περισσεύω
perisseúō · G4052 · Greek · 39 occurrences
Meanings
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to abound, to be in abundance, to be a lot of, to exist in a large quantity, to be left over
(Derivative of περισσός ‘abundant,’) To be or exist in abundance, with the implication of being considerably more than what would be expected
ExamplesMark 12:44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
Luke 12:15 But He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.”
Luke 21:4 for they all contributed to the offering from their surplus; but she, from her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.”
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to provide in abundance, to provide a great deal of, to cause to be abundant
To cause something to exist in an abundance
ExamplesMatthew 13:12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
Matthew 25:29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
1 Corinthians 14:12 So you too, since you are eager to possess spiritual gifts, strive to excel for the edification of the church.
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To have such an abundance as to be more than sufficient (to have (much) more than enough, to have an overabundance)
ExamplesMatthew 14:20 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets.
Matthew 15:37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.
Luke 9:17 And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.
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very great, excessive, extremely, emphatic, surpassing, all the more, much greater
A degree which is considerably in excess of some point on an implied or explicit scale of extent
ExamplesMatthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
2 Corinthians 8:2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you excel in everything, in faith, speaking, knowledge, and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you also excel in this gracious work.
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to cause to be intense, to cause to be more, to cause to grow
To cause an increase in the degree of some experience or state
Examples1 Thessalonians 3:12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;
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to have a greater benefit, to experience a superior advantage
To experience superior benefit or advantage, implying some type of comparison
Examples1 Corinthians 8:8 Now food will not bring us close to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.
How it’s used In 8 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
39 occurrences in 23 groups
- Not stated (participle) 9
- Not stated: you (more than one) 5
- Not stated (infinitive) 4
- Not stated: he, she or it 3
- Other words · 19 groups that occur once or twice (21) 21
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
5 occurrences in 5 groups
- εἰμίto be 1
- εὐχαριστίαthanksgiving 1
- ὅςwho, which, that 1
- σύyou 1
- χάριςgrace, favor, thanks 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
18 occurrences in 26 groups
- Other words · 26 groups that occur once or twice (29) 29
With adverbsAdverbs
9 occurrences in 6 groups
- μᾶλλονmore, more than, to a greater degree 3
- καίand 2
- πάντοτεalways 2
- ἔτιstill 1
- μήnot 1
- οὕτωso, thus, in this way 1
Named alongside itApposition
4 occurrences in 3 groups
- κόφινοςlarge basket 2
- σπυρίςlarge basket 1
- χάριςgrace, favor, thanks 1
What it doesIt is the subject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- αἴρωto take up, to take away, to carry 1
What is done to itIt is the object
9 occurrences in 8 groups
- αἴρωto take up, to take away, to carry 2
- γνωρίζωto make known, to know 1
- δυνατέωcan 1
- εἴδωto know 1
- ζητέωto seek, to look for 1
- παρακαλέωto plead for, to appeal to, to encourage 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
4 occurrences in 3 groups
- ἐκfrom 4
- εἰςto 2
- ἐνin 1
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.
Near synonyms 1 word
- πλεονάζω pleonázō · G4121 · to increase considerably, to become more and more, to multiply
- περισσεύω and πλεονάζω both denote abundance, increase, and superabundance, used both transitively (causing increase) and intransitively (existing in abundance). They overlap extensively across the vocabulary of having more than enough.
Semantic domains 6 entries
- To have (much) more than enough, to have an overabundance57.24
- περισσεύω can describe having far more of something than is needed. Paul assures the Corinthians of God's provision: “God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
- To abound, to be in abundance, to be a lot of, to exist in a large quantity, to be left over59.52
- The same verb describes a large remaining quantity after a need is satisfied. Matthew's account of the feeding of the five thousand records the result: “they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets” (Matthew 14:20).
- To provide in abundance, to provide a great deal of, to cause to be abundant59.54
- The verb can also be used transitively, of causing something to exist in surplus for someone else. Jesus's teaching on the two kinds of hearer promises, “whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance” (Matthew 13:12, where the passive form of περισσεύω describes this abundance being provided).
- To have a greater benefit, to experience a superior advantage65.47
- The verb can describe gaining a greater personal advantage from something. Paul rebukes covetousness by warning that possessions themselves confer no true benefit: “not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, where περισσεύω is rendered “affluent”).
- Very great, excessive, extremely, emphatic, surpassing, all the more, much greater78.31
- The verb can also function to intensify a quality or a moral demand to an extreme degree. Jesus tells His disciples, “unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).
- To cause to be intense, to cause to be more, to cause to grow78.32
- The verb can also describe causing an existing quality to grow more intense in someone else. Paul prays for the Thessalonians, “may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you” (1 Thessalonians 3:12).
Word family 7 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon imperfect ἐπερίσσευον (Acts 16:5); future infinitive περισσεύσειν (Phm 4:12 Rec.bez); 1…
1. intransitive and properly, to exceed a fixed number or measure; to be over and above a certain number or measure: μύριοι εἰσιν ἀριθμόν... εἷς δέ περισσεύει, Hesiod from 14, 4 (clxix. (187), edition Göttling); hence,
a. to be over, to remain: Jn 6:12; τό περισσεῦον τῶν κλασμάτων, equivalent to τά περισσευοντα κλάσματα, Mt 14:20; Mt 15:37; περισσεύει μοι τί, Jn 6:13 (Tobit 4:16); τό περισσεῦσαν τίνι, what remained over to one, Lk 9:17.
b. to exist or be at hand in abundance: τίνι, Lk 12:15; τό περισσεῦον τίνι, one's abundance, wealth ((R. V. superfluity); opposed to ὑστέρησις), Mk 12:44; opposed to ὑστέρημα, Lk 21:4: to be great (abundant), 2 Cor 1:5b; 2 Cor 9:12; Phm 1:26; περισσεύει τί εἰς τινα, "a thing comes in abundance, or overflows, unto one; something falls to the lot of one in large measure": Rom 5:15; 2 Cor 1:5a; περισσεύω εἰς τί, to redound unto, turn out abundantly for, a thing, 2 Cor 8:2; ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ψεύσματι ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τήν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, i. e. by my lie it came to pass that God's veracity became the more conspicuous, and becoming thus more thoroughly known increased his glory, Rom 3:7; to be increased, τῷ ἀριθμῷ, Acts 16:5.
c. to abound, overflow, i. e. α. to be abundantly furnished with, to have in abundance, abound in (a thing): absolutely (A. V. to abound), to be in affluence, Phm 4:18; opposed to ὑστερεῖσθαι; Phm 4:12; in spiritual gifts, 1 Cor 14:12; with a genitive of the thing in which one abounds (Winers Grammar, § 30, 8b.; (cf. Buttmann, § 132, 12)): ἄρτων, Lk 15:17 R G L T Tr marginal reading β. to be pre-eminent, to excel (cf. Buttmann, § 132, 22): absolutely, 1 Cor 8:8; followed by ἐν with a dative of the virtues or the actions in which one excels (Buttmann, § 132, 12), 1 Cor 15:13; 1 Cor 15:58; 2 Cor 3:9 (here L T Tr WH omit ἐν); ; Col 2:7; περισσεύητε μᾶλλον, to excel still more, to increase in excellence, 1 Thess 4:1, 1 Thess 4:10; μᾶλλον καί μᾶλλον περισσεύῃ, Phm 1:9; περισσεύσῃ... πλεῖον, to excel more than (A. V. exceed; cf. Buttmann, § 132, 20 and 22), Mt 5:20, (περισσεύειν ὑπέρ τινα, 1 Macc. 3:30; τί ἐπερίσσευσεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος παρά τό κτῆνος; Eccl 3:19).
2. by later Greek usage transitively (cf. Winers Grammar, p. 23; § 38,1), to make to abound, i. e.
a. to furnish one richly so that he has abundance: passive, Mt 13:12; Mt 25:29; with the genitive of the thing with which one is furnished, passive, Lk 15:17 WH Tr text; τί εἰς τινα, to make a thing to abound unto one, to confer a thing abundantly upon one, 2 Cor 9:8; Eph 1:8.
b. to make abundant or excellent: τί, 2 Cor 4:15; to cause one to excel: τινα, with a dative of the thing, 1 Thess 3:12. (τάς ὥρας, to extend the hours beyond the prescribed time, Athen. 2, p. 42 b.) (Compare: ὑπερπερισσεύω.)
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 4 entries
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
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