Greek word · G970

βία

bia

force

Bodily strength or force, and especially force used against someone: coercion or violent compulsion. It can also describe the force of nature, such as waves (Acts 27:41). In legal Greek it is a technical word for unlawful force, the opposite of acting by right (BDAG s.v. βία).

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

What it means

βία, -ας, ἡ,

[in LXX for פֶּרֶךְ, etc. ;]

strength, force, violence: Acts 5:26 21:35 24:7 27:41.†

(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 24:7

Range of meaning

Bodily strength or force, and especially force used against someone: coercion or violent compulsion. It can also describe the force of nature, such as waves (Acts 27:41). In legal Greek it is a technical word for unlawful force, the opposite of acting by right (BDAG s.v. βία).

Against the English

KJV 'great violence' and YLT 'much violence' are accurate. 'Violence' in English can suggest brutality. Bia is more exactly 'force', and in a law-court speech it carries the charge that something was done by force instead of by right.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the papyri and in the Greek orators, bia is the standard complaint that an opponent acted 'by force' (meta bias) and not through legal process. Acts uses it four times: 21:35, where Paul has to be carried 'because of the violence of the crowd'; 5:26, where the temple captain brings the apostles 'not with force' because he fears the people; 24:7 (variant); and 27:41.

From the study of Acts 27:41

Range of meaning

Force, strength, violence. It can be natural force, as here, or human force, like a mob or soldiers (Acts 5:26; 21:35).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT 'violence' is literal. BSB's 'pounding' gives the picture of repeated blows.

Used elsewhere in the period

A common word in classical and Koine Greek. Luke uses it in Acts for crowds and arrests (5:26; 21:35).

Where it appears

Acts · 3

  1. Acts 5:26 βίας, force,

    At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them.

  2. Acts 21:35 βίαν violence

    When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.

  3. Acts 27:41 βίας violence

    But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was being broken up by the pounding of the waves.

    Here: Raw physical force. The waves hit the stern again and again and pulled it apart.

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