Greek word · G1375

διωγμός

diōgmos

persecution

Literally 'a chase, a pursuit', from διώκω, which means 'run after, hunt, pursue'. Applied to people, it means harassment and hostile pursuit aimed at driving someone out or stopping them. That covers expulsion, mob action, legal pressure and attempts on someone's life.

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

διωγμός, -oῦ, ὁ

(διώκω), [in LXX: Proverbs 11:19 (רָדַף pi.), Lamentations 3:19 (מָרוּד), 2Ma.12:23 * ;]

persecution: Matthew 13:21, Mark 4:17 10:30 Acts 8:1 13:50, Romans 8:35, 2 Corinthians 12:10, 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Timothy 3:11.†

(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 2 Timothy 3:11

Range of meaning

Literally 'a chase, a pursuit', from διώκω, which means 'run after, hunt, pursue'. Applied to people, it means harassment and hostile pursuit aimed at driving someone out or stopping them. That covers expulsion, mob action, legal pressure and attempts on someone's life.

Against the English

'Persecution' is accurate, but modern readers often picture organised state campaigns, such as the later Roman persecutions or modern regimes. Here the word covers local events: synagogue leaders and city notables stirring up opposition, people being run out of town, and a lynch mob.

How it drifted

Church history's 'Great Persecutions' (Decius, Diocletian) shaped the English word around official, empire-wide policy. That came two centuries later.

Used elsewhere in the period

Acts 8:1 and 13:50 use it of local hostility. In 13:50 the leading men of Antioch 'stirred up persecution' and expelled Paul and Barnabas. Mark 4:17 and 2 Thess 1:4 use it for pressure on believers. In the LXX and Hellenistic Greek it can also mean simply 'pursuit' (e.g. of an enemy).

From the study of Acts 13:50

Range of meaning

From diōkō, "to pursue, chase, hunt." It can mean literal pursuit, and by extension harassment or persecution: actively hounding someone for what they are or say.

Against the English

Every major English version has "persecution." The rendering is accurate. Readers may imagine later imperial persecution with arrests and executions, but here it is civic harassment that ends in expulsion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Acts 8:1 and 2 Thessalonians 1:4 use the same noun. In 2 Timothy 3:11 Paul recalls "persecutions and sufferings… at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra," naming the cities of this journey in Acts' order. That gives this episode independent confirmation.

From the study of Matthew 13:21

Range of meaning

Pursuit, chase; then persecution, hostile harassment of a person or group.

Against the English

All major versions use 'persecution'. That is accurate, as long as the reader hears social and religious hostility (family rejection, synagogue discipline, mob action) as well as state violence.

Used elsewhere in the period

Related to diōkō, 'pursue, persecute', which Jesus uses in the Beatitudes: 'Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness… when people persecute you… because of me' (Matt 5:10–12). Acts 8:1 uses it of the persecution after Stephen's death.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 13:21 διωγμοῦ persecution

    But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

    Here: From 'to chase, pursue'. Deliberate hostility from other people: being hounded, harassed, driven out.

Mark · 2

  1. Mark 4:17 διωγμοῦ persecution

    But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

    Here: Active hostility: being hunted down, harassed or prosecuted. It is more targeted than general hardship.

  2. Mark 10:30 διωγμῶν persecutions —

    will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

    Here: 'Persecutions', plural: repeated hostile pursuit, harassment and legal trouble. Only Mark records this sobering addition.

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 8:1 διωγμὸς a persecution

    And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

    Here: From the verb 'to chase, hunt down, prosecute'. It means organised hostile pursuit. Verse 3 and chapter 9 fill it in: house searches, arrests, prison and trips to other cities to make arrests.

  2. Acts 13:50 διωγμὸν a persecution

    The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

    Here: "Persecution," literally "a hunting down." Here it means organized harassment that ended in official expulsion. Luke records no killing.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 8:35 διωγμὸς persecution

    Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

    Here: It comes from the verb "to chase, pursue". It means hostile action deliberately aimed at people because of who they belong to: being hunted down, harassed, driven out.

2 Corinthians · 1

  1. 2 Corinthians 12:10 διωγμοῖς persecutions

    That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

    Here: Literally "chasings": being hunted, driven out of cities, hostile action against him for his message (e.g. the escape from Damascus, 11:32-33).

2 Thessalonians · 1

  1. 2 Thessalonians 1:4 διωγμοῖς persecutions

    That is why we boast among God’s churches about your perseverance and faith in the face of all the persecution and affliction you are enduring.

    Here: From the verb 'to chase, pursue'. It means active harassment by hostile people, being hunted down. The plural means repeated episodes.

2 Timothy · 2

  1. 2 Timothy 3:11 διωγμοῖς, διωγμοὺς persecutions,, persecutions

    my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

    Here: From the verb for 'chase, pursue'. It means being hunted down and driven out because of his message. The plural points to a series of separate incidents.

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