StrongerBible

rhiptō

ῥίπτω

GreekG4496cast, lay, ...

Appears 8 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 9:36Mat 15:30Mat 27:5Luk 4:35Luk 17:2Act 22:23Act 27:19Act 27:29
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studyHRIP-tohverb

What rhiptō means

to let something go from your hands in one quick, decisive motion: to fling, cast, or set it down

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

The picture behind this verb is a single sharp release. Whatever is in the hand goes, and the person letting it go is not fussing over how it lands. That is why the same word fits a man throwing money away in disgust, a spirit slamming its victim to the floor, and sailors heaving a ship's gear over the side in a storm.

What surprises most readers is that the same verb also covers laying people down. When crowds carry the sick to Jesus and put them at his feet, the word does not mean they were handled roughly. It means they were set down fast, in a rush, with no ceremony and no arranging. The gentleness comes from the scene, not from a different word. The broad verb βάλλω covers both hard throwing and calm placing; this one always keeps the note of speed.

In its completed passive form the verb stops describing an act and starts describing a condition: people who have been thrown down and left where they fell. That is the force of the crowd who look to Jesus like sheep without a shepherd. They are not merely tired; they are dumped and unattended.

Across almost every use there is feeling in the action, and it is the feeling that picks the English word: disgust, panic, fury, or pity.

Nuances

1ato hurl or fling something with force, often to be rid of it
TranslatabilityDirect
Mat 27:5Luk 4:35Luk 17:2
1bto cast or let something down from a ship into the water
Act 27:19Act 27:29
1cto put a person down quickly and without ceremony
Mat 15:30
1dto be left lying where one was thrown down, uncared for
TranslatabilityPartial
Mat 9:36
1eto fling clothing about in a burst of rage
CertaintyContested
Act 22:23

What scholars say about rhiptō

BDAG treats ῥίπτω as one verb with two related uses: to throw or hurl something from one place to another, and a weakened use, to put or lay down without any suggestion of hurling, under which it files the sick set at Jesus' feet in Matthew 15:30. The perfect passive participle ἐρριμμένοι in Matthew 9:36 is classed with the second use and understood as lying prostrate or thrown down rather than dispersed; the older rendering "scattered abroad" is generally abandoned in the modern lexica, though the crowd's condition is still discussed by commentators on Matthew. Acts 22:23 uses the byform ῥιπτέω, whose present tense points to repeated action, and interpreters divide over whether the cloaks were thrown off, tossed, or waved, and whether the gesture anticipates a stoning. LSJ documents the same spread in classical Greek, including the nautical uses of jettisoning gear and casting anchors that appear in Acts 27.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ῥίπτω, ῥιπτέωlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ῥίπτωlexicon
  • Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. ῥίπτωlexicon
  • W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (ICC), on Matthew 9:36commentary
  • C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles (ICC), on Acts 22:23commentary

All attested forms of ῥίπτω

aorist active indicative 3p

ἔρριψαν

Mat 15:30, Act 27:19

aorist active participle nominative m p

ῥίψαντες

Act 27:29

aorist active participle nominative m s

ῥίψας

Mat 27:5

aorist active participle nominative n s

ῥῖψαν

Luk 4:35

perfect passive indicative 3s

ἔρριπται

Luk 17:2

perfect passive participle nominative m p

ἐρριμμένοι

Mat 9:36

present active participle genitive m p

ῥιπτούντων

Act 22:23