Greek word · G4952

συσπαράσσω

sysparassō

to convulse

A compound of σπαράσσω, 'to tear, rend, pull to pieces, mangle', with the prefix συν-, which here makes the verb stronger. Applied to a body, it means 'to wrench about violently' or 'to throw into convulsions' (BDAG).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

συ-σπαράσσω

to convulse completely: with accusative of person(s), Mark 9:20, Luke 9:42 (cf. 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 9:20

Range of meaning

A compound of σπαράσσω, 'to tear, rend, pull to pieces, mangle', with the prefix συν-, which here makes the verb stronger. Applied to a body, it means 'to wrench about violently' or 'to throw into convulsions' (BDAG). The simple verb σπαράσσω appears in Mark 1:26 and 9:26 for unclean spirits 'tearing' their victims as they come out.

Against the English

Modern versions say 'convulsed' or 'threw into a convulsion'. That is accurate, but it sounds clinical. The KJV's 'tare' (an old past tense of 'tear') keeps the root image of something being ripped. The Greek sits between the two: a violent seizure, described with a word for tearing.

How it drifted

'Convulsion' is now mainly a medical word, so modern readers hear a diagnosis. Mark's word carries the picture of an attacker tearing at a body.

Used elsewhere in the period

In classical Greek σπαράσσω is used for animals tearing a carcass, and its noun sparagmos is the word for the maenads tearing Pentheus apart in Euripides' Bacchae. The compound with συν- is very rare. In the New Testament it occurs only here and in the parallel Luke 9:42 ('the demon threw him down and convulsed him'). Luke may have taken it from Mark.

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 9:20 συνεσπάραξεν threw into convulsions

    So they brought him, and seeing Jesus, the spirit immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

    Here: The spirit throws the boy into a violent, wrenching spasm. The root means to tear or rip, and the prefix makes it stronger: the whole body is pulled about.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 9:42 συνεσπάραξεν. threw [him] into convulsions.

    Even while the boy was approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

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