StrongerBible

perissos

περισσός

GreekG4053“abundantly, advantage, ...”

Appears 6 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 5:37Mat 5:47Mrk 6:51Jhn 10:10Rom 3:12Co 9:1
Word studyResearch-gradepeh-ris-SOSSadjective

What perissos means

1

over and above: what goes past the ordinary measure, whether as an extra one side has that another does not or as a supply beyond what is needed

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

The picture behind the word is a line, and a quantity that runs past it. In ordinary Greek this was business language: the surplus in the accounts, the money still there once the bills are paid, the stock nobody needs. It could also describe a person who stood out from the ordinary run of people.

The New Testament uses this side of the word in three ways:

  • as something one side has that the other does not, which is why Paul can ask what advantage the Jew has over the Gentile
  • as conduct that goes further than anyone would expect, since greeting only your own friends is no more than what everybody already does
  • as a supply that keeps coming after the need has been met, which is the promise that the sheep will have life and something more besides

None of this is special religious vocabulary. It is the plain arithmetic of "there is extra," and the same everyday word stands behind the verb for overflowing (περισσεύω) and the noun for a surplus (περισσεία).

Nuances

1amore than another has or does: an advantage held over someone else, or conduct that goes past what is expected
Mat 5:47Rom 3:1
1bmore than enough: a supply that keeps coming once the need is met
Jhn 10:10
Jhn 10:10

Whether περισσόν in John 10:10 denotes a quantitative surplus (a greater amount of life, or of what sustains life) or a qualitatively superior kind of life.

  • contestedQuantitative. The lexica parse περισσὸν ἔχειν as to have a surplus or an abundance, citing Xenophon (Anabasis 7.6.31; Oeconomicus 20.1); the Expositor's Greek Testament adds that the surplus is more probably an abundance of all that sustains life, and that the repetition of ἔχωσιν gives the second element independent standing, which favours reading περισσόν as a coordinated object rather than an adverbial accusative. The Syriac renders it as something more abundant.; BDAG, s.v. περισσός; LSJ, s.v. περισσός (Attic περιττός); M. Dods, "The Gospel of St. John," in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. 1
  • contestedQualitative in emphasis. Because ζωή in this Gospel is characteristically the eschatological life of God, the more that is promised is a superior kind of life rather than merely a larger quantity of it. Commentators reading this way also reject any prosperity construal of the verse.; C. S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, vol. 1
1cfar past all measure, used to strengthen a description
Mrk 6:51
2

more than is needed: unnecessary, and so better left out

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

Nothing in the word itself says that the extra is bad. It only says the extra is there, past the point where enough was reached. But a quantity beyond what is needed is by definition not needed, and Greek writers used the word constantly in exactly that dismissive way, for the part that could be cut without loss.

Paul uses it that way about his own letter. He has already argued at length for the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, so writing to the Corinthians about it again would be needless. In the Sermon on the Mount the extra piled on top of a plain yes or no, that is, the oath, is worse than needless: it is said to come from the evil one.

This is the same word that marks a real privilege in Romans 3:1. Only the setting decides which way it points, so a reader cannot assume it is a compliment.

Mat 5:372Co 9:1

What scholars say about perissos

LSJ divides περισσός (Attic περιττός) into two branches: what goes beyond the regular number or size, hence extraordinary, uncommon, remarkable, and what is more than sufficient, hence redundant or superfluous, citing περιττὸν ἔχειν in Xenophon for having a surplus and glossing τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου at Romans 3:1 as the advantage of the Jew. BDAG keeps the same two poles and files 2 Corinthians 9:1, with Matthew 5:37, under the sense of what is unnecessary or more than what is needed. The papyrus evidence gathered by Moulton and Milligan shows the word belonged to everyday commercial Koine, the language of surpluses and leftovers, rather than to any specialized religious vocabulary. In the Septuagint περισσός and its cognates render principally the root יתר and its derivatives (יֶתֶר, יוֹתֵר, מוֹתָר, יִתְרוֹן) along with עדף; the most illuminating equation is Qoheleth's programmatic מַה־יִּתְרוֹן at Ecclesiastes 1:3, rendered τίς περισσεία, which puts the commercial sense of net advantage squarely behind Paul's question at Romans 3:1. Hauck (TDNT) traces the family from secular Greek through the Septuagint into Paul, where the cognates carry the eschatological weight of overflowing grace; Spicq works the same ground from the papyri and the inscriptions. Two places carry unsettled questions. At John 10:10 the lexica parse περισσὸν ἔχειν quantitatively as having a surplus (with Xenophon, Anabasis 7.6.31 and Oeconomicus 20.1), and the Expositor's Greek Testament argues from the repetition of ἔχωσιν that περισσόν stands as a coordinated object rather than an adverbial accusative, while most modern Johannine commentators press the qualitative side on the ground that ζωή in this Gospel is always eschatological life; the older attributive parsing that made περισσόν agree with ζωήν is largely abandoned. At Mark 6:51 the phrase ἐκ περισσοῦ is text-critically insecure, omitted by Westcott and Hort and bracketed by Tregelles, so it is a fragile witness. The positions attributed to modern Johannine commentators rest here on secondary report rather than first-hand collation of the printed volumes, and should be checked against them.

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. περισσόςlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. περισσός (Attic περιττός)lexicon
  • F. Hauck, "περισσεύω, περισσός," TDNT 6:58-63theological-dictionary
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. περισσεύω, περισσόςtheological-dictionary
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (London, 1930)reference
  • M. Dods, "The Gospel of St. John," in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. 1commentary
  • C. S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, vol. 1commentary

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

All attested forms of περισσός

nominative n s

περισσὸν, περισσόν

Mat 5:37, Rom 3:1, 2Co 9:1

accusative n s

περισσὸν

Mat 5:47

adv

περισσὸν

Jhn 10:10

genitive n s

περισσοῦ

Mrk 6:51