Greek word · G4111
πλάσσω
plassō
to mold
To shape a soft material by hand: clay, wax, dough. From there, to fashion or form something, and in a bad sense to make something up or fabricate it (a 'fabricated' story). In Jewish Greek it becomes a standard verb for God forming humans, often with the picture of a potter and clay.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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 1 Timothy 2:13
- Range of meaning
To shape a soft material by hand: clay, wax, dough. From there, to fashion or form something, and in a bad sense to make something up or fabricate it (a 'fabricated' story). In Jewish Greek it becomes a standard verb for God forming humans, often with the picture of a potter and clay.
- Against the English
'Formed' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, NIV, ESV) keeps the hands-on, shaping sense and the link to Genesis 2:7. 'Created' (NASB) and 'made' (NLT) are accurate but more general, and they hide the verbal echo of Genesis 2.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Greek Genesis (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures used by Greek-speaking Jews and the early church) 2:7: 'God molded (eplasen) the man, dust from the ground'; also 2:8, 2:15 and 2:19 (the animals). Notably, LXX Genesis 2:22 uses a different verb for the woman: God 'built' (ōkodomēsen) the rib into a woman. Potter imagery: Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; Romans 9:20 ('Will what is molded say to the one who molded it…?'). 2 Maccabees 7:23 calls God 'the creator of the world who shaped the beginning of humankind' (ho plasas).
Where it appears
Romans · 1
-
Romans 9:20 πλάσαντι· having formed [it];
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
Here: "The one who molded it." The past-tense participle names the Maker by the act that brought the object into existence. The pairing plasma / plasanti ("molded thing" / "molder") is a deliberate echo of sound and sense.
1 Timothy · 1
-
1 Timothy 2:13 ἐπλάσθη, was formed,
For Adam was formed first, and then Eve.
Here: 'Was molded', the potter's word, taken from the Greek of Genesis 2:7 ('God molded the man from dust'). The passive leaves God as the unnamed one who does the shaping; the past tense simply narrates the event.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.