Greek word · G4366

προσρήγνυμι

prosrēgnymi

to strike upon

To break or dash against, burst upon. Used of waves or torrents hitting something.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 25, 2026

What it means

προσ-ρήγνυμι

[in Aq.: Psalms 2:9 * ;]

to break against, dash against;

(a) trans. (παιδία πέτραις, FlJ, Ant., ix, 4, 6);

(b) intrans., with dative: Luke 6:48-49 (cf. προσπίπτω).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To break or dash against, burst upon. Used of waves or torrents hitting something.
Against the English: KJV 'beat vehemently upon', BSB 'crashed against', WEB/YLT 'broke against / broke forth on', NASB 'burst against'. All of these keep the violence of the word.
Used elsewhere in the period: Only here and in v.49 in the NT. The root rhēg- ('break') also gives rhēgma ('breach, wreck') in v.49: 'great was the rhēgma of that house'. Greek writers use the compound for surf and torrents.

Range of meaning: To break or dash against, used of waves, surf or floods striking something (BDAG). Found only in Luke 6:48–49 in the New Testament.
Against the English: KJV "did beat vehemently" keeps the force well. WEB/ESV "broke against" is literal. BSB "crashed against" is vivid and fair.
Used elsewhere in the period: Attested in Greek writers for water or waves dashing against shores, rocks and objects. Its root rhēgnymi ("break, burst") is also used of floodwaters bursting out.

Luke · 2

Luke 6:48 προσέρηξεν burst upon

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 and in v.49. The water crashes violently against the walls. It shares a root with rhēgma ('wreck, breach') in v.49, so the same 'breaking' force that fails here wrecks the other house.
Luke 6:49 προσέρηξεν burst

But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

Here: "Burst against" or "dashed against," the word for surf or floodwater smashing into something. It is the same verb used of the good house in 6:48, so both houses take the same blow.

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