Greek word · G939
βάσις
basis
foot
A step or going; a base, foundation or pedestal; in medical and everyday Greek, the foot (Acts 3:7, of the healed man's feet).
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
βάσις, ־εως, ἡ
(βαίνω), [in LXX chiefly for אֶדֶן ;]
1. a step (Æsch., al.).
2. Hence, a foot (Plat.; Wisdom of Solomon 13:18): Acts 3:7.
† (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 Sirach 26:18
- Range of meaning
A step or going; a base, foundation or pedestal; in medical and everyday Greek, the foot (Acts 3:7, of the healed man's feet).
- Against the English
'Base' or 'socket' (KJV 'sockets') is correct. English loses the pun: basis is both the pedestal and the foot, which makes the comparison with podes ('feet') very close.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Septuagint Exodus 26:19–32 and 38:27 (LXX 39:4–5) use basis for the tabernacle's silver sockets. Exodus 38:25–27 says they were cast from the half-shekel 'ransom' silver collected at the census (Exodus 30:11–16). Song 5:15 LXX has 'bases of gold'.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 3:7 βάσεις feet
Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.