Greek word · G2659
κατάνυξις
katanyxis
stupor
Comes from the verb katanyssomai, "to be pierced, stung, pricked." That verb developed two strands: (1) being pierced with grief or emotion ("cut to the heart," Acts 2:37; Gen 34:7 LXX; Sir 14:1); (2) being stunned, struck dumb, rendered senseless (Dan 10:9, 15 Greek versions, where Daniel falls...
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
κατά-νυξις, -εως, ἡ
(κατανύσσω, which see), [in LXX: Psalms 60:3 (תַּרְעֵלָה), Isaiah 29:10 (תַּרְדֵּמָה)* ;]
1. a pricking.
2. (Perhaps through resembl. of κατανύσσω to -νυστάζω), torpor of mind, stupefaction: Romans 11:8 (LXX) (see ICC, in l; Field, Notes, 157).†
(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
Comes from the verb katanyssomai, "to be pierced, stung, pricked." That verb developed two strands: (1) being pierced with grief or emotion ("cut to the heart," Acts 2:37; Gen 34:7 LXX; Sir 14:1); (2) being stunned, struck dumb, rendered senseless (Dan 10:9, 15 Greek versions, where Daniel falls into a stunned sleep). The noun in the Greek Old Testament leans to the second strand: stupefaction, numbness, a dazed torpor. BDAG gives "stupefaction, stupor" for Romans 11:8.
- Against the English
"Stupor" (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) is close. KJV "slumber" and YLT "deep sleep" follow the Hebrew behind Isaiah 29:10 (tardēmâ, heavy supernatural sleep). "Slumber" now sounds gentle and restful, which the word is not.
- How it drifted
In English, "slumber" softened over time into peaceful, light sleep. Separately, later Byzantine monastic Greek used katanyxis for "compunction," the heart being pierced to contrite tears. That positive spiritual sense is far from what Paul meant here.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Isaiah 29:10 LXX: "the Lord has made you drink a spirit of katanyxis" (Hebrew rûaḥ tardēmâ, "spirit of deep sleep"; the same tardēmâ fell on Adam in Gen 2:21 and Abram in Gen 15:12). Psalm 60:3 (59:5 LXX): "you gave us wine of katanyxis to drink" (Hebrew "wine of staggering"). Both pictures are of an imposed, intoxicated daze.
Where it appears
Romans · 1
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Romans 11:8 κατανύξεως, of stupor,
as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
Here: Stunned, drugged-like insensibility. From Greek Isaiah 29:10, where it translates the Hebrew for the heavy, unnatural "deep sleep" God brings on people. Not gentle slumber but dazed incapacity.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.