Greek word · G741

ἀρτύω

artyō

to season

To prepare or arrange, especially to season food. In the NT it appears only in Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34 and here, always with salt.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀρτύω

[in Sm.: Song of Songs 8:2 * ;]

1. to arrange, make ready (Hom.).

2. Of food (as in comic writers), to season (MM, see word): Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34, Colossians 4:6.†

(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 Colossians 4:6

Range of meaning

To prepare or arrange, especially to season food. In the NT it appears only in Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34 and here, always with salt.

Against the English

'Seasoned' is accurate. What English loses is the perfect participle, 'having been seasoned', which describes a settled condition rather than a one-off sprinkle.

Used elsewhere in the period

A common culinary verb in Greek literature. The only NT parallels are the Jesus sayings about whether salt can be restored once it loses its taste.

From the study of Mark 9:50

Range of meaning

To prepare or arrange, and especially to season food so it is fit to eat.

Against the English

'Season it' (BSB, KJV, WEB) keeps the kitchen picture. 'Make it salty again' (ESV, NIV, NASB) states the point more plainly but loses the irony that salt, which seasons everything else, would itself need seasoning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used in the New Testament only here, in Luke 14:34, and in Colossians 4:6 ('let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt'). It is common in Greek writing about cooking.

From the study of Luke 14:34

Range of meaning

To prepare or make ready. It is used especially of food: to season, to make tasty.

Against the English

KJV, BSB and YLT say "seasoned". Some modern versions turn the question into "how can it be made salty again / its saltiness restored?" That brings out the idea of no remedy but loses the plain cooking verb.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mark 9:50 ("with what will you season it?"); Col 4:6 ("speech… seasoned with salt"). The word is common in Greek writing about cooking.

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 9:50 ἀρτύσετε; will you season?

    Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

    Here: A kitchen word: 'you will season'. Normally salt seasons other things. Here the salt itself would need seasoning, which is absurd.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 14:34 ἀρτυθήσεται; will it be seasoned?

    Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned?

    Here: Future passive: "will it be seasoned / made salty again?" The question leaves no remedy, and v. 35 confirms it: the stuff is thrown out.

Colossians · 1

  1. Colossians 4:6 ἠρτυμένος, seasoned,

    Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

    Here: A kitchen word: to season or flavour food. The perfect passive participle describes a settled condition, 'having been seasoned', so the speech is already flavoured when it comes out. Grammatically it describes logos.

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