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Word

πέτρα

pétra · G4073 · Greek · 15 occurrences

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Meanings

  1. rock, bedrock

    Bedrock (possibly covered with a thin layer of soil), rocky crags, or mountain ledges, in contrast with separate pieces of rock normally referred to as λίθος (see λίθος (líthos, G3037), sense 1)

    Examples

    Matthew 7:24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

    Matthew 7:25 “And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

    Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

How it’s used In 7 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

3 occurrences in 2 groups

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

1 occurrences in 1 groups

What it doesIt is the subject

1 occurrences in 1 groups

What is done to itIt is the object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

It is given or told toIndirect object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

What it is said to bePredicate

2 occurrences in 2 groups

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

9 occurrences in 4 groups

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.

In the other Testament 3 words
סֶלַע Çelaʻ · H5554 · rock, rock > leader
Both terms denote the same core concept of rock as a mass or formation of stone. Greek πέτρα (petra) refers to a large rock or bedrock (either literal stone or used figuratively), while Hebrew סֶלַע (sela) likewise denotes rock or cliff. These are the standard lexical equivalents for "rock" in their respective biblical languages, representing the same natural geological entity across both testaments.
סֶלַע çelaʻ · H5553 · rock, rock > leader
סֶלַע (çelaʻ, H5553) is the Hebrew term for a large mass of rock or crag, directly equivalent to πέτρα (pétra, G4073) which denotes a rock formation or mass of stone in Greek; both terms refer to substantial rock masses as distinct from individual stones, and πέτρα (pétra, G4073) serves as the standard LXX rendering of סֶלַע (çelaʻ, H5553) in contexts describing cliffs, rocky terrain, and God as metaphorical rock.
צוּר tsûwr · H6697 · rock
Hebrew צוּר (tsûwr, H6697) and Greek πέτρα (pétra, G4073) both denote rock/stone as a solid mass, with both extending to figurative uses (God as rock, strength, refuge); πέτρα emphasizes the massive, foundational quality while צוּר can highlight sharpness/edge alongside strength, but the core concept of rock as literal or metaphorical foundation is shared across both languages.
Semantic domains 1 entry
Rock, bedrock2.21
πέτρα names a large mass of stone, often as a stable foundation. Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with this image: “everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24).
Word family 3 words

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

Πέτρος Pétros · G4074 · a rock ; as a name, Petrus, an apostle · 156×πέτραpétra · G4073πετρώδης petrṓdēs · G4075 · rocky ground · 4×
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon πέτρας, ἡ, from Homer down; the Sept. for סֶלַע and צוּר; a rock, ledge, cliff; a.…
πέτρας, ἡ, from Homer down; the Sept. for סֶלַע and צוּר; a rock, ledge, cliff;
a. properly: Mt 7:24; Mt 27:51, Mt 27:60; Mk 15:46; Lk 6:48; 1 Cor 10:4 (on which see πνευματικός, 3 a.); a projecting rock, crag, Rev 6:15f, rocky ground, Lk 8:6, Lk 8:13.
b. a rock, large stone: Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:8 (7).
c. metaphorically, a man like a rock, by reason of his firmness and strength of soul: Mt 16:18 (some interpretations regard the distinction (generally observed in classic Greek; see the commentaries and cf. Schmidt, Syn., chapter 51, §§ 4-6) between πέτρα, the massive living rock, and πέτρος, a detached but large fragment, as important for the correct understanding of this passage; others explain the different genders here as due first to the personal then to the material reference. Cf. Meyer, Keil, others; Green, Critical Note on Jn 1:43).

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

Topical studies with this word 1 entry
Earth, Mud, Sand, Rock15 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

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