StrongerBible

ballō

βάλλω

GreekG0906cast, throw, ...

Appears 123 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 3:10Mat 4:6Mat 4:18Mat 5:13Mat 5:25Mat 5:29 (2×)Mat 5:30Mat 6:30Mat 7:6Mat 7:19Mat 8:6Mat 8:14Mat 9:2Mat 9:17 (2×)Mat 10:34 (2×)Mat 13:42Mat 13:47Mat 13:48Mat 13:50Mat 15:26Mat 17:27Mat 18:8 (2×)Mat 18:9 (2×)Mat 18:30Mat 21:21Mat 25:27Mat 26:12Mat 27:6Mat 27:35 (2×)Mrk 2:22Mrk 4:26Mrk 7:27Mrk 7:30Mrk 7:33Mrk 9:22Mrk 9:42Mrk 9:45Mrk 9:47Mrk 11:23Mrk 12:41 (2×)Mrk 12:42Mrk 12:43 (2×)Mrk 12:44 (2×)Mrk 15:24Luk 3:9Luk 4:9Luk 5:37Luk 12:28Luk 12:49Luk 12:58
Root family
Word studyBAL-lohverb

What ballō means

to send something to a place by throwing it or by setting it down: cast, throw, or put

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This one word covers the whole range from a hard, fast throw to a quiet placing of something where it belongs. What ties the senses together is the picture of an object leaving the hand and arriving somewhere else. The force is supplied by the situation, not by the word itself: the same verb hurls a stone, drops coins into a collection box, and lays a sick person on a bed.

Because of that range, the right English word shifts with the scene. Where there is violence or speed, it is throw or cast (stones, lots, a body into prison or fire). Where the action is calm, it is put, pour, or lay (wine into skins, water into a basin, a finger into a wound). Translators choose the English word from the context, but the Greek is making one consistent gesture underneath them all.

The word also moves easily into figurative speech. Jesus came to bring a sword rather than peace, fire is cast on the earth, and love drives out fear. In each case the literal image of sending something to a place is carried over into something that cannot be physically thrown.

Nuances

1ato throw or hurl with force, often to get rid of someone or something
Mat 3:10Mat 4:6Mat 5:13Mat 5:25Mat 5:29 (2×)Mat 5:30Mat 6:30Mat 7:6Mat 7:19Mat 13:42Mat 13:48Mat 13:50
1bto put a person into prison or a fixed place, by force or sentence
Mat 18:30Luk 12:58Luk 23:19Luk 23:25Jhn 3:24Act 16:23Act 16:24Act 16:37Rev 2:10
1cto cast lots: to throw marked objects to decide something by chance
Mat 27:35 (2×)Mrk 15:24Luk 23:34Jhn 19:24
1dto throw a net for fishing
Mat 4:18Mat 13:47Mat 17:27Jhn 21:6 (2×)Jhn 21:7
1eto put, pour, or place something where it belongs, with no violence
Mat 9:17 (2×)Mat 25:27Mat 26:12Mrk 2:22Mrk 7:33Luk 5:37Luk 13:8Jhn 5:7Jhn 12:6Jhn 13:5Jhn 18:11Jhn 20:25 (2×)
1fto give money by dropping it into a collection box
Mat 27:6Mrk 12:41 (2×)Mrk 12:42Mrk 12:43 (2×)Mrk 12:44 (2×)Luk 21:1Luk 21:2Luk 21:3Luk 21:4 (2×)
1gto scatter or sow seed on the ground
Mrk 4:26Luk 13:19
1hto be laid down sick or helpless: to lie bedridden
Mat 8:6Mat 8:14Mat 9:2Mrk 7:30Luk 16:20
1ito bring about or set loose something unseen, as if throwing it into the world
Mat 10:34 (2×)Luk 12:49Jhn 13:21Jn 4:18Rev 2:14Rev 2:22Rev 2:24

What scholars say about ballō

Standard lexicons treat βάλλω as a single verb whose force ranges from violent throwing to gentle putting, with the manner supplied by context rather than by the word itself. BDAG lays out the spectrum from to throw to to put or place, and notes the weakened sense in which a sick person is said to be laid up. The verb is also the base of a large family of compounds (such as ἐκβάλλω, ἐπιβάλλω, καταβάλλω) that specify direction or intensity.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. βάλλωlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. βάλλωlexicon
  • Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. βάλλωlexicon

All attested forms of βάλλω

second-aorist active indicative 3s

ἔβαλεν

Mat 18:30, Mrk 7:33, Mrk 9:22, Mrk 12:42, Mrk 12:43, Mrk 12:44, Luk 13:19, Luk 21:3

second-aorist active indicative 3p

ἔβαλον, ἔβαλαν

Mat 13:48, Mat 27:35, Mrk 12:44, Luk 21:4, Luk 23:34, Jhn 19:24, Jhn 21:6, Act 16:23

aorist passive indicative 3s

ἐβλήθη

Jhn 15:6, Rev 8:7, Rev 8:8, Rev 12:9, Rev 12:9, Rev 12:10, Rev 12:13, Rev 20:10

second-aorist active imperative 2s

βάλε

Mat 4:6, Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30, Mat 17:27, Mat 18:8, Mat 18:9, Luk 4:9, Jhn 18:11

second-aorist active infinitive

βαλεῖν

Mat 10:34, Mat 10:34, Mat 15:26, Mat 25:27, Mat 27:6, Mrk 7:27, Luk 12:49, Rev 2:14

present active indicative 3s

βάλλει

Mrk 2:22, Mrk 12:41, Luk 5:37, Jhn 13:5, 1Jn 4:18, Rev 6:13

aorist passive infinitive

βληθῆναι

Mat 18:8, Mat 18:9, Mrk 9:45, Mrk 9:47

present active indicative 3p

βάλλουσιν

Mat 9:17, Mat 9:17, Luk 14:35, Jhn 15:6

aorist passive indicative 3p

ἐβλήθησαν

Rev 12:9, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:14

future active indicative 3p

βαλοῦσιν

Mat 13:42, Mat 13:50, Rev 4:10

present passive indicative 3s

βάλλεται

Mat 3:10, Mat 7:19, Luk 3:9

second-aorist active subjunctive 1s

βάλω

Luk 13:8, Jhn 20:25, Jhn 20:25

aorist passive imperative 2s

βλήθητι

Mat 21:21, Mrk 11:23

perfect passive indicative 3s

βέβληται

Mat 8:6, Mrk 9:42

perfect passive participle accusative m s

βεβλημένον

Mat 9:2, Luk 23:25

present active indicative 1s

βάλλω

Rev 2:22, Rev 2:24

present active participle accusative m p

βάλλοντας

Mat 4:18, Luk 21:1

present active participle genitive m p

βαλλόντων

Mrk 12:43, Act 22:23

present active participle nominative m p

βάλλοντες

Mat 27:35, Mrk 15:24

present passive participle accusative m s

βαλλόμενον

Mat 6:30, Luk 12:28

second-aorist active subjunctive 3s

βάλῃ

Mrk 4:26, Jhn 5:7

aorist passive participle dative f s

βληθείσῃ

Mat 13:47

aorist passive participle nominative m s

βληθεὶς

Luk 23:19

aorist passive participle nominative n s

βληθὲν

Mat 5:13

aorist passive subjunctive 3s

βληθῇ

Mat 5:29

future active indicative 3s

βαλεῖ

Luk 12:58

future passive indicative 2s

βληθήσῃ

Mat 5:25

future passive indicative 3s

βληθήσεται

Rev 18:21

imperfect active indicative 3p

ἔβαλλον

Mrk 12:41

perfect active participle genitive m s

βεβληκότος

Jhn 13:2

perfect passive participle accusative f s

βεβλημένην

Mat 8:14

perfect passive participle accusative n s

βεβλημένον

Mrk 7:30

perfect passive participle nominative m s

βεβλημένος

Jhn 3:24

pluperfect passive indicative 3s

ἐβέβλητο

Luk 16:20

present active indicative 1p

βάλλομεν

Jas 3:3

present active infinitive

βάλλειν

Rev 2:10

present active participle accusative f s

βάλλουσαν

Luk 21:2

present passive participle accusative n p

βαλλόμενα

Jhn 12:6

second-aorist active imperative 2p

βάλετε

Jhn 21:6

second-aorist active imperative 3s

βαλέτω

Jhn 8:7

3 further parsings are listed under Syntax.