Greek word · G4472

ῥαντίζω

rantizō

to sprinkle

To sprinkle, especially with a purifying liquid. By extension, to purify by sprinkling.

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

What it means

ῥαντίζω

[in LXX: Leviticus 6:27 (20), 2 Kings 9:33 (נָזָה), Psalms 51:7 (חָטָא pi.) * ;]

= cl., ῥαίνω,

to sprinkle, besprinkle: with accusative, Hebrews 9:13, 19; id. and dative, Hebrews 9:21; pass., Revelation 19:13, WH; of cleansing by sprinkling, Hebrews 10:22 (see M, Gr., ii, 100); mid., Mark 7:4 (WH, txt., R, mg.).†

περι-ραίνω

(-ρραίνω, Rec., see WH, App., 139 f.), [in LXX for נָזָה hi. ;]

to sprinkle around: Revelation 19:13 T (ῤεραντισμένον, WH; ῤε-, R, txt.; βεβαμμένον, Rec., R, mg.).†

(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 Hebrews 9:13

Range of meaning

To sprinkle, especially with a purifying liquid. By extension, to purify by sprinkling.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT keep the active participle ("sprinkling"). BSB and NIV make it passive ("sprinkled on"). The difference is only of style.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament more often uses ῥαίνω or προσραίνω, but ῥαντίζω appears at Ps 50:9 LXX (51:7): "You will sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean." That line already moves the heifer rite's language inward. In Hebrews the word recurs at 9:19 and 9:21 (Moses sprinkling the people and the tent) and climactically at 10:22: "our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water". The related noun appears at 12:24 ("the sprinkled blood") and 1 Pet 1:2.

From the study of Hebrews 9:19

Range of meaning

To sprinkle or spatter liquid on something, usually to make it ritually clean. The noun rhantismos means sprinkling. In biblical usage it is almost always cultic, meaning it belongs to sanctuary ritual: applying blood or purifying water to people or objects to remove impurity or consecrate them.

Against the English

English "sprinkle" fits the action well: a small amount flicked from a brush. The Hebrew of Exodus 24:6, 8 (zāraq) means to throw or dash a larger quantity. So Hebrews' word choice already presents the Sinai scene as a purification rite rather than a splashing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament: Leviticus 6:27 (6:20 in the Greek numbering); 2 Kings 9:33; Psalm 50:9 in the Greek numbering (51:7 in English Bibles): "you will sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean." The related verb rhainō is the usual Greek Old Testament verb for sprinkling blood in Leviticus and for the purification water in Numbers 19. In the New Testament: Hebrews 9:13, 19, 21; 10:22 ("hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience"); and the noun in Hebrews 12:24 and 1 Peter 1:2. In the Greek Old Testament, Exodus 24:8 itself says Moses kateskedasen ("splashed over") the people.

From the study of Hebrews 10:22

Range of meaning

To sprinkle, especially in rites that purify or consecrate. The Greek Old Testament mostly uses the related verb rhainō or prosrainō, but the idea is the same: sprinkling blood, water mixed with ashes, or oil.

Against the English

BSB and NIV expand it to 'sprinkled to cleanse us from'. ESV and NASB have 'sprinkled clean from'. KJV, WEB and YLT keep the bare 'sprinkled from'. NLT adds 'with Christ's blood', which is a reasonable inference from 9:13–14 and 12:24 but is not in the text.

Used elsewhere in the period

Three rites stand behind it. (1) Priestly ordination: Aaron and his sons were sprinkled with blood and oil (Exod 29:21; Lev 8:30). (2) Covenant-making at Sinai: Moses sprinkled the people with blood (Exod 24:8, cited in Heb 9:19–20). (3) The red heifer: ash-water was sprinkled to remove the impurity of contact with a corpse (Num 19, cited in Heb 9:13). Hebrews 12:24 speaks of 'the sprinkled blood'. Ezekiel 36:25–26 joins sprinkling with clean water to a new heart.

Where it appears

Hebrews · 4

  1. Hebrews 9:13 ῥαντίζουσα sprinkling

    For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,

    Here: A present participle, feminine singular. Grammatically it agrees with "ash", reflecting the heifer-ash water sprinkled with hyssop on the impure person on the third and seventh days (Num 19:18–19).

  2. Hebrews 9:19 ἐρράντισεν he sprinkled

    For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,

    Here: "He sprinkled": the main verb, held back to the very end of the long sentence. Hebrews uses it for purification (9:13, 21; 10:22). The Greek Old Testament of Exodus 24:8 uses a different verb (kataskedazō, "to splash over").

  3. Hebrews 9:21 ἐρράντισεν. he sprinkled.

    In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship.

  4. Hebrews 10:22 ῥεραντισμένοι sprinkled clean

    let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

    Here: 'Having been sprinkled.' The perfect tense marks a finished act whose result lasts. It recalls the blood sprinkled on priests at their ordination and on the people at Sinai, which Hebrews applies to Christ's blood (9:13–14; 12:24).

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