verb
xēranomō
Strong’sG3583
I dry up, parch, ripen
stem xēran-15 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books5 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
Ξηραίνω means to dry up, parch, or wither 1234. It is used of plants and vegetation withering away 13, of liquids drying up 1, of body parts becoming withered or paralyzed 13, and of crops ripening as they dry out 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
ξηραίνω
(< ξηρός), [in LXX chiefly for יָבֵשׁ;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3583 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidxay-rah'-ee-no
to desiccate; by implication, to shrivel, to mature
Fromfrom G3584;
King Jamesdry up, pine away, be ripe, wither (away).
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
future -ᾰνῶRefs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐξήρἀνα Refs 5th c.BC+:—passive, future ξηρανθήσομαι Refs 2nd c.AD+middle ξηρᾰνοῦμαι in same sense, Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐξηράνθην Refs 8th c.BC+: perfect ἐξήρασμαι NT+5th c.BC+; infinitive ἀπ-εξηράνθαι Refs 5th c.BC+; participle ἐξηρᾱμένος only late, Refs 3rd c.AD+: (ξηρός):—parch, dry up, ξηρανεῖ σ᾽ ὁ Βάκχιος E. [prev. cited]; of the sun, Refs 5th c.BC+; make costive, τὴν κοιλίην Refs 5th c.BC+:—passive, to be or become dry, parched, ἐξηράνθη πεδίον Il.[same place],Refs 5th c.BC+; to be withered, ἐξηράνθη ἡ συκῆ NT+2nd c.BC+
2 drain dry, ξηράνας τὴν διώρυχα Refs 5th c.BC+
3 metaphorically, κακουχεῖ αὑτὸν καὶ ξ. Refs 3rd c.BC+
3.b passive, of a paralytic, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| xēranotōξηραίνεται | happening now · he/she/itpresent middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular | becomes rigid | 1× |
| xēranataἐξήρανεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | withers | 1× |
| xēranitaἐξηράνθη | happened · he/she/itaorist passive indicative 3rd person singular | withered away | 10× |
| xēranotēἐξήρανται | has happened · he/she/itperfect middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular | withered | 1× |
| xēranorēntanἐξηραμμένην | has happened · objectperfect middle or passive participle accusative singular feminine | withered | 2× |
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 172, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 13 occurrences
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranamō | xēraname | xēranami | xēranama | xēranamē | xēranamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranasō | xēranase | xēranasi | xēranasa | xēranasē | xēranaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranatō | xēranate | xēranati | xēranata1×ἐξήρανεν | xēranatē | xēranatelē |
| we 1st person plural | xērananō | xēranane | xēranani | xēranana | xērananē | xērananelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranavō | xēranave | xēranavi | xēranava | xēranavē | xēranavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranalō | xēranale | xēranali | xēranala | xēranalē | xēranalelē |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranomō | xēranome | xēranomē | xēranomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranosō | xēranose | xēranosē | xēranoselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranotō1×ξηραίνεται | xēranote | xēranotē1×ἐξήρανται | xēranotelē |
| we 1st person plural | xēranonō | xēranone | xēranonē | xēranonelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranovō | xēranove | xēranovē | xēranovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranolō | xēranole | xēranolē | xēranolelē |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | will happen future | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranimi | xēranima |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranisi | xēranisa |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēraniti | xēranita10×ἐξηράνθη |
| we 1st person plural | xēranini | xēranina |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranivi | xēraniva |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranili | xēranila |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranameiō | xēranameia | xēranameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranaseiō | xēranaseia | xēranaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranateiō | xēranateia | xēranateiē |
| we 1st person plural | xērananeiō | xērananeia | xērananeiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranaveiō | xēranaveia | xēranaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranaleiō | xēranaleia | xēranaleiē |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranomeiō | xēranomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranoseiō | xēranoseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranoteiō | xēranoteiē |
| we 1st person plural | xēranoneiō | xēranoneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranoveiō | xēranoveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranoleiō | xēranoleiē |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranimeia |
| you 2nd person singular | xēraniseia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēraniteia |
| we 1st person plural | xēranineia |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēraniveia |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranileia |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | xēranasōr | xēranasar | xēranasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranatōr | xēranatar | xēranatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranavōr | xēranavar | xēranavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranalōr | xēranalar | xēranalēr |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | xēranosōr | xēranosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranotōr | xēranotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranovōr | xēranovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranolōr | xēranolēr |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | xēranisar |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranitar |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranivar |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranilar |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranamoiō | xēranamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranasoiō | xēranasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranatoiō | xēranatoia |
| we 1st person plural | xērananoiō | xērananoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranavoiō | xēranavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranaloiō | xēranaloia |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | xēranonoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | xēranoloiō |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | xēranimoia |
| you 2nd person singular | xēranisoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | xēranitoia |
| we 1st person plural | xēraninoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | xēranivoia |
| they 3rd person plural | xēraniloia |
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 | xēranarō | xēranari | xēranara | xēranarē |
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | xēranorō | xēranorē | ||
| acted on passive voice | xēraniri | xēranira |
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 | xēranarōntos | xēranarintos | xēranarantos | xēranarēntos |
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | xēranorōntos | xēranorēntos2× | ||
| acted on passive voice | xēranirintos | xēranirantos |
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
xēran 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.
15 occurrences, every one of them listed
xēranotō“becomes rigid”happening now · he/she/itpresent middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular1×
Mark 9:18… afrizatō kai trizatō toin odontoin kai xēranotō; kai legama toi mathētoi su hina …… the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive …
xēranata“withers”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular1×
James 1:11… tos hēlios sun to kausōno kai xēranata ton chorton, kai tem anthem autou …… sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and …
xēranita“withered away”happened · he/she/itaorist passive indicative 3rd person singular10×
Matthew 13:6“withered away”… kai dia tem mē echarō rizan xēranita.… were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Matthew 21:19… karpos geneteia eis ton aiōnon; kai xēranita parachrēma tas sukas.… He said. And immediately the tree withered.
Matthew 21:20… tois mathētois thaumazala legarōntois; Pōs parachrēma xēranita tas sukas?… asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
Mark 4:6“withered away”… kai dia tem mē echarō rizan xēranita.… were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Mark 5:29“dried up”kai euthuos xēranita tas pēgas teu haimeu autau, kai …Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she sensed in her body that …
Luke 8:6“withered away”… katapiptata epi tan petran, kai fuirantem xēranita dia tem mē echarō ikmadan.Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.
John 15:6… balita exō hōs tem klēmem kai xēranita, kai sunagalō auteim kai eis tem …… branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown …
1 Peter 1:24… pantas doxas autau hōs anthem chortou; xēranita tos chortos, kai tem anthem ekpiptata;… flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Revelation 14:15… hoti erchata tas hōras therizara, hoti xēranita tos therismos tau gēau.… the crop of the earth is ripe.”
Revelation 16:12… potamon ton megon ton Eufraton; kai xēranita tem hudem autou, hina hetoimaziteia tas …… river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the …
xēranotē“withered”has happened · he/she/itperfect middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular1×
Mark 11:21… Rabbi, ide tas sukas han kataresa xēranotē.… The fig tree You cursed has withered.”
xēranorēntan“withered”has happened · objectperfect middle or passive participle accusative singular feminine2×
Mark 3:1… eis sunagōgan, kai ate ekei anthrōpos xēranorēntan echarōntos tan cheiran.… synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there.
Mark 11:20Kai paraporeuorōntois prōi horala tan sukan xēranorēntan ek rizaiu.… morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots.