Greek word · G4155

πνίγω

pnigō

to choke

To choke, throttle, strangle. In the passive it can mean to be suffocated or drowned. It is used of seizing someone by the throat and of anything that cuts off breath or life.

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

What it means

πνίγω

[in LXX: 1 Samuel 16:14 (בָּעַת pi.) * ;]

to choke: with accusative, Matthew 13:7 (WH, mg.); imperfect (coniative), Matthew 18:28; of drowning, pass., Mark 5:13 (cf. ἀπο-, ἐπι-, συν-πνίγω).†

(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 13:7

Range of meaning

To choke, throttle, strangle. In the passive it can mean to be suffocated or drowned. It is used of seizing someone by the throat and of anything that cuts off breath or life.

Against the English

"Choked" is a good rendering. In English gardening "choke" still means weeds smothering plants. The verse describes a slow squeeze by competition across a growing season, not a sudden kill.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Matthew 18:28 the unforgiving servant seizes his fellow servant and "was choking him" (ἔπνιγεν), grabbing him by the throat. In Mark 5:13 the pigs "were drowned" (ἐπνίγοντο) in the lake. The compound ἀποπνίγω (Luke 8:7, 33, and many later manuscripts of this verse) is used in Greek generally for plants and animals being suffocated. Mark 4:7 uses another compound, συμπνίγω, "choked together, smothered", which reappears in the explanations (Matt 13:22; Mark 4:19).

Where it appears

Matthew · 2

  1. Matthew 13:7 ἔπνιξαν choked

    Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.

    Here: "Choked": the thorns smothered the young grain by crowding it and taking its light, water and space. The verb pictures a throttling grip. Mark says the result was a plant that "yielded no grain", which is the point. The plant was not uprooted. It was left unable to bear fruit.

  2. Matthew 18:28 ἔπνιγεν he was throttling [him]

    But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 5:13 ἐπνίγοντο they were drowned

    He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.

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