Greek word · G788

ἆσσον

asson

nearer

Comparative of the poetic adverb ἄγχι, 'near': 'nearer'. Like other Greek comparatives it can mean 'rather near, quite close'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἆσσον (Rec., after Vg., Ἄσσον),

adv. (compar. of ἄγχι, near),

nearer: Acts 27:13 (RV, close in shore; see B1., § 11, 3; 44, 3; poets, Ion, and late prose).†

(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 Acts 27:13

Range of meaning

Comparative of the poetic adverb ἄγχι, 'near': 'nearer'. Like other Greek comparatives it can mean 'rather near, quite close'.

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'close by Crete'; WEB/ESV 'close to (the) shore'; NASB 'close inshore'; BSB 'hugging the coast'. All accept the adverbial reading. The Latin Vulgate instead made it the name of a town, 'Asson' (see textual notes).

Used elsewhere in the period

Found in Homer and later poetry and prose; it occurs only here in the New Testament. BDAG takes it as the adverb 'nearer, very close'.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 27:13 ἆσσον very near

    When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along, hugging the coast of Crete.

    Here: A comparative adverb ('nearer') used in the sense 'quite close': they kept close in to the shore. It appears only here in the New Testament. Some ancient readers mistook it for the name of a town (see textual notes).

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