noun · feminine
sfragidas
Strong’sG4973
a signet-ring, impression of a seal, the proof
stem sfragid-16 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books5 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
σφραγίς refers to a seal or signet — an engraved stamp or ring used to mark and secure something as one's own 1234.
It also refers to the impression made by such a seal — the mark itself, left literally by pressing the signet onto a document, such as the seals closing a scroll 1, and figuratively a mark serving as proof of ownership, genuineness, or authenticity 124.
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
σφραγίς, -ῖδος, ἡ
[in LXX: Ex 28:11, al. (חֹתָם) 35:22 (חָח), Si 17:22, al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4973 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidsfrag-ece'
a signet (as fencing in or protecting from misappropriation); by implication, the stamp impressed (as a mark of privacy, or genuineness), literally or figuratively
Fromprobably strengthened from G5420;
King Jamesseal.
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 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
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 | sfragidas1×σφραγίς | sfragidais |
| object accusative | sfragidan10×σφραγῖδα | sfragidain3×σφραγῖδας |
| direct address vocative | sfragidar | sfragidair |
| of, belonging to genitive | sfragidau | sfragidaiu1×σφραγίδων |
| to, for dative | sfragida | sfragidai1×σφραγῖσιν |
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
sfragida 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.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
sfragidas“seal”subjectnominative singular1×
1 Corinthians 9:2… alla ge vi amō, tas gar sfragidas mu tau apostolau vis avō en …… to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
sfragidan“seal”objectaccusative singular10×
Romans 4:11kai sēmem labata peritomau, sfragidan tau dikaiosunau tau pistiau tau en …… the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had …
2 Timothy 2:19… themelios tou theou stēatē, echarōntos tan sfragidan houtan; Gnōskata kurios toin arōntoin autou, …… God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are …
Revelation 6:3Kai hote anoigata tan sfragidan tan deuteran, akouama teu deutereu zōeu …… when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature …
Revelation 6:5Kai hote anoigata tan sfragidan tan tritan, akouama teu triteu zōeu …… when the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature …
Revelation 6:7Kai hote anoigata tan sfragidan tan tetartan, akouama fōnan teu tetarteu …… when the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the …
Revelation 6:9Kai hote anoigata tan pemptan sfragidan, horama hupokatō teu thusiastērieu tain psuchain …… when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the …
Revelation 6:12Kai horama hote anoigata tan sfragidan tan hektan, kai seismos megos geneta, …… as the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake …
Revelation 7:2… angelon anabainarōnton apo anatolau hēliou, echarōnton sfragidan theou zōarōntou, kai krazata fōna mega …… ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he …
Revelation 8:1Kai hotan anoigata tan sfragidan tan hebdoman, geneta sigas en to …When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for …
Revelation 9:4… toin anthrōpoin hotinois ouk echalō tan sfragidan tou theou epi teiu metōpeiu.… those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
sfragidain“seals”objectaccusative plural3×
Revelation 5:2… anoigara tem bibliem kai luara tain sfragidain auteu?… Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
Revelation 5:5… anoigara tem bibliem kai tain hepta sfragidain auteu.… open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:9… labara tem bibliem kai anoigara tain sfragidain auteu, hoti sfazisa kai agorazasa to …… take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by …
sfragidaiu“seals”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Revelation 6:1… tem arniem henan ek taiu hepta sfragidaiu, kai akouama heneu ek teiu tessares …… Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the …
sfragidai“seals”to, fordative plural1×
Revelation 5:1… bibliem graforēntem esōthen kai opisthen, katasfragizorēntem sfragidai hepta.… sides and was sealed with seven seals.