Greek word · G1143

δάκνω

daknō

to bite

Literally 'to bite', said of snakes, dogs and other animals. In a figurative sense it means to wound, sting or hurt someone, often with words or with sharp, cutting behaviour (BDAG: 'bite, figurative: injure, harm').

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δάκνω

[in LXX for נשׁךְ, Genesis 49:17, al., exc. Deuteronomy 8:15 (שׂרף) ;]

to bite: metaphorically, Galatians 5:15.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Galatians 5:15

Range of meaning

Literally 'to bite', said of snakes, dogs and other animals. In a figurative sense it means to wound, sting or hurt someone, often with words or with sharp, cutting behaviour (BDAG: 'bite, figurative: injure, harm').

Against the English

Every major English version keeps 'bite'. That is accurate. A modern reader may hear only 'snippy' or 'biting remarks', but the Greek picture is of an animal attack that draws blood.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) it is used for the serpents that bit Israel in the wilderness (Num 21:6, 'they bit the people') and for snakebite in Eccl 10:8, 11. In wider Greek it often means a stinging remark or a hurt that rankles. This is its only New Testament use.

Where it appears

Galatians · 1

  1. Galatians 5:15 δάκνετε you bite

    But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

    Here: 'You are biting.' The word for what snakes and dogs do. Used here as a picture of wounding attacks, most likely mainly verbal, inside the community. The present tense points to something going on now.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.