Greek word · G5588
ψιθυριστής
psithyristēs
gossip
Whisperer: one who spreads damaging talk secretly, a tale-bearer or secret slanderer. Only here in the NT; the related noun psithurismos appears in 2 Cor 12:20.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ψιθυριστής, -οῦ, ὁ
(see supr.),
a whisperer (as epithet of Hermes, Dem., 1358, 6): in bad sense, Romans 1:30.†
Syn.: καταλάλος, q.v
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Whisperer: one who spreads damaging talk secretly, a tale-bearer or secret slanderer. Only here in the NT; the related noun psithurismos appears in 2 Cor 12:20.
- Against the English
KJV/YLT 'whisperers' keeps the image; WEB 'secret slanderers' gives the meaning; BSB/NIV/ESV/NASB 'gossips' is natural modern English but can sound like harmless chatter.
- How it drifted
Modern 'gossip' covers everything from friendly news-sharing to character assassination; the Greek word is firmly at the harmful end.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Sirach 5:14 ('do not be called a whisperer'); Sirach 28:13 ('curse the whisperer and the double-tongued, for they have destroyed many who were at peace'). Ecclesiastes 10:11 LXX uses psithurismos for a snake-charmer's whisper.
Similar words
Where it appears
Romans · 1
-
Romans 1:29 ψιθυριστάς, gossips
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
Here: An imitative word ('psithur-' sounds like whispering). The person who damages others' reputations in confidential whispers. It begins a run of descriptions of people that continues into v.30, where it pairs with the open slanderers (katalalous).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.