StrongerBible

ekthambeō

ἐκθαμβέω

GreekG1568“amazed, distressed, ...”

Appears 4 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mrk 9:15Mrk 14:33Mrk 16:5Mrk 16:6
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeek-tham-BEH-ohverb

What ekthambeō means

to be utterly overwhelmed: struck by a shock of awe fused with dread, far stronger than ordinary amazement

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is a rare, heightened word that only Mark uses in the New Testament, and he saves it for four turning points in his story. The root behind it never means calm, pleasant wonder. It always carries a jolt of shock, dread, or being frozen in place before something overwhelming. The prefix on the front only intensifies that force, so the word means something closer to "stunned through and through" than to "pleasantly surprised."

Mark places it where a person stands at the edge of what can be taken in:

  • the crowd's overwhelmed reaction when Jesus rejoins them after the Transfiguration (Mark 9:15)
  • Jesus himself shuddering in the garden of Gethsemane as his death draws near (Mark 14:33)
  • the women's alarm at the empty tomb, and the messenger's "do not be alarmed" (Mark 16:5, 16:6)

Because one core reaction runs through all four, they read best as shades of a single meaning rather than separate words. The mix of awe and fear can lean different ways by setting: outward awe at an overpowering presence, inward anguish before a dreadful ordeal, or fright before something from beyond the ordinary world. It is a stronger, darker cousin of the plain verb θαμβέω, and it is worlds away from the neutral wonder of θαυμάζω.

Nuances

1aoverwhelmed awe at an awesome presence
Mrk 9:15
Mrk 9:15

What provoked the crowd's overwhelming reaction when Jesus rejoined them just after the Transfiguration.

  • contestedJesus's appearance still bore a residue of the Transfiguration's radiance, a deliberate echo of Moses's shining face frightening the people.; Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark, BNTC (Hendrickson, 1991), 222-24; Robert H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Eerdmans, 1993), 488
  • contestedThe reaction reflects the powerful impression of Jesus's presence rather than any lingering visible radiance, since the crowd runs toward him instead of fleeing in fear.; R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 2002), 364; James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, PNTC (Eerdmans, 2002), 276-77
1binward dread and anguish: to shudder at a dreadful ordeal one faces
Mrk 14:33
Mrk 14:33

How intense a reaction the verb describes when it is applied to Jesus in Gethsemane.

  • contestedSacred, numinous dread: the holy shudder before divine mystery, the same awe that seizes bystanders at revelations of God.; Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark (Macmillan, 2nd ed. 1966), 121; C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel According to Saint Mark, CGTC (Cambridge, 1959)
  • contestedHorrified recoil at bearing the cup of divine judgment: real anguish over what is coming rather than primarily numinous awe.; William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, NICNT (Eerdmans, 1974); Joel Marcus, Mark 8-16, Anchor Yale Bible (Yale, 2009), 1042-46
  • contestedIntense but human psychological distress: a suffering righteous man at his breaking point, without a specifically numinous overtone.; Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark, Hermeneia (Fortress, 2007); R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 2002)
1calarm and terror before something from beyond the ordinary world
Mrk 16:5Mrk 16:6

What scholars say about ekthambeō

A rare, intensified compound of the classical θαμβέω / θάμβος word group, which from Homer on denotes stupefaction mingled with dread before portents, gods, or the uncanny, never neutral wonder (that is θαυμάζω). Beekes traces the root to Pre-Greek. The compound is scarce before Byzantine times: LSJ cites only Orphica Argonautica 1218, Sirach 30:9 (transitive), Mark 9:15, and Galen 16.493, with Moulton-Milligan adding little from the papyri, so Mark effectively rescued the word from obscurity. BDAG glosses it "be very excited," subdividing contextually as "be overwhelmed" (9:15), "be distressed / struck with terror" (14:33), and "be alarmed" (16:5-6); Louw and Nida assign it to the Surprise/Astonishment domain, noting the slide to Distress at 14:33. The chief theological treatment is Georg Bertram's TDNT article (3:4-7, often misattributed to Grundmann), which reads the θαμβ- group as registering Otto's mysterium tremendum, the numinous shudder before divine presence, a coloring the Septuagint intensified with a causal "to terrify, dumbfound" force. Whether Mark's compound differs substantially from the simplex or only in intensity is debated (Moulton allowed that Hellenistic writers flattened such distinctions), but the majority view holds Mark's choice deliberate and reserved for climactic disclosures. The verb group renders Hebrew roots for dread such as בעת (2 Samuel 22:5).

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG (3rd ed., 2000), s.v. ἐκθαμβέω, p. 303lexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἐκθαμβέω, θαμβέω, θάμβοςlexicon
  • G. Bertram, "θάμβος κτλ.," in TDNT, vol. 3 (Eerdmans, 1965), 4-7theological-dictionary
  • H. Balz, "ἐκθαμβέω," in H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testamenttheological-dictionary
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (2nd ed., 1989), Domain 25lexicon
  • R. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill, 2010), s.v. θάμβος, 532lexicon
  • C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel According to Saint Mark, CGTC (Cambridge, 1959)commentary
  • Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark (Macmillan, 2nd ed. 1966)commentary
  • R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 2002)commentary
  • Joel Marcus, Mark 8-16, Anchor Yale Bible (Yale, 2009)commentary
  • Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark, Hermeneia (Fortress, 2007)commentary
  • James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, PNTC (Eerdmans, 2002)commentary
  • Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark, BNTC (Hendrickson, 1991)commentary
  • William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, NICNT (Eerdmans, 1974)commentary
  • Rudolf Pesch, Das Markusevangelium, HThKNT (Herder, 1976-77)commentary
  • Robert H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Eerdmans, 1993)commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of ἐκθαμβέω

aorist passive indicative 3p

ἐξεθαμβήθησαν

Mrk 9:15, Mrk 16:5

present passive imperative 2p

ἐκθαμβεῖσθε

Mrk 16:6

present passive infinitive

ἐκθαμβεῖσθαι

Mrk 14:33