Greek word · G3350

μετοικεσία

metoikesia

deportation

From meta (change) + oikos (house, dwelling): a change of residence. In biblical Greek it is almost always a forced change, meaning deportation or the resettlement of a conquered people. By extension it can also mean the community of deportees.

Appears 4 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

μετοικεσία, -ας, ἡ

(= cl. μετολκία, -κησις; μετοικέω, to change one's abode), [in LXX chiefly for גּוֹלָה and cogn. forms, Ezekiel 12:11, Ob 20, al. ;]

change of abode, migration: of the Babylonian exile, μ. Βαβυλῶνος, Matthew 1:11-12, 17.†

(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 1:12

Range of meaning

From meta (change) + oikos (house, dwelling): a change of residence. In biblical Greek it is almost always a forced change, meaning deportation or the resettlement of a conquered people. By extension it can also mean the community of deportees.

Against the English

KJV turns it into a clause ("after they were brought to Babylon"). BSB, NIV and WEB say "exile." ESV and NASB say "deportation." YLT says "removal." "Deportation" is the closest: the word describes something done to Judah by an empire, not voluntary emigration.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament used by Greek-speaking Jews): 4 Kingdoms (2 Kings) 24:16 for Nebuchadnezzar carrying Judah's men to Babylon; Ezekiel 12:11 ("they shall go into deportation and captivity"); Obadiah 20; 1 Chronicles 5:22. Greek Jeremiah usually uses the related apoikia. In the New Testament it appears only in Matthew 1:11, 12 and 17 (twice).

From the study of Matthew 1:11

Range of meaning

Change of residence, migration, removal. In Jewish Greek it is a technical term for the forced resettlement of a population by a conquering empire.

Against the English

BSB/WEB/NIV 'exile', ESV/NASB 'deportation', KJV 'they were carried away', YLT 'removal', Vulgate 'transmigratio'. 'Deportation' or 'removal' keeps the picture of a forced transfer. 'Exile' can suggest one person's banishment.

How it drifted

Modern 'exile' often brings to mind a single dissident or a self-chosen life abroad. Matthew's word describes an empire uprooting a nation's leadership and resettling them by force.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint uses it for the Babylonian deportations, for example 2 Kings 24:16, 1 Chronicles 5:22, Ezekiel 12:11 and Obadiah 20. Related words (metoikia, apoikia) appear in Jeremiah and Ezra. Matthew uses it four times in 1:11–17, and in the New Testament only there.

From the study of Matthew 1:17

Range of meaning

Change of residence, removal, relocation, and especially forced deportation of a population. It comes from meta (change) + oikos (house, home). In the NT it occurs only in Matthew 1:11, 12, 17.

Against the English

"Exile" (BSB, WEB) is accurate. KJV "carrying away" and YLT "removal" keep the physical picture of a people being hauled off. Modern "exile" can sound like a single banished person (an exiled politician), but this word means a whole nation uprooted.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint uses it for the Babylonian deportation (e.g., 1 Chronicles 5:22; Ezekiel 12:11), and related forms such as metoikia also occur there. Babylon deported Judah's king Jehoiachin ("Jeconiah") and the elite in 597 BC. It destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC.

Where it appears

Matthew · 4

  1. Matthew 1:11 μετοικεσίας carrying away

    and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

    Here: Literally 'change of dwelling'. Here it means the forced relocation of Judah's king, nobles, craftsmen and soldiers to Babylonia. In the New Testament, only Matthew uses this word.

  2. Matthew 1:12 μετοικεσίαν carrying away

    After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

    Here: Literally a "change of home." Here it means the forced removal of Judah's king, nobles and craftsmen to Babylonia, the event that ended the independent kingdom of David's house.

  3. Matthew 1:17 μετοικεσίας μετοικεσίας carrying away

    In all, then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

    Here: Being forcibly moved out of one's homeland: the Babylonian exile of 597–586 BC. The word marks a calamity and does not refer to a date or a person. It is the only one of the three markers that is not a man.

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