Word

κέντρον

kéntron · G2759 · Greek · 4 occurrences

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Thing

GoadAgriculture and farming7 verses

Meanings

sting, stinger

A sharp, pointed projection used in stinging

Examples
Revelation 9:10 They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt people for five months.
goad

A pointed stick used in driving draft animals

Examples
Acts 26:14 “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
power to kill, power to destroy

(A figurative extension of meaning of κέντρον ‘sting,’) The power or ability to kill or destroy

Examples
1 Corinthians 15:55 “WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?”
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law;
means to hurt, power to cause suffering

(A figurative extension of meaning of κέντρον ‘sting,’) The means or capacity to cause severe suffering

Examples
1 Corinthians 15:55 “WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?”
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law;

How it’s used In 4 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

2 occurrences in 2 groups

θάνατοςdeath 1
σύyou 1

What is done to itIt is the object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

ἔχωto have 1

What it is said to bePredicate

2 occurrences in 2 groups

ἁμαρτίαsin 1
ποῦwhere? 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

1 occurrences in 1 groups

πρόςto, toward, with 2

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Semantic domains 4 entries

Power to kill, power to destroy20.69: κέντρον can denote a piercing point capable of inflicting death, used here figuratively of the goad’s painful resistance. Acts 26:14 records the risen Christ telling Paul, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” the image drawn from an ox driven forward by a sharp-pointed rod, its resistance only bringing further injury.
Means to hurt, power to cause suffering24.86: The same word can emphasize the point’s capacity to cause pain rather than death outright. In this same appearance at Acts 26:14, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” the goad is the very instrument of that suffering, urging Paul toward the course he was resisting.
Goad6.9: κέντρον also names the literal farming implement, a pointed rod used to drive draft animals. Acts 26:14 again supplies the picture: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” the tool itself standing behind the figure of Paul’s futile resistance to Christ’s call.
Sting, stinger8.45: κέντρον can also denote the sharp stinging organ of an animal. Revelation 9:10 describes locust-like creatures that “have tails like scorpions, and stings,” their κέντρα being the literal stinging apparatus by which they inflict harm.

Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

κέντρονkéntron · G2759ἐγκεντρίζω enkentrízō · G1461 · to graft, to bud · 6×ἐκκεντέω ekkentéō · G1574 · to pierce · 2×

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon κέντρου, τό (κεντέω to prick); 1. a sting, as that of bees (4 Macc. 14:19), scorpions,…

κέντρου, τό (κεντέω to prick);
1. a sting, as that of bees (4 Macc. 14:19), scorpions, locusts, Rev 9:10. Since animals wound by their sting and even cause death, Paul in 1 Cor 15:55 (after Hos 13:14, the Sept.) attributes to death, personified, a κέντρον, i. e. a deadly weapon, and that κέντρον is said to be ἡ ἁμαρτία (56), because sin is death's cause and punishment (?) (Rom 5:12).
2. as in the Greek writings an iron goad, for urging on oxen, horses and other beasts of burden; hence, the proverb πρός κέντρα λακτίζειν, to kick against the goad, i. e. to offer vain and perilous or ruinous resistance: Acts 9:5 Rec.; ; cf. Pindar Pythagoras 2, 173; Aeschylus (Ag. 1624, cf.) Prom. 323; Euripides, Bacch. 795; Terent. Phorm. 1, 2, 28; Ammian. 18, 5.

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain

Topical studies with this word 4 entries

Instruments Used in Agriculture and Husbandry1 occurrence Parts of the Body1 occurrence Kill2 occurrences Pain, Suffering2 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0