Greek word · G4131

πλήκτης

plēktēs

bully

From plēssō, 'to strike, hit'. It means a striker, someone given to blows, a pugnacious or bullying man. In wider Greek usage it can also stretch to someone who 'strikes' with words, an abusive man, but the core picture is physical.

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

What it means

πλήκτης, -ου, ὁ

(πλήσσω), [in Sm.: Psalms 35:15 * ;]

a striker, brawler: 1 Timothy 3:3, Titus 1:7 (Arist., Plut., al.).†

(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 1 Timothy 3:3

Range of meaning

From plēssō, 'to strike, hit'. It means a striker, someone given to blows, a pugnacious or bullying man. In wider Greek usage it can also stretch to someone who 'strikes' with words, an abusive man, but the core picture is physical.

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'striker' is accurate but archaic. Modern readers may think of a labour strike or a football striker. BSB/WEB 'violent' and other modern versions' 'violent' or 'pugnacious' put it in today's English.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the NT it appears only here and in Titus 1:7. It is a rare word in Greek moral vocabulary, used for the hot-tempered man who settles disputes with his hands.

Where it appears

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 3:3 πλήκτην a striker

    not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.

    Here: From the verb 'to strike'. It means a man who hits people, a hothead quick with his fists, and by extension a bully who dominates others physically. It follows 'given to wine' naturally, because drinking and fighting went together.

Titus · 1

  1. Titus 1:7 πλήκτην, a striker,

    As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

    Here: Someone who hits people, a brawler. In a household setting it calls up the manager who beats the servants in his charge.

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