Greek word · G401
ἀνάχυσις
anachysis
outpouring
From ἀναχέω, "to pour out, pour over". It means an outpouring or overflow, water spreading out widely, as in a flood or a broad stretch of standing water (BDAG s.v.; LSJ s.v.). Figuratively, an unrestrained "pouring out" or excess.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἀνά-χυσις, -εως, ἡ
(ἀναχέω, to pour out),
a pouring out, overflowing, excess: metaphorically, 1 Peter 4:4 (MM, VGT, see word).†
(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 ἀναχέω, "to pour out, pour over". It means an outpouring or overflow, water spreading out widely, as in a flood or a broad stretch of standing water (BDAG s.v.; LSJ s.v.). Figuratively, an unrestrained "pouring out" or excess.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB/YLT "excess" keeps the idea of going past limits but loses the water. ESV and BSB "flood" keep the image. NIV leaves the noun out altogether ("reckless, wild living"), so the metaphor is lost.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It occurs only here in the NT and not in the LXX. Secular Greek writers use it of water overflowing or spreading out (e.g. the geographer Strabo of flooding waters). Philo and later writers also use it figuratively of an unrestrained outpouring. Attestation is limited, so the exact nuance (an inundation, or a stagnant overflow) is somewhat uncertain.
Where it appears
1 Peter · 1
-
1 Peter 4:4 ἀνάχυσιν overflow
Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.
Here: Used only here in the New Testament. It means water spilling out and spreading wide. Pagan festive life is pictured as a flood that has burst its banks, and everyone is rushing into it.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.