Greek word · G4444

πύργος

pyrgos

tower

A tower. The word covers several kinds of structure: a watchtower in a vineyard or field (often with a shelter and storage space), a defensive tower in a city wall, a fortified tower-house, or a citadel.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

πύργος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX chiefly for מִגְדָּל ;]

a tower: Luke 13:4; of a watch-tower in a vineyard (Isaiah 5:2): Matthew 21:33, Mark 12:1, and prob., Luke 14:28.†

(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 Luke 14:28

Range of meaning

A tower. The word covers several kinds of structure: a watchtower in a vineyard or field (often with a shelter and storage space), a defensive tower in a city wall, a fortified tower-house, or a citadel.

Against the English

Every major English version says 'tower' except the NLT, which generalizes it to 'a building'. The English word is accurate, but modern readers tend to picture a castle turret or a vanity skyscraper.

How it drifted

The English word is fine. What has changed is the reader's mental picture: a farm watchtower was a familiar, practical, expensive piece of rural infrastructure, not a grand or proud monument.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Isaiah 5:2 (LXX), the vineyard owner 'built a tower (πύργον) in it'. Jesus echoes this in the parable of the tenants (Mark 12:1; Matt 21:33). Luke himself mentions the 'tower in Siloam' that fell and killed eighteen people (Luke 13:4), so his readers knew towers could also fail and collapse. Josephus describes Herod's great towers in Jerusalem, Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamne (Jewish War 5.156–175). The 'tower' of Babel (Gen 11:4 LXX) and the tower of Shechem (Judg 9:46–49) use the same word.

From the study of Mark 12:1

Range of meaning

A tower. In farming, a stone watchtower or field hut used for guarding crops during harvest, for shelter and for storage. It can also mean a fortified city tower.

Against the English

'Tower' (KJV, WEB, YLT), 'watchtower' (BSB, NIV) and 'lookout tower' (NLT). 'Watchtower' gives the farming function best. Plain 'tower' can make a modern reader picture a castle.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 5:2 has 'built a tower in its midst'. Archaeologists have found many stone field towers in the hill country of Judea and Samaria. The Targum on Isaiah 5:2 reads 'I built my sanctuary among them', and 1 Enoch 89:50 and 89:73 call the temple a 'tower'.

From the study of Matthew 21:33

Range of meaning

A tower: a city or fortress tower, or a farm watchtower (often stone, sometimes several storeys) used as a guard post, shelter and storehouse at harvest.

Against the English

All versions say 'tower'. NLT's 'lookout tower' spells out the farm use.

Used elsewhere in the period

Farm towers are well attested archaeologically in the Judean hills. Isaiah 5:2. In early Jewish interpretation, the Targum of Isaiah 5:2 reads the tower as 'my sanctuary' and the winepress as 'my altar'. Tosefta Sukkah 3:15 makes the same link, and the Qumran fragment 4Q500 appears to connect a vineyard, winepress and the 'gate of the holy height' (the Temple).

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 21:33 πύργον a tower

    Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

    Here: A stone watchtower for guarding the crop at harvest and storing tools and produce. Some Jewish interpreters read the tower in Isaiah 5 as the Temple, which mattered in a story told in the Temple courts.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 12:1 πύργον a tower

    Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

    Here: A stone watchtower where guards stayed during the ripening season and where tools and produce were kept. Some Jewish interpreters of Isaiah 5 read the tower as the temple.

Luke · 2

  1. Luke 13:4 πύργος tower

    Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem?

  2. Luke 14:28 πύργον a tower

    Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?

    Here: Most likely a stone watchtower in a field or vineyard, or a fortified farm building. Ordinary landowners in Judea and Galilee knew this kind of project. It was a major outlay but not a royal monument.

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