Greek word · G4496

ῥίπτω

riptō

to throw/lay down

'To throw, hurl, cast down, toss aside.' The perfect passive means 'thrown down, lying prostrate, flung away.' Ancient writers used it of corpses or helpless people lying where they fell, and of things discarded.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ῥίπτω and (Acts 22:23) ῥιπτέω (strengthened form; see Veitch, see word ῥίπτω, fin.),

[in LXX chiefly for שָׁלַךְ hi. ;]

1. to throw, cast, hurl: with accusative of thing(s), Matthew 27:5, Acts 27:19, 29; with accusative of person(s), Matthew 15:30, Luke 4:35; pass., Luke 17:2; ptcp., ἐριμμένοι, cast down, prostrate (Polyb., al.): Matthew 9:36; of garments, to throw off (for flight, Eur., Xen., al.; ὅπλα, 1Ma.5:43; so EV in Acts 22:23, but see infr.).

2. = ῥιπτάζω, to shake, toss, throw about: τ. ἱμάτια, Acts 22:23 (EGT, Page, Rackham, in l; Field, Notes, 136; but see supr.).†

(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 Matthew 9:36

Range of meaning

'To throw, hurl, cast down, toss aside.' The perfect passive means 'thrown down, lying prostrate, flung away.' Ancient writers used it of corpses or helpless people lying where they fell, and of things discarded.

Against the English

BSB/NIV/ESV 'helpless' gives the result and loses the picture. KJV/WEB 'scattered' moves toward the flock image of Ezekiel 34 but is not the word's basic sense. YLT 'cast aside' and NASB 'dispirited' each catch one side of it.

How it drifted

Translators chose a word for the result ('helpless') over the image ('flung down'). Modern English 'helpless' can suggest a natural weakness or incapacity, not the condition of having been thrown down and left.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same perfect form appears in the Greek of Jeremiah 14:16, of people who will lie 'flung in the streets of Jerusalem.' Elsewhere in the New Testament it is used of a demon throwing a man down (Luke 4:35) and of things thrown overboard (Acts 27:19). BDAG s.v. ῥίπτω gives 'lie on the ground, helpless' for this verse.

From the study of Acts 22:23

Range of meaning

To throw, hurl, fling away, throw down. The by-form ῥιπτέω, which is the form used here, often stresses repeated or back-and-forth motion: to toss about or keep flinging. BDAG allows both 'throw off' and 'toss/wave about' for this verse.

Against the English

Most modern versions read 'throwing off their cloaks' (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB). YLT has 'casting up their garments', and the RSV had 'waved their garments', following the tossing or waving sense. The Greek can carry either picture, and English has to choose one.

Used elsewhere in the period

The ῥιπτέω form appears in classical and later Greek for repeated tossing. Henry Cadbury's study 'Dust and Garments' (Beginnings of Christianity, vol. 5) gathered ancient parallels for crowds waving or flinging garments and throwing dust. He found them used as gestures of intense excitement, protest or anger, without one fixed technical meaning. In Acts 7:58 the witnesses at Stephen's stoning 'laid down' their garments using a different verb (ἀποτίθημι).

From the study of Luke 17:2

Range of meaning

To throw, hurl or fling, often with force. It can also mean to put or lay something down, even to set people down without violence (Matthew 15:30), so the context decides how strong it is.

Against the English

"Thrown" (BSB, WEB) and "cast" (KJV, ESV) are fair. Translations using "would be," "to be thrown" or "were thrown" turn the verb into a hypothetical event still to come, whereas the Greek form says "has been thrown."

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke uses it of a demon throwing a man down (Luke 4:35). Mark 9:42 has a different verb, also in the same tense (beblētai), and Matthew 18:6 uses a verb that means being sunk in deep water.

Where it appears

Matthew · 3

  1. Matthew 9:36 ἐρριμμένοι cast away

    When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

    Here: Perfect passive of 'to throw': 'flung down, lying prostrate, discarded.' It describes people left lying where they fell, collapsed and abandoned. It does not describe a weak character.

  2. Matthew 15:30 ἔρριψαν they placed

    Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.

    Here: Its basic meaning is 'throw'. In everyday Greek of the period it could also just mean 'set down' or 'lay down'. Here it describes the sick being put down at Jesus' feet. The word may carry a hint of haste or crowding, but it does not imply rough treatment.

  3. Matthew 27:5 ῥίψας having cast down

    So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Luke · 2

  1. Luke 4:35 ῥῖψαν having thrown

    But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.

    Here: 'Having thrown.' A word for flinging something physically. The form is neuter because its subject is the demon, so the demon does this as its parting act.

  2. Luke 17:2 ἔρριπται he has been thrown

    It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

    Here: A forceful verb in a tense that marks a completed act with lasting results: "he has been flung" and that is where he now stays. The throw is already over and he is under the water.

Acts · 3

  1. Acts 22:23 ῥιπτούντων casting off

    As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

    Here: This spelling comes from the by-form ῥιπτέω, which often suggests throwing again and again: tossing or waving about. It may mean flinging their cloaks off, or waving them wildly. The present tense pictures it as ongoing, repeated motion.

  2. Acts 27:19 ἔρριψαν· they cast away;

    On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

  3. Acts 27:29 ῥίψαντες having cast

    Fearing that we would run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.

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