Greek word · G4485

ῥῆγμα

rēgma

destruction

A breaking, rupture, tear, fracture; hence wreck, collapse, ruin (BDAG).

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ῥῆγμα, -τος, τό

(ῥήγνυμι), [in LXX: 3Ki.11:30-31 12:24, 2 Kings 2:12 (קֶרַע), Amos 6:12 (11) A (בְּקִיעַ) * ;]

1. cl. (and so in LXX), a fracture; then by meton., that which is torn.

2. In NT, ruin: Luke 6:49.†

(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 6:49

Range of meaning

A breaking, rupture, tear, fracture; hence wreck, collapse, ruin (BDAG).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV "ruin" (from the Latin Vulgate ruina, "a falling down") and BSB "destruction" both get the result right. Both lose the echo of the earlier verb.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only here in the New Testament. In Greek medical writers it is used of ruptures and fractures, and elsewhere of tears and breaks.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 6:49 ῥῆγμα ruin

    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: "The breaking-up" or "wreck." It comes from the same root as the verb "broke against," so the river's breaking became the house's breaking. Used only here in the New Testament.

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