verb
sparassamō
Strong’sG4682
I convulse
stem sparass-3 times in the New Testamentin 2 of 27 books3 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
σπαράσσω
[in LXX: II Ki 22:8 B (גּעשׁ hith.), Je 4:19 (המה) Da LXX 8:7 (שׁלךְ hi.), III Mac 4:6 *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4682 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidspar-as'-so
apparently strengthened from G4685 through the idea of spasmodic contraction); to mangle, i.e. convluse with epilepsy
Fromprolongation from σπαίρω (to grasp;
King Jamesrend, tear.
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
Attic dialect σπαράττω Refs 5th c.BC+, future -ξωRefs 4th c.BC+: aorist ἐσπάραξα Refs 5th c.BC+, future -ξομαιRefs 5th c.BC+ —passive,perfect ἐσπάρακται (δι-) Refs 4th c.BC+:—tear, rend, especially of dogs, carnivorous animals, and the like, σάρκας ἐσπάρασσ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ὀστέων Refs 5th c.BC+ —middle, σπαράσσεσθαι κόμαν tear one's hair, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 rend asunder, φάραγγα βροντῇ.. πατὴρ σπαράξει A. [prev. cited]
3 metaphorically, pull to pieces, attack, ἄνδρα σπαράττων καὶ ταράττων καὶ κυκῶν Refs 5th c.BC+ H.:—passive, λώβαισι.. ἐσπαραγμένους Refs 3rd c.BC+
4 in Medicine texts, σ. τὸ στόμα τῆς κοιλίας provoke sickness, Refs 2nd c.AD+; compare σπαρακτέον:—passive, σ. ἀνημέτως retch without being able to vomit, Refs 5th c.BC+
4.b convulse, of an evil spirit, NT
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
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| sparassatōσπαράσσει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | convulses | 1× |
| sparassarantosσπαράξας | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | convulsing | 1× |
| sparassarantemσπαράξαν | happened · subjectaorist active participle direct singular neuter | convulsing | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sparassamō | sparassame | sparassami | sparassama | sparassamē | sparassamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | sparassasō | sparassase | sparassasi | sparassasa | sparassasē | sparassaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sparassatō1×σπαράσσει | sparassate | sparassati | sparassata | sparassatē | sparassatelē |
| we 1st person plural | sparassanō | sparassane | sparassani | sparassana | sparassanē | sparassanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | sparassavō | sparassave | sparassavi | sparassava | sparassavē | sparassavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | sparassalō | sparassale | sparassali | sparassala | sparassalē | sparassalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sparassameiō | sparassameia | sparassameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | sparassaseiō | sparassaseia | sparassaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sparassateiō | sparassateia | sparassateiē |
| we 1st person plural | sparassaneiō | sparassaneia | sparassaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | sparassaveiō | sparassaveia | sparassaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | sparassaleiō | sparassaleia | sparassaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | sparassasōr | sparassasar | sparassasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sparassatōr | sparassatar | sparassatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | sparassavōr | sparassavar | sparassavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | sparassalōr | sparassalar | sparassalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sparassamoiō | sparassamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | sparassasoiō | sparassasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sparassatoiō | sparassatoia |
| we 1st person plural | sparassanoiō | sparassanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | sparassavoiō | sparassavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | sparassaloiō | sparassaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | sparassarō | sparassari | sparassara | sparassarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | sparassarōntos | sparassarintos | sparassarantos2×σπαράξας | sparassarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
sparass 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.
3 occurrences, every one of them listed
sparassatō“convulses”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Luke 9:39“convulses”… labatō auton, kai exaifnōs krazatō, kai sparassatō auton meta afrou kai mogōs apochōratō …… keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs …
sparassarantos“convulsing”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Mark 9:26kai krazarantos kai polleim sparassarantos exerchata; kai geneta hōsei nekros hōste …After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out …
sparassarantem“convulsing”happened · subjectaorist active participle direct singular neuter1×
Mark 1:26“convulsing”kai sparassarantem auton tem pneumem tem akathartem kai …At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out …