Greek word · G5313
ὕψωμα
hypsōma
height
A height, an elevated place or thing, something raised up. It can be physical (a tower, rampart or elevation) and figurative (exaltation, haughtiness). In Romans 8:39 it is 'height', alongside 'depth'.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ὕψωμα, -τος, τό
[in LXX: Job 24:24 (†), Judith 10:8 * ;]
(a) height: Romans 8:39;
(b) that which is lifted up, a barrier: 2 Corinthians 10:5.†
(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 2 Corinthians 10:5
- Range of meaning
A height, an elevated place or thing, something raised up. It can be physical (a tower, rampart or elevation) and figurative (exaltation, haughtiness). In Romans 8:39 it is 'height', alongside 'depth'.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB/YLT 'high thing' is literal but vague. BSB 'presumption', ESV 'lofty opinion' and NIV 'pretension' bring out the arrogance but lose the picture of a fortified tower. NLT 'proud obstacle' tries to keep both.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Rare. It turns up in the Septuagint (e.g. Judith 10:8; 13:4 'the exaltation of Jerusalem') and later Greek. The thought behind it echoes Isaiah 2:11–17, where the LORD brings down 'every high tower' and all human loftiness. Proverbs 21:22 LXX has the wise man scaling a city and tearing down 'the stronghold (ochyrōma) in which the ungodly trusted', which is very close to vv.4–5. Philo (On the Confusion of Tongues 128–131) treats the Tower of Babel as a fortress of arguments built against God that must be razed.
- Range of meaning
Something raised high: a height, an elevation, a lofty thing. By extension, exaltation or pride. In ancient astrology it was a technical term for a planet's "exaltation", the zodiac position where its influence was thought to be strongest.
- Against the English
Every major English version says "height". That is accurate but flat. It gives a modern reader a picture of distance or altitude only, and loses the sense of powers above.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Greek Old Testament it appears in Judith (10:8; 13:4) for the "exaltation" of Jerusalem. Its only other New Testament use is 2 Cor 10:5, "every high thing (hypsōma) raised up against the knowledge of God", where it means something set up in opposition to God. Ptolemy's astrological handbook, the Tetrabiblos (2nd century AD, but drawing on older tradition), has a section on the planets' hypsōmata, or exaltations. Vettius Valens uses the term in the same way.
Where it appears
Romans · 1
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Romans 8:39 ὕψωμα height
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here: "Height": whatever is above, up to the heavens. In Paul's world the word was also a term in astrology for the point where a star or planet was thought to have most power. Hearers would probably have heard a hint of the cosmic powers above.
2 Corinthians · 1
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2 Corinthians 10:5 ὕψωμα high thing
We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Here: Something raised high. In this siege picture it is a tower or rampart, and it also suggests arrogance, a structure of self-exalting claims.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.