Greek word · G1283
διαρπάζω
diarpazō
to rob
To plunder thoroughly, sack, seize as booty. Built from ἁρπάζω ('snatch, seize') with the prefix δια- ('through, completely'). It is the normal word for an army stripping a captured city or camp.
Appears 3 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To plunder thoroughly, sack, seize as booty. Built from ἁρπάζω ('snatch, seize') with the prefix δια- ('through, completely'). It is the normal word for an army stripping a captured city or camp.
- Against the English
BSB renders the first occurrence 'steal' and the second 'plunder'. That hides the fact that Mark uses the same verb twice, and 'steal' makes it sound like quiet burglary. KJV 'spoil' meant 'despoil' in 1611, but readers today hear 'ruin' or 'pamper'. 'Plunder' (ESV, NASB, WEB) is closest.
- How it drifted
The English 'spoil' has shifted. Its older sense, 'to strip of goods by force', has mostly given way to 'damage' or 'indulge'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Septuagint it is common for plundering cities and spoils of war (e.g. Gen 34:27, where Jacob's sons plunder Shechem; Isa 42:22, a people 'plundered and looted'). Josephus uses it repeatedly for armies sacking towns. Matthew 12:29 uses the same verb in the parallel saying.
From the study of Matthew 12:29
- Range of meaning
Harpazō: to seize, snatch or carry off by force, as a robber, a raiding army or a wild beast does. Also to snatch away suddenly (Acts 8:39; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). Diarpazō: the strengthened form, to plunder thoroughly, sack or ransack, used especially of looting a captured city.
- Against the English
BSB's "steal" makes the first verb sound like quiet theft, but harpazō means taking by force. KJV's "spoil" meant "plunder" in 1611, but modern readers hear "ruin" or "pamper." "Plunder" (WEB, BSB, ESV) is the best modern match for diarpazō.
- How it drifted
"Spoil" in the sense of "despoil, strip of goods" has largely died out in English. The noun "spoils" survives, but the verb now mostly means to damage or to overindulge.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the LXX diarpazō is common for the sacking of cities, as when Jacob's sons plunder Shechem (Genesis 34:27). Isaiah 42:22 describes Israel as a people robbed and plundered with no one to rescue them. Mark 3:27 uses diarpazō in both clauses. Matthew uses the simpler harpazō first and keeps diarpazō for the final, complete looting.
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 12:29 διαρπάσει.¶ he will rob.
Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Here: A strengthened form of the earlier verb: to strip a place completely, as soldiers loot a captured city. The future tense states the certain result. Once the strong man is tied up, the house will be emptied.
Mark · 2
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Mark 3:27 διαρπάσαι, διαρπάσει.¶ to plunder,, he will plunder.
Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
Here: 'To plunder, to carry off as loot.' This is the language of sacking a city, not of a quiet theft. The verb is aorist: the act viewed as a whole.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.