Greek word · G3039

λικμάω

likmaō

to crush

Basic meaning: to winnow, that is, to toss threshed grain into the wind so the light chaff blows away. By extension it means to scatter like chaff, and so to destroy completely.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

λικμάω, -ῶ

(λικμός = λίκνον, a winnowing-fan), [in LXX chiefly for זָרָה ni., pi., Ruth 3:2 1 Kings 14:15, Isaiah 17:13, Jeremiah 31:10, Daniel 2:44, al. ;]

1. in cl., to winnow (so Ru, l.with).

2. In LXX (ll with, exc. Ru), to scatter (as chaff or dust): Luke 20:18 (RV, scatter as dust, Deiss., BS, 225 f., quotes ex. in π. which suggests the meaning ruin, destroy; cf. Vg. comminuet, AV, grind to powder; cf. also Kennedy, Sources, 126), Matthew 21:44 [WH], R, txt.†

(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 Matthew 21:44

Range of meaning

Basic meaning: to winnow, that is, to toss threshed grain into the wind so the light chaff blows away. By extension it means to scatter like chaff, and so to destroy completely. BDAG gives 'crush' for this verse and Luke 20:18, based on Daniel 2:44 (Theodotion) and a papyrus where the verb seems to describe a crop being ruined (Moulton-Milligan).

Against the English

KJV 'grind to powder' and BSB/ESV/NIV 'crush' give the result: total destruction. WEB 'scatter him as dust' and NASB 'scatter him like dust' keep the winnowing picture of remains blown away. Neither is wrong. Each keeps one half of what the word suggests.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Ruth 3:2: Boaz 'is winnowing' barley on the threshing floor. Jeremiah 38(31):10: God 'who scattered (ὁ λικμήσας) Israel'. Sirach 5:9: 'do not winnow in every wind'. Wisdom 11:20: 'scattered (λικμηθέντες) by the breath of your power'. Most important, Daniel 2:44 in the Theodotion Greek version says God's kingdom 'will shatter and winnow (λικμήσει) all the kingdoms'. Daniel 2:35 says the pieces of the statue became 'like chaff from the summer threshing floors' that the wind carried away.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 21:44 λικμήσει it will grind to powder

    He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

    Here: 'It will winnow / pulverise him'. The word comes from the threshing floor, where grain was tossed into the wind so the chaff blew away. Here it means being crushed so completely that the remains blow away like chaff, as in Daniel 2:35.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 20:18 λικμήσει it will grind into powder

    Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

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