείρω, q. ν.), fr. Hom. down, Hebr. yu, the seed (fr. which anything springs) ; a. from which a plant germinates; a. prop. the seed i.e. the grain or kernel which contains within itself the germ of the future plant: plur., Mt. xiii. 32; Mk. iv. 31; 1 Co. xv. 38, (Ex. xvi. 31; 1S. viii. 15); the sing. is used collectively of the grains or kernels sown: Mt. xiii. 24, 27, 37 sq.; 2 Co. ix. 10 [here L Tr σπόρος]. β. metaph. a seed i.e. a residue, or a few survivors reserved as the germ of a new race (just as seed is kept from the harvest for the sowing), Ro. ix. 29 after Is. i. 9, where Sept. for ὙΠ, (so also Sap. xiv. 6; 1 Esdr. viii. 85 (87) ; Joseph. antt. 11, 5,3; 12, 7,3; Plat. Tim. p. 23 c.). b. the semen virile; a. prop.: Lev. xv. 16-18; xviii. 20 sq., ete.; [prob. also Heb. xi. 11, cf. καταβολή 1, and see below]; often in prof. writ. By meton. the product of this semen, seed, children, offspring, progeny; family, race, posterity, (so in Grk. chiefly in the tragic b. in proverbial sayings: | poets, cf. Passow s. v. 2 b. ii..p. 1498 [L. and 8. s. v. IL “περμολόγος 3]; and yy very often in the O.T. [cf. W. 17, 801}; 80 in the sing., either of one, or collectively of many: Ro. ix. 7 sq-; εἰς κατα :ολὴν σπέρματος (see [above, and] καταβολή, 2), Ueb. xi. 11; ἀνιστάναι and ἐξανιστάναι σπέρμα τινί, Mt. xxii. 24; Mk. xii. 19; Lk. xx. 28, (Gen. xxxviil. 8); ἔχειν σπέρμα, Mt. xxii. 25; ἀφιέναι oréppativi, Mk. xii. 20-22; τὸ om. τινός, Lk. i. 55; Jn. vii. 425 vill. 33, 87; Acts iii. 25; vii. 5 sq.; xiii. 23; Ro. i. 3; [iv. 13]; ix. 7; xi. 1; 2 Co. xi. 22; 2 Tim. ii. 8; Heb. ii. 16; xi. 18; in plur.: παῖς ἐκ βασιλικῶν σπερμάτων, of royal descent, Joseph. antt. 8, 7,6; τῶν ᾿Αβραμιαίων σπερμάτων ἀπόγονοι, 4 Mace. xviii. 1; 1. 4. tribes, races, ἄνθρωποί τε καὶ ἀνθρώπων σπέρμασι νομοθετοῦμεν τὰ viv, Plat. legs. 9 Ρ. 886. By ἃ rabbinical method of interpreting, opposed to the usage of the Hebr. yt, which signifies the offspring whether consisting of one person or many, Paul lays such stress on the singular number in Gen. xiii. 15; xvii. 8 as to make it denote but one of Abraham’s posterity, and that the Messiah: Gal. iii. 16, also 19; and yet, that the way in which Paul presses the singular here is not utterly at variance with the genius of the Jewish-Greek language is evident from ᾿Α βραμιαίων σπερμάτων ἀπύγονοι, 4 Mace. xviii. 1, where the plural is used of many descendants [(ef. Delitzsch, Br. a. ἃ. Rom. p. 16 note 2; Bp. Lghtft. on Gal. 1. ¢.)]. τὸ om. ( Αβραὰμ) τὸ ἐκ τοῦ νόμου, the seed which is such according to the decision of the law, physical offspring [see νόμος, 2 p- 428°], τὸ ἐκ πίστεως ᾽Αβρ. those who are called Abraham’s posterity on account of the faith by which they are akin to him [see πίστις, 1 Ὁ. a. p.513

Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary

σπέρμα sperma 43x

seed, Mt. 13:24, 27, 37, 38; semen virile, Heb. 11:11; offspring, posterity, Mt. 22:24, 25; Jn. 7:42; a seed of future generations, Rom. 9:29; in NT met. a seed or principle of spiritual life, 1 Jn. 3:9

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

σπέρμα, -τος, τό

(< σπείρω) [in LXX chiefly for זֶרַע ;]

seed;

of plants: Mt 13:24, 27 37, 38, II Co 9:10; pl., Mt 13:32, Mk 4:31, I Co 15:33; metaph., of an escaping remnant (שָׂרִיד, Is 1:9; cf. Wi 14:6; Plat., Tim., 23 c; FlJ, Ant., xi, 5, 3), Ro 9:29;

of men (as γονή; Lat. semen genitale; so in cl.; cf. in LXX, Le 15:16, al.): He 11:11; metaph., of the divine influence, I Jo 3:9; by meton. (as freq. in poets), seed, offspring, posterity: Mt 22:24, 25, Mk 12:19-22, Lk 1:55 20:28 (LXX) Jo 7:42 8:33, 37 Ac 3:25 7:5, 6 13:23, Ro 1:3 4:13, 18 9:7, 8 11:1, II Co 11:22, Ga 3:16, 19, II Ti 2:8, He 2:16 11:18; pl. (FlJ, Ant., viii, 7, 6; Plat., Leg., ix, 853 c; IV Mac 18:1; in Ga, l.c., contrasted with sing., v. Lft., in l; Milligan, NTD, 105 f.), Ga 3:16; of spiritual offspring, Ro 4:16, 18 9:8, Ga 3:29, Re 12:17.†

Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT

σπέρμα, “seed”: P Cairo Zen I. 59097}9 (x.c. 257) χόρτου σπέρμα, P Par 631° (B.c. 165) (= P Petr III. p- 28) τὰ σπέρματα κατενεγκεῖν εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς, ‘to carry the seed to the fields,’’ BGU II. 59724 (a.p. 75) ἀλλαξέτω σε αὐτὸν (sc. σάκκον) ἸΤασίων καλοῖς σπέρμασει( -- σι), P Tebt II. 341° (A.D. 140-1) δεήσι ἐπισταλῆναι εἰς δάνε[ι]α σπέρματα (. σπερμάτων) κατασπίο]ρᾶς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ὃ (ἔτους) ᾿Αντωνίνου Καίσαρος. . ., “it will be necessary to send on account of loans of seed-corn for the sowing of the present ΑΒ year of Antoninus Caesar . . .” (Edd.), and P Oxy I. Part VII. omtAas 117" (ii/iii A.D.) σπέρματα σικυδίων σπουδαῖα ἔπεμψα ὑμεῖν, “1 send you some good melon seeds ’’ (Edd. ). For σπέρμα in the singular in Gal 31%, see Milligan Documents, Ὁ. 105 ; and for the subst. σπερματισμός see P Lond 604° (A.D. 47) (ΞΞ 111. p. 71). We may note the proverb Kazbel 1038° eig] πέλαγος σπέρμα βαϊ[λεῖν, of vain and empty toil, and Musonius p. 8! πρὸς καλοκἀγαθίαν καὶ σπέρμα ἀρετῆς. On the use of ἄτεκνος in Lk 2029 as compared with οὐκ ἀφῆκεν σπέρμα in the parallel Mk 122° (cf. Mt 2255). see H. Pernot La Langue des Evangiles (Paris, 1927), Ῥ 17:

Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon

σπέρμα (sperma) — seed: offspring. σπέρμ-α, ατος, τό, (σπείρω) seed, only once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I. mostly, seed of plants, σ. ἀνιέναι, κρύπτειν, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σ. τῇ γῇ διδόναι, ἐμβαλεῖν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of fruit, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τοῖς γαίης σπέρμασι with the products of earth, of corn-stalks, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

I.2. metaphorically, germ, origin of anything, σ. πυρός [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σπέρματα, ={στοιχεῖα}, elements, [Refs 5th c.BC+]Ep.2p.38 U., [Refs 4th c.BC+]

I.3. seed-time, sowing, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

II. of animals, seed, semen, φέροισα σ. θεοῦ pregnant by the god, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but σ. φέρειν Ἡρακλέους to be pregnant of Heracles, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. race, origin, descent, τοὐμὸν.. σπέρμ᾽ ἰδεῖν βουλήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τίνος εἶ σπέρματος πατρόθε; [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.3. frequently in Poets, seed, offspring, τὸ βρότειον σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σ. [τοῦ Ἀβραάμ] [NT]; sometimes of a single person, [NT+5th c.BC+]

σπέρμα (sperma) — seed(s). σπέρμ-α, ατος, τό, (σπείρω) seed, only once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.2. metaphorically, germ, origin of anything, σ. πυρός [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σπέρματα, ={στοιχεῖα}, elements, [Refs 5th c.BC+]Ep.2p.38 U., [Refs 4th c.BC+]

I.3. seed-time, sowing, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

II. of animals, seed, semen, φέροισα σ. θεοῦ pregnant by the god, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but σ. φέρειν Ἡρακλέους to be pregnant of Heracles, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. race, origin, descent, τοὐμὸν.. σπέρμ᾽ ἰδεῖν βουλήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τίνος εἶ σπέρματος πατρόθε; [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.3. frequently in Poets, seed, offspring, τὸ βρότειον σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σ. [τοῦ Ἀβραάμ] [NT]; sometimes of a single person, [NT+5th c.BC+]