Greek word · G4682

σπαράσσω

sparassō

to convulse

Its basic meaning is to tear, rend or pull about: used of animals mauling prey and, in the noun sparagmos, of the ritual tearing apart of a victim in Dionysian rites. It also came to mean to wrench or convulse, the violent spasms of a body in a fit.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

σπαράσσω

[in LXX: 2 Samuel 22:8 B (גָּעַשׁ hith.), John 4:19 (הָמָה) Dan LXX 8:7 (שָׁלַךְ hi.), 3Ma.4:6 * ;]

1. to tear, rend, mangle.

2. to convulse: Mark 1:26 (see Swete, in l) Mark 9:26, Luke 9:39

(cf. συν-σπαράσσω).†

(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 Mark 1:26

Range of meaning

Its basic meaning is to tear, rend or pull about: used of animals mauling prey and, in the noun sparagmos, of the ritual tearing apart of a victim in Dionysian rites. It also came to mean to wrench or convulse, the violent spasms of a body in a fit. BDAG gives 'tear, pull to and fro, convulse' for the New Testament uses.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'torn him', which follows the older root sense (and the Latin Vulgate's discerpens, 'tearing apart'). Modern versions have 'convulsing him' (WEB, ESV), 'threw into convulsions' (BSB, NASB) and 'shook violently' (NIV). Those match what the context describes.

How it drifted

'Tear' in modern English suggests a wound or laceration. In 1611 'tear' could mean to pull or wrench violently, but today's reader pictures the man physically ripped. The Gospels mean a violent convulsion.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament it appears only in exorcism scenes: Mark 1:26; 9:26; Luke 9:39. The compound susparassō appears in Mark 9:20 and Luke 9:42. In those scenes it goes with falling, foaming and rolling, the symptoms of a seizure. Luke's parallel to this verse (4:35) says the demon threw the man down in the middle and came out 'without harming him at all'.

Where it appears

Mark · 2

  1. Mark 1:26 σπαράξαν having thrown into convulsions

    At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek.

    Here: A violent wrenching of the body: the man is thrown into a spasm or convulsion. The participle is in the past tense, so the convulsion comes before or alongside the spirit's exit. Luke's parallel (4:35) makes clear the man was not wounded.

  2. Mark 9:26 σπαράξας throwing into convulsions

    After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.”

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 9:39 σπαράσσει it throws into convulsions

    A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him.

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