noun · feminine
plēgas
Strong’sG4127
a blow, stripe, wound
stem plēg-22 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books8 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
πληγή refers to a blow, stroke, or wound — the physical hit inflicted by striking someone, or the resulting injury 124. It is used of blows given in beatings, of a mortal wound, and of the strike of a sword 1.
πληγή is also used metaphorically for a calamity or plague — a disaster understood as a kind of blow struck against someone, as in the plagues described in the last book of the New Testament 12, and, in the Greek Old Testament, of the plagues sent upon Egypt 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
πληγή, ῆς, ἡ
(< πλήσσω), [in LXX chiefly for מַכָּה, also for מַגֶּפָה etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4127 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidplay-gay'
a stroke; by implication, a wound; figuratively, a calamity
Fromfrom G4141;
King Jamesplague, stripe, wound(-ed).
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Doric dialect πλᾱγά, ἡ, (πλήσσω) blow, stroke, πεπληγὼν πληγῇσιν Refs 8th c.BC+: frequently joined with Verbs of cognate signification, πέπληγμαι καιρίαν πληγήν Refs 5th c.BC+; τύπτεσθαι τῇ δημοσίᾳ μάστιγι ν πληγάς Legal cited in Refs 5th c.BC+ is frequently omitted, τρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι NT+5th c.BC+; καιρίῃ (i.e. πληγῇ) τετύφθαι Refs 5th c.BC+; π. ἐμβαλεῖν, ἐντείνειν τινί, Refs 5th c.BC+; πληγαῖς ζημιοῦν, κολάζειν, Refs 5th c.BC+; πληγῆς ἄρχειν strike the first blow, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰς π. στέγειν, of the shell of a tortoise, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 stroke by lightning, Refs 8th c.BC+; πλαγαὶ σιδάρου strokes of axe or sword, Refs 5th c.BC+; στέρνων πλαγαί beating of breasts, Refs 5th c.BC+; π. τῶν ὀδόντων strokes from boars' tusks, Refs 5th c.BC+; spearing of fish, Refs 5th c.BC+; of pig-sticking, οἱ κάπροι οἱ πρὸς τὴν π... ὠθούμενοι Refs: in singular, fight with clubs, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 stroke or impression on the ears or eyes, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 impact of bodies, atoms, etc., Refs 4th c.BC+
5 beat of the pulse, Refs 2nd c.AD+
6 metaphorically, blow, stroke of calamity, especially in war, ἐν μιᾷ π. κατέφθαρται.. ὄλβος Refs 4th c.BC+; π. Διός α heaven-sent plague, Refs 5th c.BC+; μὴ 'κ θεοῦ π. τις ἥκειRefs 4th c.BC+; of the ten plagues of Egypt, Refs 1st c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | plēgas3×πληγὴ | plēgais2×πληγαὶ |
| object accusative | plēgan1×πληγὴν | plēgain6×πληγὰς |
| direct address vocative | plēgar | plēgair |
| of, belonging to genitive | plēgau1×πληγῆς | plēgaiu5×πληγῶν |
| to, for dative | plēga1×πληγῇ | plēgai3×πληγαῖς |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
plēga is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
22 occurrences, every one of them listed
plēgas“wound”subjectnominative singular3×
Revelation 13:3… hōs sfazorēntan eis thanaton, kai tas plēgas tou thanatou auteu therapeuita. kai thaumazita …… been mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world …
Revelation 13:12… thērem tem prōtem, heu therapeuita tas plēgas tou thanatou auteu.… worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.
Revelation 16:21“plague”… tau chalazau, hoti megas atō tas plēgas autau sfodra.… God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
plēgan“wound”objectaccusative singular1×
Revelation 13:14“wound”… eikonan te thēre, hos echatō tan plēgan tau machairau kai zōata.… deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.
plēgau“plague”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Revelation 16:21… tois anthrōpois ton theon ek tau plēgau tau chalazau, hoti megas atō tas …… And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so …
plēga“plague”to, fordative singular1×
Revelation 11:6… kai pataxara tan gēan en panta plēga hosakis ean thelaleia.… the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
plēgais“plagues”subjectnominative plural2×
Revelation 15:8… ton naon achri telileia tais hepta plēgais toiu hepta angeloiu.… enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Revelation 18:8… houtem en hena hēmera hēkali tais plēgais autau, thanatos kai penthem kai limos, …Therefore her plagues will come in one day — death …
plēgain“plagues”objectaccusative plural6×
Luke 10:30“blows”… peripiptata, hois kai ekduarantois auton kai plēgain epititharantois aperchala afiēkarantois hēmithanon.… this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Acts 16:23pollain tē epititharantois autoi plēgain balala eis fulakan, parangelarantois to desmofulaxo …And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and …
Revelation 15:1… megem kai thaumastem, angeloin hepta echarōntoin plēgain hepta tain eschatain, hoti en autai …… seven angels with the seven final plagues, with which the wrath of God …
Revelation 15:6… hepta angelois tois echarōntois tain hepta plēgain ek tou naou, enduorēntois linem katharem …… the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen …
Revelation 16:9… tou echarōntou tan exousian epi tain plēgain houtain, kai ouk metanoala dōara auto …… God, who had authority over these plagues. Yet they did not repent and …
Revelation 22:18… epitithati tos theos epi auton tain plēgain tain graforēntain en te biblie houte;… God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
plēgaiu“plagues”of, belonging togenitive plural5×
Luke 12:48“beating”… de mē gnōskarantos poiarantos de axieim plēgaiu deriti oligain. panto de ho dōita …But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much …
Acts 16:33… hōra tau nuktau louata apo taiu plēgaiu, kai baptizita autos kai tois autou …… jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all …
Revelation 9:18apo taiu treis plēgaiu houtaiu apoktenila tem tritem toiu anthrōpoiu, …… mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that …
Revelation 18:4… tai hamartai autau, kai ek taiu plēgaiu autau hina mē labaveia;… sins or contract any of her plagues.
Revelation 21:9… hepta fialain, teiu gemarōnteiu taiu hepta plēgaiu taiu eschataiu, kai lalata meta mu …… bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come …
plēgai“beatings”to, fordative plural3×
2 Corinthians 6:5en plēgai, en fulakai, en akatastasiai, en kopoi, …in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless …
2 Corinthians 11:23… kopoi perissoterōs, en fulakai perissoterōs, en plēgai huperballontōs, en thanatoi pollakis;… labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
Revelation 9:20… anthrōpoiu, hois ouk apoktenila en tai plēgai houtai, oude metanoala ek teiu ergeiu …… who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the …