Greek word · G4132
πλήμμυρα
plēmmyra
flood
High water, flood tide, the overflowing of a river. The related form plēmmuris is used of a sea or river rising.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
πλήμμυρα, -ης (for Att.. -ας, see Bl., § 7, 1)
(πλήθω), [in LXX: π. γένεσθαι, Job 40:18 (23) (נָהָר עָשַׁק) * ;]
a flood (of sea or river) : Luke 6:48.†
(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
High water, flood tide, the overflowing of a river. The related form plēmmuris is used of a sea or river rising.
- Against the English
'Flood' is accurate. A modern reader may think of Noah, or of water slowly rising. The word, together with 'the river burst against', describes a sudden violent torrent: a stream in spate (running high and fast) that hits the walls.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found only here in the NT. In Job 40:23 (LXX) it is used of a river in flood that the great beast does not fear. Greek writers use it for rivers overflowing, the Nile flood among them.
Where it appears
Luke · 1
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Luke 6:48 πλημμύρης when a flood
He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
Here: Found only here in the NT: the rising of a river over its banks, a flash flood. It is not rain soaking in. It is a mass of water arriving all at once.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.