noun · feminine
rizas
Strong’sG4491
a root, that which comes from the root
stem riz-17 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books4 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
ῥίζα primarily means a root, the underground part of a plant or tree 1234. It is used of actual roots of trees, and also in the phrase "having no root," said of a plant with no depth of soil, applied figuratively to something that has no lasting foundation 1.
By extension it means the source, origin, or cause of something. It can describe the cause of an evil or trouble, as in the phrase "the root of all evils" 1, or a "root of bitterness" from which trouble grows 1. Applied to people, it can mean an ancestor or the family stock from which others spring, as when later generations are pictured as branches growing from an ancestral root 13.
It can also refer to that which grows from a root, a shoot or offshoot, used of a descendant or offspring who springs from a family line 1.
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
ῥίζα, -ης, ἡ
[in LXX chiefly for שָׁרַשׁ;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4491 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhrid'-zah
a "root" (literally or figuratively)
Fromapparently a primary word;
King Jamesroot.
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
Ionic dialect nominative ῥίζη Refs 8th c.BC+:—root, Refs 8th c.BC+; used as a medicine, Refs 8th c.BC+; ῥ. ἐλατήριος, of a purgative medicine, Refs 5th c.BC+: mostly in plural, roots, Refs 8th c.BC+
2 metaphorically, roots of the eye, Refs 8th c.BC+ probably bloodshot streaks); the roots or foundations of the earth, Refs 8th c.BC+; of feathers, hair, etc., Refs 5th c.BC+; of the teeth, Refs
3 τὸν πόλεμον ἐκ ῥιζῶν ἀνῄρηκε 'root and branch', LXX+1st c.AD+; compare ῥιζόθεν, πρόρριζος.
II that from which anything springs as from a root, ῥίζαν ἀπείρου τρίταν a third continental foundation, of Libya, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀστέων ῥ., of Cyrene, as the root or original of the Cyrenaic Pentapolis, Refs; root or stock from which a family springs, ῥ. σπέρματος Refs 5th c.BC+; so, race, family, Refs 5th c.BC+; συκοφάντου.. σπέρμα καὶ ῥ. Refs 4th c.BC+; sect, party, NT+5th c.BC+
II.2 base, foundation, ῥ. πάντων καὶ βάσις ἁ γᾶ ἐρήρεισται Ti. Locrian dialectRefs 5th c.BC+; base of a vertical pillar, Refs 1st c.AD+
II.3 in Mathematics texts, root or base of a series, Anatolius cited in Refs. (Aeolic dialect βρίζα (which see): cf. Gothic waúrts, Latin radix.)
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 | rizas7×ῥίζα | rizais |
| object accusative | rizan8×ῥίζαν | rizain |
| direct address vocative | rizar | rizair |
| of, belonging to genitive | rizau1×ῥίζης | rizaiu1×ῥιζῶν |
| to, for dative | riza | rizai |
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
riza 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
rizas“root”subjectnominative singular7×
Romans 11:16… kai tem furamem; kai ei tas rizas hagias, kai tois kladois.… is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Romans 11:18… sis tan rizan bastazasō alla tas rizas sin.… not support the root, but the root supports you.
Romans 15:12kai palin Ēsaios legatō; Eti tas rizas tou Iessai, kai tos anastēorōntos archarō …And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who …
1 Timothy 6:10rizas gar panteiu teiu kakoseiu atō tas …… the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By …
Hebrews 12:15… tau charitau tou theou, mē tinas rizas pikriau anō fuarōntas enochlateiō kai dia …… grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause …
Revelation 5:5… tos ek tau fulau Ioudou, tas rizas David, anoigara tem bibliem kai tain …… of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open …
Revelation 22:16… epi tai ekklēsai. mis amō tas rizas kai tem genem David, tos asteros …… for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the …
rizan“root”objectaccusative singular8×
Matthew 3:10ēdē de tas axinas pros tan rizan teiu dendreiu keiotō; pantem oun dendrem …The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree …
Matthew 13:6… kaumatizita kai dia tem mē echarō rizan xēranita.… they withered because they had no root.
Matthew 13:21ouk echatō de rizan en heauto alla proskairos atō, generantau …But since he has no root, he remains for only a season …
Mark 4:6… kaumatizita kai dia tem mē echarō rizan xēranita.… they withered because they had no root.
Mark 4:17kai ouk echalō rizan en heautoi alla proskairois alō, eita …But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a …
Luke 3:9… de kai tas axinas pros tan rizan teiu dendreiu keiotō; pantem oun dendrem …The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree …
Luke 8:13… charau decholō ton logon, kai houtois rizan ouk echalō, hois pros kairon pisteualō …… with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but …
Romans 11:18… ei de katakauchosō, ouk sis tan rizan bastazasō alla tas rizas sin.… this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
rizau“root”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Romans 11:17… enkentrizisa en autoi kai sunkoinōnos tau rizau tau piotau tau elaiau genesa,… in the nourishment of the olive root,
rizaiu“roots”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Mark 11:20… prōi horala tan sukan xēranorēntan ek rizaiu.… the fig tree withered from its roots.