Quick Definition
σπλάγχνα, ων, τά n.n. bowels, compassion, pity
Strong's Definition
probably strengthened from splen (the "spleen"); an intestine (plural); figuratively, pity or sympathy
KJV Usage: bowels, inward affection, + tender mercy
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, n. | -ου | σπλαγχνίζομαι
8.58 · Body, Body Parts, and Body Products · Parts of the Body
intestines the inner parts of the body, especially the intestines
26.11 · Psychological Faculties
heart, feelings, desires (figurative extension of meaning of σπλάγχνον[a] ‘intestines,’ 8.58) the psychological faculty of desire, intent, and feeling Though some persons have attempted to distinguish between σπλάγχνον[b], κοιλία[c], and νεφρός, it is extremely doubtful whether this is really possible or practical. The semantic focus in the use of these terms is clearly the deeper and more intimate feelings and emotions. In some languages one can use a term which literally means ‘belly’ or ‘bowels,’ but more often than not, these emotions are associated with some particular organ of the body such as heart, spleen, liver, etc. Rather, however, than attempting to employ a figurative expression which may or may not be fully equivalent, it is often preferable to refer to the emotional content by using terms such as ‘feelings,’ ‘intents,’ ‘desires,’ or ‘compassion,’ depending upon the context.
25.49 · Attitudes and Emotions · Love, Affection, Compassion
great affection for, love, compassion experiencing great affection and compassion for someone In PHP 1:8 the phrase ἐν σπλάγχνοις Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ is ambiguous. It may mean ‘because of the compassion which Christ Jesus himself has for you’ or ‘... for me.’ On the other hand, it may also be interpreted as characterizing the kind of love which Paul has for the believers, for example, ‘how I long for all of you, even with the kind of love Christ Jesus himself has for you.’
25.50 · Attitudes and Emotions · Love, Affection, Compassion
object of affection one for whom there is deep affection or compassion
25.54 · Attitudes and Emotions · Love, Affection, Compassion
Collocation: στενοχωρέομαι ἐν τοῖς σπλάγχνοις
to not respond with affection to someone, to close one’s heart to (an idiom, literally: to be restricted in the bowels) to restrict one’s affection for someone In 2CO 6:12 it is also possible to understand στενοχωρέομαι as meaning ‘to live with severe restrictions’ (see 37.18), and σπλάγχνα may be interpreted as a psychological faculty of intent and feeling (see 26.11).
1 It would be possible to treat σπλάγχνα[b], κοιλία[c], and νεφρός in this figurative sense in Domain 25 Attitudes and Emotions, but these meanings have been assigned to this domain of Psychological Faculties since the meanings involve aspects of personality which function as agents or presumed locations of psychological dispositions.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
σπλάγχνον, -ov, τό, and (only so in the N.T.) plur. σπλάγχνα, -wv, τά, Hebr. 0°07, bowels, intestines (the heart, lungs, liver, ete.) ; a. prop.: Acts i. 18 (2 Mace. ix. 5 sq.; 4 Mace. v. 29, and in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down). b. in the Grk. poets fr. Aeschyl. down the bowels were regarded as the seat of the more violent passions, such as anger and love; but by the Hebrews as the seat of the tenderer affections, esp. kindness, benevolence, compassion, [ef. Bp. Lghtft. on Phil. i. 8; W. 18]; hence i. 4. our heart, [tender mercies, affections, etc. (cf. B. D. Am. ed. s. v. Bowels)]: 1 Jn. iii. 17 (on which see κλείων; 2 Co. vi. 12; Phil. ii. 1 [here GLT Tr WH εἴτις σπλάγχνα; B. 81 (71), cf. Green 109; Bp. Lghtft. ad loc. }; σπλάγχνα ἐλέους (gen. of quality [ef. W. 611 (568); so Test. xii. Patr., test. Zab. §§ 7, 8]), a heart in which mercy resides, [heart of mercy}, Lk. i. 78; also σπλ. οἰκτιρμοῦ [ Rec. -μῶν], Col. iii. 12; τὰ σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ περισσοτέρως εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐστίν, his heart is the more abundantly devoted to you, 2 Co. vii. 15; ἐπιποθῶ ὑμᾶς ἐν σπλάγχνοις Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, in the heart [R. V. tender mercies} of Christ, i.e. prompted by the same love as Christ Jesus, Phil. i. 8; ἀναπαύειν τὰ σπλ. τινός, to refresh one’s soul or heart, Philem. 7, 20; τὰ σπλάγχνα ἡμῶν, my very heart, i.e. whom I dearly love, Philem. 12 (so Darius calls his mother and children kis own bowels in Curt. 4, 14, 22. meum corculum, Plaut. Cas. 4, 4,14; meum cor, id. Poen. 1, 2,154; [ef. Bp. Lghtft.on Philem. ]. 6.1). The Hebr. ὉΠ is translated by the Sept. now οἰκτιρμοί, Ps. xxiv. (xxv.) 6; xxxix. (xl) 12, now ἔλεος, Is. xlvii. 6; once σπλάγχνα, Prov. xii. 10.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
σπλάγχνον splanchnon 11x
the chief intestines, viscera; the entrails, bowels, Acts 1:18; met. the heart, the affections of the heart, the tender affections, Lk. 1:78; 2 Cor. 6:12; 7:15; Phil. 1:8, 2:1; Col. 3:12; Phlm. 7, 20; 1 Jn. 3:17; meton. a cherished one, dear as one’s self, Phlm. 12*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
σπλάγχνον, -ου, τό mostly (in NT always) in pl., σπλάγχνα, -ων, τά,
[in LXX: Pr 12:10 (רַחֲמׅים, elsewhere rendered by οἰκτιρμοί, Ps 24 (25):6 39 (40):12 and by ἔλεος, Is 47:6), Pr 26:22 (בֶּטֶן), Wi 10:5, Si 30:7, II Mac 9:5, 6, al. ;]
the inward parts (heart, liver, lungs, etc.; Lat. viscera): Ac 1:18. Metaph., of the seat of the feelings and of the feelings themselves (in Gk. poets, of anger, anxiety, etc.), the heart, affections (the characteristic LXX and NT reference of the word to feelings of kindness, benevolence and pity, is found in π.; v. MM, xxiii; cf. Lft. on Phl 1:8): II Co 6:12 7:15, Phm 7, 12, 20, I Jo 3:17; σ. οἰκτιρμοῦ, Col 3:12; σ. καὶ οἰκτιρμοὶ, Phl 2:1; σ. ἐλέους θεοῦ; ἡμῶν, Lk 1:78; σ. Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, Phl 1:8.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
σπλάγχνον, always plur. in NT (but see Phil 21), the σύδσεγα (Ac 118), and hence metaph. the ‘‘ heart,” the “affections,” ‘‘compassion,”’ “pity.” For this, its more distinctively ‘‘ Hebraic” usage (see s.v. σπλαγχνίζομαι), cf. BGU IV. 113917 (B.c. 5) ὑπὲρ omdayxvov, “for pity’s sake,” and for its literal application to a part of the body, cf. the astrological P Ryl II. 635 (iii/A.p.), where the σπλάγχνα are dedicated to Jupiter—Avos [σπλ]άνχνᾳ. See also from the inscrr. Kaibel 691° (ii/i B.C.) ζωὴ δὲ πλείων μητρὸς ἐν σπλάγχνοις ἐμή, and 26. 1034° τί[ν] ὑπὸ σπλάνχν[οις φροντίδα κεύθεις ; Exx. of the word from various sources are collected in the notes ad Herodas I. 57 and III. 42(ed. Headlam). For the corr. adj. see P Osl 1. 1149 (iv/a.p.) ἔρωτι σπλαγχνικῴῷ. The editor compares the use of εὔσπλαγχνος apparently in the sense of ‘‘benevolent’’ in P Leid V%*-3 (iii/iv a.p.) (= II. p. 31): see Eph 457, 1 Pet 98:
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
σπλάγχνον (splagchnon) — affection/entrails. σπλάγχνον, τό, mostly in plural σπλάγχνα (σπλάγχανα [Refs], inward parts, especially the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, which in sacrifices were reserved to be eaten by the sacrificers at the beginning of their feast (distinguished from ἔντερα, κοιλίη, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σπλάγχνα πάσαντο[Refs 8th c.BC+]; δῶκε δ᾽ ἄρα σπλάγχνων μοίρας[Refs 5th c.BC+]: hence, sacrificial feast, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. any part of the inwards, ὑπὸ σπλάγχνων ἐλθεῖν to come from the womb, of a babe, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: so in singular, τὸ κοινὸν σ. οὗ πεφύκαμεν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of the lungs, μόχθοις ἀνδροκμῆσι φυσιᾷ σ. [Refs]; τοῦ γείτονος αὐτῷ (i.e. τῷ ἥπατι) σπλάγχνου, of the spleen, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
3. οἱ παῖδες (children) σπλάγχνα λέγονται [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II. metaphorically (like heart), the seat of the feelings, affections, especially of anger, σ. θερμῆναι κότῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ σ. ἀγανακτεῖ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; of love, ἐκύμηνε τὰ σ. ἔρωτι καρδίην ἀνοιστρηθείς [Refs 3rd c.BC+], etc.; of pity, [LXX+NT]; ὑπὲρ σπλάχνου 'for pity's sake', [Refs 1st c.BC+]; so [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀνδρὸς σ. ἐκμαθεῖν to learn a man's 'heart', [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σ. σιδηροῦν, of Epaminondas, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
III. ={βρύον}, [Refs 1st c.AD+]