StrongerBible

paroxunō

παροξύνω

GreekG3947“provoked, irritable, ...”

Appears 2 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Act 17:161Co 13:5
Compound of
paraπαράfrom/with/beside196G3844
oxusὀξύςsharp/swift8G3691
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradepa-rok-SOO-noverb

What paroxunō means

to be provoked: stirred, stung to a sharp feeling of anger or indignation

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

The picture behind this word is a blade being whetted against a stone. Its root idea is to put a sharp edge on something, and by extension to sharpen a person's feelings, rousing them to a keen, cutting reaction. In everyday Greek it could go either way, spurring someone on toward something good or goading them into anger, but in the Bible the anger side dominates.

In the New Testament the word always describes someone being provoked rather than doing the provoking, and it always names a strong, stirred-up negative feeling. The same core reaction runs through both places it appears, but the shade differs with the situation: it can be the deep indignation of a person confronted with something offensive, or the petty irritation of someone stung into snapping back.

What holds the senses together is that sharpened edge. Whether the feeling is righteous outrage at idols or a flash of personal pique, the word pictures a person being brought to a point, roused past calm into a cutting response.

Nuances

1ato be roused to indignation: stirred to a strong, morally charged reaction at something offensive
Act 17:16
Act 17:16

How strongly Paul's provocation at the idols of Athens should be read, and whether Luke's word choice deliberately activates the Greek Old Testament register in which idolatry provokes God to wrath (the Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:16, 19).

  • majorityLuke chose a word the Greek Old Testament had stamped with covenant outrage at idolatry, so Paul's reaction is prophetic indignation: the idolatry that provoked God now provokes his apostle.; C. S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, vol. 3; D. L. Bock, Acts (BECNT); F. Pardigon, Paul Against the Idols; C. K. Rowe, World Upside Down
  • minorityThe word here means a milder being stirred or upset, without pressing a full Old Testament background.; C. K. Rothschild, Paul in Athens (WUNT 341); J. A. Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (AB)
1bto be provoked into irritation: stung into retaliatory annoyance or pique
1Co 13:5

What scholars say about paroxunō

παροξύνω is a compound of παρά (intensive) and ὀξύνω, from ὀξύς ("sharp"), with a base sense "to whet, to put an edge on" (LSJ; Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the NT). Classical usage runs in two streams, a positive "spur on, stimulate" (Xenophon, Isocrates, Aristotle) and a negative "irritate, provoke to anger" (Euripides, Thucydides, Demosthenes). The Greek Old Testament pulled the word decisively toward the negative religious pole, using it roughly 46 times for Israel provoking God to wrath, chiefly through idolatry (Deuteronomy 32:16, 19; Isaiah 65:3), rendering Hebrew נאץ, כעס, and קצף (Muraoka, Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint; H. Seesemann, TDNT 5:857ff.). In the New Testament the verb occurs only in the passive: Acts 17:16 ("be provoked") and 1 Corinthians 13:5 ("become irritated, angered"), with BDAG and Louw-Nida placing the two in different semantic domains (distress/experience versus anger). At Acts 17:16 most commentators hear the Septuagint idolatry register, so that the idolatry which provoked God now provokes his apostle (Keener; Bock; Pardigon, Paul Against the Idols; Rowe, World Upside Down), while a minority reads a milder "stirred" (Rothschild, Paul in Athens). At 1 Corinthians 13:5 the consensus rejects the King James Version's added "easily" and reads an absolute negation, love refusing to be sharpened into pique (Clarke; Fee; Thiselton, who renders "exasperated into pique"; Garland). The cognate noun παροξυσμός developed its own New Testament senses, a sharp quarrel (Acts 15:39) and a spurring toward good (Hebrews 10:24).

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, s.v. παροξύνωlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. παροξύνωlexicon
  • T. Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagintlexicon
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domainslexicon
  • H. Seesemann, "παροξύνω, παροξυσμός," TDNT 5:857ff.theological-dictionary
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. παροξύνωtheological-dictionary
  • C. S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, vol. 3commentary
  • D. L. Bock, Acts (BECNT)commentary
  • A. C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC)commentary
  • D. E. Garland, 1 Corinthians (BECNT)commentary

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

All attested forms of παροξύνω

imperfect passive indicative 3s

παρωξύνετο

Act 17:16

present passive indicative 3s

παροξύνεται

1Co 13:5