Greek word · G5450
φυσίωσις
physiōsis
arrogance
A puffing up or inflating: being swollen with self-importance, conceit, arrogance. It comes from φυσάω, 'to blow' (as with bellows).
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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 12:20
- Range of meaning
A puffing up or inflating: being swollen with self-importance, conceit, arrogance. It comes from φυσάω, 'to blow' (as with bellows).
- Against the English
'Arrogance' and 'conceit' are accurate. KJV 'swellings' and YLT 'puffings up' keep the picture of something blown full of air but sound strange today.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The noun appears only here in the New Testament and is rare elsewhere. The verb φυσιόω occurs seven times in the New Testament, six of them in 1 Corinthians (4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1 'knowledge puffs up, but love builds up'; 13:4 'love is not puffed up') and once in Col 2:18.
Similar words
Where it appears
2 Corinthians · 1
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2 Corinthians 12:20 φυσιώσεις, conceit,
For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
Here: 'Inflations': people swollen with self-importance. The noun appears only here in the New Testament, but the matching verb 'puffed up' was Paul's signature charge against Corinth in 1 Corinthians.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.