Greek word · G2000
ἐπισφαλής
episphalēs
dangerous/unsteady
From sphallō, 'to trip, make to fall'. It means 'prone to fall, tottering, precarious', and by extension 'risky, unsafe, hazardous'. Greek writers applied it to unstable positions, risky undertakings and dangerous medical conditions.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἐπισφαλής, -ές
(σφάλλω, to cause to full), [in LXX: Wisdom of Solomon 9:14 (cf. -ῶς, Wisdom of Solomon 4:4) * ;]
1. prone to fall (Plat.).
2. dangerous (Hipp., Plut., al.): Acts 27:9.†
(AS)
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
From sphallō, 'to trip, make to fall'. It means 'prone to fall, tottering, precarious', and by extension 'risky, unsafe, hazardous'. Greek writers applied it to unstable positions, risky undertakings and dangerous medical conditions.
- Against the English
'Dangerous' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) is accurate. The Greek also carries the idea of instability and an uncertain outcome: the voyage is a risky gamble, not certain disaster.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It appears in classical and Hellenistic prose (e.g. Polybius) and in medical writers for a precarious state. This is its only appearance in the New Testament.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 27:9 ἐπισφαλοῦς dangerous
By now much time had passed, and the voyage had already become dangerous because it was after the Fast. So Paul advised them,
Here: Literally 'liable to slip or fall'. Used of a voyage it means hazardous and uncertain. This is the only place it occurs in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.