Greek word · G1613

ἐκταράσσω

ektarassō

to disturb greatly

A strengthened form of tarassō, 'to stir up, trouble, agitate.' It means to throw thoroughly into confusion, to alarm, or to set in uproar. It is used of minds (terror, panic) and of communities (civil unrest).

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐκ-ταράσσω

[in LXX: Psalms 18:4 (עֵת pi.), Psalms 88:16 (צוּם), צוּם), Wisdom of Solomon 17:3-4 18:17 * ;]

to throw into great trouble, agitate: Acts 16:20.†

(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 Acts 16:20

Range of meaning

A strengthened form of tarassō, 'to stir up, trouble, agitate.' It means to throw thoroughly into confusion, to alarm, or to set in uproar. It is used of minds (terror, panic) and of communities (civil unrest).

Against the English

KJV/YLT: 'exceedingly trouble'. This catches the force of the ek- prefix, but 'trouble' now sounds like mild bother. BSB 'throwing… into turmoil' and NASB 'throwing… into confusion' are stronger. WEB 'agitating' fits the political sense. ESV 'disturbing' is the weakest.

How it drifted

The older English 'trouble' once carried the sense of civil disturbance ('troubles' meaning riots or strife). Today it is weaker, so the KJV wording undersells the charge.

Used elsewhere in the period

This is the only use of the word in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament it appears in Psalm 87:17 (LXX; Hebrew/English 88:16), where God's terrors 'have overwhelmed' the psalmist, and in Wisdom 17:3 of people panicked by apparitions. BDAG lists uses in Hellenistic writers for stirring up a city or populace. Its relative tarassō is used for the same kind of charge in Acts 17:8 and 17:13, where opponents 'stir up' the crowds and city officials of Thessalonica and Berea.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 16:20 ἐκταράσσουσιν exceedingly trouble

    They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil

    Here: The heart of the charge. They are stirring the city up and upsetting public order. The present tense presents it as ongoing ('they keep agitating'), and the prefix ek- makes it stronger. The charge is sedition: a public-order offence that Roman magistrates were bound to take seriously.

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