Quick Definition
ὑπερβολή, ῆς, ἡ n.f. surpassing excellence, exceedingly
Strong's Definition
from 5235; a throwing beyond others, i.e. (figuratively) supereminence; adverbially (with 1519 or 2596) pre- eminently
KJV Usage: abundance, (far more) exceeding, excellency, more excellent, beyond (out of) measure
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ῆς | βάλλω
78.33 · Degree · More Than, Less Than [Comparative Degree]
extraordinary, extreme, supreme, far more, much greater, to a far greater degree a degree which exceeds extraordinarily a point on an implied or overt scale of extent There are obviously a number of problems involved in attempting to render an expression of extraordinary degree, but it is sometimes possible to express such a degree by building up a series of intensive markers. For example, in EPH 2:7 one might translate τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ as ‘his very, very great grace,’ and in 2CO 4:7 one might render ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως ᾖ τοῦ θεοῦ as ‘God has very, very great power.’ Such expressions, however, may not do full justice to the intensity of degree expressed in ὑπερβάλλω and ὑπερβολή, since in a number of languages the closest equivalent might be something involving figurative meanings. For example, τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ in EPH 2:7 might be rendered as ‘he is gracious beyond anything we can imagine,’ and in 2CO 4:7 ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως ᾖ τοῦ θεοῦ may be rendered as ‘God has power beyond any words to describe.’
ROM 7:13 · 1CO 12:31 · 2CO 1:8 · 2CO 4:7 · 2CO 4:17 · 2CO 4:17 · 2CO 12:7 · GAL 1:13
1 It is difficult to determine the extent to which this set of meanings (78.33) differs from those in 78.31, but a number of contexts for the terms in 78.33 would seem to imply something even beyond what is indicated in the series containing the base περισσ (78.31).
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ὑπερ-βολή, -ῆς, ἡ, (ὑπερβάλλω, q. ν.), fr. Hat. [8, 112, 4] and Thue. down ; 1. prop. a throwing beyond. 2. metaph. superiority, excellence, pre-eminence, [R. V. exceeding greatness]: with a gen. of the thing, 2 Co. iv. 7; xii. 7; καθ᾽ ὑπερβολήν, beyond measure, exceedingly, preeminently: Ro. vii. 13; 1 Co. xii. 31 [ef. W. § 54,2b.; B. § 125, 11 fin.]; 2 Co. i. 8; Gal. i. 13, (4 Mace. iii. 18; Soph. O. R. 1196; Isocr. p. 84 ἃ. [i. 6. πρὸς Φίλ. 57; Polyb. 3, 92, 10; Diod. 2,16; 17,47); καθ᾽ ὑπ. eis ὑπερβολήν, beyond all measure, [R. V. more and more exceedingly], 2 Co. iv. 17.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ὑπερβολή hyperbolē 8x
pr. a throwing beyond, an overshooting; extraordinary amount or character, transcendency, 2 Cor. 12:7; 4:7; καθ’ ὑπερβολήν, adverbially, exceedingly, extremely, Rom. 7:13; 2 Cor. 1:8; Gal. 1:13; a far better way, 1 Cor. 12:31; beyond all measure, 2 Cor. 4:17*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** ὑπερ-βολή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< ὑπερβάλλω), [in LXX: καθ’ ὑ., IV Mac 3:18 * ;]
a throwing beyond. Metaph., excess, superiority, excellence: II Co 4:7 12:7; καθ’ ὑπερβολήν, beyond measure, exceedingly, Ro 7:13, I Co 12:31, II Co 1:8, Ga 1:13; κ. ὑ. εἰς ὑ. , beyond all measure, II Co 4:17.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
ὑπερβολή. For the phrase καθ᾽ ὑπερβολήν, ‘beyond measure,” “exceedingly,” as in Rom 715, a/., cf. P Tebt I. 234 (B.c. 119 or 114) καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν βεβαρυμμένοι, “1 am excessively vexed” (Edd.), 7. 42° (c. B.C. 114) ἠδικημένος καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπίὸ] ᾿Αρμιύσιος, “1 have been excessively unfairly treated by Harmiusis ” (Edd.). Other exx. of the word are P Amh II. 3618 (c. B.c. 135) λείπω τε τὴν ὑπερβολήν, “1 do not exaggerate” (Edd.), P Lond τοι615 (c. A.D. 330-340) τῆς [ὑ]περβολῆς ὑμῶν, “your superfluity » (Bell), and, with reference to extension ε ΄ὑπερεῖδον of time, ‘‘delay,” P Petr II. 13 (1:80)}5 (B.c. 258-253) οὐ[κέρ]τι ὕστερον ὑπερβολὴν δεξομένων, apparently of con. tractors’ receiving no further extension of time, and 26. 37 τὸ recfo™’ (iii/B.C.) ὃ yap καιρὸς οὐδεμίας ὑπερβολῆς προσδεῖται. If we can trust the restoration, a striking ex. οἵ ὑπερβολή occurs in the famous calendar inscr. Priene 105%9! (c, B.C. 9), where the birthday of the Emperor Augustus is referred to in the terms— οὐδ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἐσομένοις ἐλπίδα λιπὼν ὑπερβολῆς], ἦρξεν δὲ τῶι κόσμωι τῶν δι αὐτὸν εὐαγγελίξων ἡ γενέθλιος] τοῦ θεοῦ, ‘*he has not left for those who will come after him any hope of surpassing him, but the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of good tidings on his account.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ὑπερβολή (huperbolē) — surpassing. ὑπερβολ-ή, ἡ, (ὑπερβάλλω) a throwing beyond others, δίσκων ὑπερβολαῖς [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: in intransitive sense, altitude of a star, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
2. overshooting, superiority, χερῶν ὑπερβολαῖς [Refs 5th c.BC+]
3. excess, τοῦ μεγέθεος [Refs 4th c.BC+]; opposed to ἔλλειψις or ἔνδεια, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἔχειν with accusative et infinitive, [Refs 5th c.BC+] at an extravagant price, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπέφερον τὴν ὑ. τοῦ καινοῦσθαι pushed on their extravagance in revolutionizing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἔχον ἐστὶν ὑπερβολήν it can go no further, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; so οὐδεμίαν or μηδεμίαν ὑ. λείπειν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εἴ τις ὑ. τούτου if there is aught beyond (worse than) this, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ταῦτ᾽ οὐχ ὑ.; is not this the extreme, the last degree? [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὑπερβολὴν ποιήσομαι I will put an extreme case, [Refs]; τοσαύτην ὑ. ποιεῖσθαι ὥστε.. to go so far that.., [Refs] to carry his own rascality beyond theirs, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑ. ποιεῖν τῆς τιμῆς to raise the price, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑ. ἀνοίας ἔχειν Polystr.p.27 W.
4. with preposition in Adverbial phrases, ={ὑπερβαλλόντως}, εἰς ὑπερβολήν in excess, exceedingly; εἰς ὑ. ἄμεινον [Refs 5th c.BC+]; far beyond, τοῦ πρόσθεν εἰς ὑ. πανοῦργος, i. e. far more wicked, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὰν τοξεύσας with surpassing aim, [Refs 5th c.BC+]extravagantly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἱ καθ᾽ ὑ. ἐν ἐνδείᾳ ὄντες in extremity of need, [NT+4th c.BC+]:—so in dative, εὐτελὴς ὑπερβολῇ [Refs 4th c.BC+]
5. preeminence, perfection, without any notion of excess, δι᾽ ἀρετῆς ὑπερβολήν [Refs]; ἡ ὑ. τῆς φιλίας the best and noblest kind of friendship, [Refs]; but ἡ καθ᾽ ὑ. φιλία, ={ἡ καθ᾽ ὑπεροχήν}, [Refs]
6. overstrained phrase, hyperbole, ὑπερβολὰς εἰπεῖν [Refs 5th c.BC+] make strong statements, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; as a figure of speech, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
7. τὸ καθ᾽ ὑπερβολήν the superlative degree, in Adjectives, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τιθέναι ὑπερβολῇ[Refs]
8. overbid at auction, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
II. crossing over, passage of mountains, etc., [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. in singular or plural, place of passage, mountain-pass, with or without τοῦ ὄρους, τῶν ὀρέων, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑ. τοῦ Ταύρου Wilcken [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; αἱ τῶν Ἄλπεων ὑ. [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
III. (from middle) delay, τοῦ κακοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV. the conic section called hyperbola, because the square of the ordinate is equal to a rectangle with height equal to the abscissa applied to the parameter (as base) but exceeding (ὑπερβάλλον), i. e. overlapping, that base, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]