ἐκκεντέω

From the study of Revelation 1:7

Range of meaning

To pierce through or stab, usually with a spear or sword so as to kill or wound badly. It is rare in the New Testament: only here and John 19:37.

Against the English

'Pierced' is accurate. The issue is the reference: English readers may not notice that this is a quotation of Zechariah 12:10 and points back to the spear at the cross.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Hebrew of Zech 12:10 has דָּקָרוּ (dāqārû, 'they pierced'). The main Septuagint text reads κατωρχήσαντο ('they treated with contempt', literally 'danced insultingly'), probably from misreading the Hebrew letters (רקדו for דקרו). Later Greek revisions associated with Theodotion and Aquila use ἐκκεντέω. John 19:37 quotes it the same way: 'They will look on him whom they pierced.' Other uses: LXX Num 22:29; Judg 9:54; 2 Macc 12:6.

From the study of John 19:37

Range of meaning

To pierce through or stab through, normally with a sword or spear, and usually a wound meant to kill or capable of killing. It is a compound of kenteō, 'to prick or goad', with ek, 'out, through'. The prefix makes it stronger: right through, not a scratch.

Against the English

English 'pierce' can sound mild or ceremonial, like pierced ears. The Greek, and the Hebrew behind it, is the vocabulary of a killing thrust.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, LXX) it renders the Hebrew dāqar, 'to thrust through'. Balaam says to his donkey 'I would have run you through' (Num 22:29). The dying Abimelech asks his armour-bearer to 'run me through' (Judg 9:54). Saul asks the same of his armour-bearer (1 Chr 10:4). The Hebrew dāqar itself is used of Phinehas spearing Zimri and Cozbi (Num 25:8). It appears again in Zechariah 13:3, where parents 'thrust through' a son who prophesies falsely. Strikingly, the standard LXX of Zechariah 12:10 does not use this verb (see textual notes). John's wording matches the later Jewish Greek revisions of Zechariah (Theodotion's reading is preserved as eis hon exekentēsan) or a direct rendering of the Hebrew.