Greek word · G4493

ῥιπή

ripē

twinkling

From rhiptō, 'to throw, hurl'. It means the rapid motion of something flung or rushing: the cast of a missile, the rush or gust of wind, the flicker of a flame. With 'eye' it means the flick of the eye, whether a blink or a darting glance.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

ῥιπή, ῆς, ἡ

(ῥίπτω),

poët. in cl., any rapid movement such as the throw or flight of a javelin, the rush of wind or flame, the flapping of wings, the twinkling of lights; ῥ. ὀφθαλμοῦ, the twinkling of an eye: 1 Corinthians 15:52 (L, mg., ῥοπή, which see).†

(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 1 Corinthians 15:52

Range of meaning: From rhiptō, 'to throw, hurl'. It means the rapid motion of something flung or rushing: the cast of a missile, the rush or gust of wind, the flicker of a flame. With 'eye' it means the flick of the eye, whether a blink or a darting glance.
Against the English: KJV and almost every version since keep 'twinkling of an eye'. NLT has 'blink of an eye'. Today 'twinkling' calls up the sparkle of a star or a glint in someone's eye, which is light, not movement.
How it drifted: Tyndale and the KJV said 'twinkling'. In their English, 'twinkle' could still mean to wink or blink, so the rendering was accurate in 1611. Modern use has narrowed it to shimmering light, and the idea of movement has faded.
Used elsewhere in the period: In classical Greek it is used for the rush of winds and the hurl of thrown weapons. Its sense in 'flick of an eye' is plain from that root, and the Latin Vulgate renders it ictus oculi, 'the stroke of an eye'. A few manuscripts read the similar-looking rhopē, 'tilt, turn of the scale', which gives a different picture with the same speed (see textual notes).

Where it appears

1 Corinthians · 1

1 Corinthians 15:52 ῥιπῇ [the] twinkling

in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Here: From the verb 'to throw, hurl'. It is the sudden darting movement of something flung, here the flick of an eye (a blink or a darting glance). It does not mean a sparkle of light.

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