Quick Definition
σφραγίς, ῖδος, ἡ n.f. a signet-ring, impression of a seal, the proof
Strong's Definition
probably strengthened from 5420; a signet (as fencing in or protecting from misappropriation); by implication, the stamp impressed (as a mark of privacy, or genuineness), literally or figuratively
KJV Usage: seal
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ῖδος | σφραγίζω
6.54 · Artifacts · Instruments Used in Marking and Writing
seal, signet an engraved object used to make a mark denoting ownership, approval, or closure of something (normally done by pressing into heated wax and usually attached to a document or letter) In some languages the closest equivalent to ‘seal’ or ‘signet’ is the mark made by the seal, for example, ‘the symbol of his name’ or ‘the mark of his ownership.’ In certain contexts one may employ a phrase such as ‘the instrument by which a mark is made.’
6.62 · Artifacts · Instruments Used in Marking and Writing
seal the substance which bears the imprint of a seal or signet (see σφραγίς[a], 6.54), used for sealing a document or for showing ownership or endorsement In REV 5:2 one may speak of ‘the wax that keeps the scroll closed,’ but in some languages it may be better to use a more general statement, for example, ‘the substance with which the scroll is sealed’ or ‘the substance that kept the scroll closed.’
REV 5:1 · REV 5:2 · REV 5:5 · REV 5:9 · REV 6:1 · REV 6:3 · REV 6:5 · REV 6:7 · REV 6:9 · REV 6:12 · REV 8:1
33.483 · Communication · Non-Verbal Communication
mark, seal the impression of a signet ring or seal, primarily indicating ownership One may also translate this clause in REV 9:4 as ‘who do not have the mark on their foreheads which shows that they belong to God.’
33.47 · Communication · Written Language
mark, inscription the mark or impression made by a seal or stamp
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
σφραγίς, -idos, ἡ, (akin, apparently, to the verb φράσσω or φράγνυμι), fr. Hdt. down, Sept. for Onin, a seal; 1.6. a. the seal placed upon books [ οἵ. B.D. s.v. Writing, sub fin.; Gardthausen, Palaeogr. p. 27]: Rev. ν. 1; λῦσαι tas opp., ib. 2,5 [Ree.]; ἀνοῖξαι, ib. [5 GLT Tr WH], ΟΡ ὙΠ 155} 419. 12} ville 1- b. α signet-ring: Rev. vii. 2. ce. the inscription or impression made by a seal: Rey. ix. 4 (the name of God and Christ stamped upon their foreheads must be meant here, as is evident from xiv. 1); 2 Tim. ii. 19. d. that by which anything is confirmed, proved, authenticated, as by a seal, (a token or proof): Ro. iv. 11; 1Co.ix.2. [Cf. BB. DD. s. v. Seal.]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
σφραγίς sphragis 16x
a seal, a signet ring, Rev. 7:2; an inscription on a seal, motto, 2 Tim. 2:19; a seal, the impression of a seal, Rev. 5:1, 2, 5, 9, 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12; 8:1; a seal, a distinctive mark, Rev. 9:4; a seal, a token, proof, 1 Cor. 9:2; a token of guarantee, Rom. 4:11*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
σφραγίς, -ῖδος, ἡ
[in LXX: Ex 28:11, al. (חֹתָם) 35:22 (חָח), Si 17:22, al. ;]
a seal, signet: Re 7:2.
The impression of a seal or signet, a seal (on its various purposes, v.s. σφραγίζω): on a book or roll, Re 5:1, 2, 5, 9 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12 8:1; metaph., Ro 4:11, I Co 9:2, II Ti 2:19, Re 9:4.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
σφραγίς δραχμὰς εἴκοσι, P Oxy I. τ1617 (ii/a.p.) ἔπεμψα ὑμεῖν. .. κ[ἴστην σταφυλῆς λείαν καλῆς καὶ σφυρίδα φοίνικος καλοῦ ἐσφραγι(σμένας), “1 send you a box of very excellent grapes anda basket of excellent dates under seal” (Edd.), 76. III. 528!8 (ii/A.D.) ἔδωκα τῇ UB μετὰ τῶν σῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐσ{σ)φραγιΐμένα, “1 gave the letter sealed (to the messenger) on the 12‘ together with letters for you (?) ” (Edd.), τὸ. VI. 92938 (ii/ili A.D.) ταῦτα δὲ πάντα συνενῆι εἰς τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν καροῖνον, καὶ ἐσφραγίσθη yr λευκῇ, ‘‘all these were inside the brown tunic, and it was sealed with white χαρτάριν ἔλαβεν Σερηνίων ἐσίσ)φραγισμένον, ‘* Serenion took the papyrus sealed,” P Lond 171 ὁ15 (iii/A.p.) (= 11. p. 176) διέθετό μοι διαθήκην α[ὐ]τοῦ ἐσφραγισμένην, and P Oxy XIV, 16777 (iii/A.p.) τὸ ἐντολικὸν TItodepatros ὡς ἔδ[ω]κεν por ἐσφραγισμένον, ‘the order for Ptolemais sealed as he gave it to me” (Edd.). From the idea of sealing for security, it is an easy transition to “seal up,” “hide,” ‘conceal,’ as in Rev 104, 221°, Again, the verb passes into the sense ‘‘distinguish,” ‘‘ mark,” as when, in P Tebt II. 419° (iii/A.p.), an agent is instructed— πέμψον τὴν ὄνον ὅπως σφραγισθῇ, ‘send the ass to be branded ’”’ (cf. Rev 73), and from this again into ‘*confirm,’’ ‘‘authenticate,” as in Chrest. I. 89° (A.D. 149), where it is certified regarding an animal for sacrifice— κ]αὶ δοκιμάσας ἐσφράγισα ὡς ἔστιν καθαρός (cf. Jn 657). The comp. ἐπισφραγίζω occurs in P Oxy III. 4711" (ii/A.D.) © μὲν γὰρ τελευταῖος ὑπομνημα[τ]ισμὸς [ἐ]πισφραγίζει τὴν δούλην αὐτοῦ, ‘for the last memorandum confirms (the question of) his slave (?)’’ (Edd.), and συνσφραγίζω in BGU IV. 1204% (B.C. 28) τὰ πρὸς Llaviokov γράμματα συνεσφράγισμαι ὑμεῖν, and P Ryl 11. go% 44 (early iii/A.D.). In his Ant. Kunstprosa ii. p. 477 Norden advocates a connexion of the Pauline σφραγίζεσθαι with the language of the Greek mysteries, but see Anrich, Das Mysterienwesen, p. 120 ff. Fine specimens of sealed rolls may be seen in the table attached to the edition of the Elephantine Papyri issued along with the Berlin Urkunden. Cf. also Archiv v. p. 384, No. 76. On sealing as a protection against falsification in the case of written documents, Erman’s important art. in Mélanges Nicole, p. 126 ff. should be consulted.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
σφραγίς (sphragis) — seal. σφρᾱγ-ίς, Ionic dialectσφρηγίς, ῖδος, ἡ: Aeolic dialect accusative σφρᾶγιν [Refs 4th c.AD+]:—seal, signet, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; distinguished from δακτύλιος, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῶν σφραγῖδας ἐχόντων, i.e. fops, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of the public seal of a state, [ὁ ἐπιστάτης] τηρεῖ τὴν δημοσίαν σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὸν στρατηγὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς σ. keeper of the privy seal, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
2. gem or stone for a ring, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰς τῶν δακτυλίων σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]
3. generally, gem, κιθάραν.. σφραγῖσι.. κατακεκοσμημένην [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II. impression of a signet-ring, seal, σ. δακτυλίου Legal Solonis cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; παρασημήνασθαι σασθαι σ. to counterfeit it, [Refs]; warrant attached to a camel, οἴσομεν ὑμῖν τὴν σ. καὶ οὐδὲν ζητηθήσεται πρὸς ἡμᾶς [Refs 2nd c.AD+], as a warrant, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; but ἀρρήτων ἐπέων γλώσσῃ σ. ἐπικείσθω (for secrecy) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔχεις κόσμου σφρηγῖδα τυπῶτιν, of the Creator, [Refs 5th c.AD+]; ὁρκίζω σφραγῖδα (σφρακ- pap.) θεοῦ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὅρασις [Refs]; drawing, γράφε χαλκῷ γραφίῳ τὴν ὑποκειμένην σ. τοῦ ζῳδίου “PMag. Osl.” 1.39.
II.2. any mark, as the spots on a leopard, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]
II.3. wound, blow, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
III. tablet of Lemnian medicinal earth certified as such by bearing the impression of the seal of the Lemnian priestess of Artemis, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; σ. Λημνία [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
IV. governmentally defined and numbered area of land (including plots belonging to different owners) in Egypt, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
IV.2. registered holding of land, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
IV.3. numbered area on a worldmap, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
V. in Medicine texts, pastille, ἡ Πολυείδου σ. [Refs 1st c.AD+]
V. b Πακκίου σ., Paccius's brand, name of an eye-salve, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; eye-salves were certified by their makers by a seal-impression, e.g. D. Galli Sesti sfragis ad aspritudines, [Refs]