Greek word · G4723

στεῖρα

steira

infertility

Barren, infertile, unable to bear children. It is used of women, and in wider Greek also of animals and land. As a noun, 'a barren woman'. In Jewish usage it also stood for a person or community that seemed cut off from a future.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

στεῖρος, -ον also -α, -ον,

[in LXX for עָקָר ;]

barren: of a woman, Luke 1:7, 36 23:29, Galatians 4:27" (LXX) .†

(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 1:36

Range of meaning

Barren, infertile, unable to bear children. It is used of women, and in wider Greek also of animals and land. As a noun, 'a barren woman'. In Jewish usage it also stood for a person or community that seemed cut off from a future.

Against the English

'Barren' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT, ESV) is accurate but sounds clinical or old-fashioned today. Some modern versions use 'infertile' or 'unable to conceive', which is clearer medically but less likely to call up the biblical barren-woman stories that the Greek word brings to mind.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament: Sarah (Gen 11:30), Rebekah (Gen 25:21), Rachel (Gen 29:31), Manoah's wife (Judg 13:2–3), and Hannah's song: 'the barren has borne seven' (1 Sam 2:5). Also Isa 54:1, 'Rejoice, O barren one', where barrenness pictures Zion's desolation before God restores her. Luke has already called Elizabeth στεῖρα in 1:7.

From the study of Hebrews 11:11

Range of meaning

Barren or infertile, used mostly of women and sometimes of land. In Israel's stories it marks the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel), Hannah, and later Elizabeth (Luke 1:7, 36). In each case it sets the stage for God to act.

Against the English

'Barren' is accurate. What English readers may miss is the social weight. A barren wife had no heir and no security for old age, and her status was precarious.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 11:30 LXX: 'And Sarah was barren (steira) and was not bearing children.' Isaiah 54:1, 'Rejoice, barren one', is applied to Sarah's story by Paul in Galatians 4:27.

From the study of Galatians 4:27

Range of meaning

A woman (or animal) that does not conceive or bear: 'barren, childless.' It is always a social as well as a physical description.

Against the English

'Barren' (KJV, BSB, NIV) is accurate. Modern 'infertile' or 'childless' sounds clinical or private. In the ancient world it named a public condition that affected a woman's standing, her husband's line and her old-age security.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament this word describes Sarah ('Sarah was barren,' Gen 11:30), Rebekah (Gen 25:21), Rachel (Gen 29:31) and Manoah's wife (Judg 13:2). Hannah's song says 'the barren has borne seven' (1 Sam 2:5). Luke uses it of Elizabeth (Luke 1:7, 36). Isaiah 54:1 belongs to this family of 'barren matriarch' texts, and Isaiah 51:2 has already told exiles to 'look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you.'

Where it appears

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 1:7 στεῖρα barren

    But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

    Here: The standard word in the Greek Old Testament for the matriarchs who could not conceive: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson's mother. Luke uses it to place Elizabeth in their line. In her world it also carried social disgrace (see v. 25, 'my reproach among people').

  2. Luke 1:36 στείρᾳ barren

    Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.

    Here: The word used in the Greek Old Testament for Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson's mother and Hannah. In Israel it carried social shame as well as personal grief. The label is now plainly false.

  3. Luke 23:29 στεῖραι barren

    Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’

    Here: Women unable to bear children. In Israel this was normally a grief and a public shame. Here, shockingly, it is called good fortune.

Galatians · 1

  1. Galatians 4:27 στεῖρα O barren woman

    For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

    Here: Addressed directly: 'O barren one.' It is the same Greek word used of Sarah in Genesis 11:30, which is why Paul can hear Sarah in Isaiah's line.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 11:11 στεῖρα [being] barren

    By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.

    Here: This picks up Genesis 11:30 LXX, 'Sarah was barren (steira)'. In that world childlessness carried social shame and was often taken as a sign that God had withheld blessing. The word sets up how impossible the birth was.

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