What does διασκορπίζω (diaskorpízō) mean in the Bible?
Διασκορπίζω (diaskorpízō) means to scatter or disperse what had been together. The New Testament uses it in ordinary, moral, and redemptive settings.
Greek · G1287
διασκορπίζω
To scatter
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διασκορπίζω G1287
Pronunciation diaskorpízō
What does διασκορπίζω (diaskorpízō) mean in the Bible?
Διασκορπίζω (diaskorpízō) means to scatter or disperse what had been together. The New Testament uses it in ordinary, moral, and redemptive settings.
Reader summary
Full entry for διασκορπίζω (G1287) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1287?
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include will be scattered (2), He has scattered (1), he squandered (1), I have not scattered seed (1), scattered (1).
Where does διασκορπίζω (diaskorpízō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 25:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Matthew (3), Acts (1), John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Διασκορπίζω (diaskorpízō) means to scatter or disperse what had been together. The New Testament uses it in ordinary, moral, and redemptive settings. The younger son scatters his property through reckless living (Luke 15:13). The disciples are scattered when the Shepherd is struck (Matt. 26:31). John 11:52 places scattering beside gathering: Jesus will die not only for the nation but to gather into one the scattered children of God.
The word does not make scattering automatically sinful or gathering automatically saving. Each passage supplies the agent, cause, and purpose. In John 11, Caiaphas speaks more than he understands, and the evangelist interprets Jesus' death within God's saving purpose. Christ's death creates one people, but the verse should not be isolated from John's call to receive and believe in the Son.
For the church, this verb helps name the destructive force of sin, fear, false teaching, and self-rule, while directing attention to Christ's gathering work. Faithful application resists both individualistic discipleship and institutional triumphalism. Jesus gathers people to Himself, into truth, and into a reconciled people; human organizations cannot claim that every form of consolidation is therefore God's work.
Passage contextBook contextEditorial synthesis
How the Bible Uses It
The verb portrays wasteful dispersal, the scattering of disciples, and Christ's death gathering God's scattered children into one.
- Luke.15.13
After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.
The son's scattering of his property enacts the disorder of life separated from his father.
- Matt.26.31
Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
The disciples' coming flight fulfills the shepherd-and-sheep Scripture and exposes their weakness during Jesus' arrest.
- John.11.52
And not only for the nation, but also for the scattered children of God, to gather them together into one.
John interprets Jesus' death as the means by which God's scattered children are gathered into one people.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It will be scattered 2× Matthew 26:31, Mark 14:27
He has scattered 1× Luke 1:51
he squandered 1× Luke 15:13
I have not scattered seed 1× Matthew 25:26
scattered 1× John 11:52
wasting 1× Luke 16:1
were scattered 1× Acts 5:37
you have not scattered seed 1× Matthew 25:24
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 25:24 διεσκόρπισας to you have not scattered seed Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular Matthew 25:26 διεσκόρπισα to I have not scattered seed Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular Matthew 26:31 διασκορπισθήσονται to will be scattered Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural Mark 14:27 διασκορπισθήσονται to will be scattered Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural Luke 1:51 διεσκόρπισεν to He has scattered Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 15:13 διεσκόρπισεν to he squandered Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 16:1 διασκορπίζων to wasting Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular John 11:52 διεσκορπισμένα to scattered Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Neuter Plural Acts 5:37 διεσκορπίσθησαν to were scattered Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 25:24
Aligned rows 9
Books represented 5
Matthew 3 Mark 1 Luke 3 John 1 Acts 1
Source forms
διασκορπισθήσονται 2x diaskorpisthēsontai Matthew 26:31, Mark 14:27
διεσκόρπισεν 2x dieskorpisen Luke 1:51, Luke 15:13
διασκορπίζων 1x diaskorpizōn Luke 16:1
διεσκόρπισα 1x dieskorpisa Matthew 25:26
διεσκόρπισας 1x dieskorpisas Matthew 25:24
διεσκορπίσθησαν 1x dieskorpisthēsan Acts 5:37
διεσκορπισμένα 1x dieskorpismena John 11:52
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x Luke 1:51, Luke 15:13
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural 2x Matthew 26:31, Mark 14:27
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular 1x Matthew 25:26
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x Matthew 25:24
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x Acts 5:37
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Neuter Plural 1x John 11:52
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Luke 16:1
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use gathering language to direct people to Christ and His truth, not to demand uncritical allegiance to a leader or organization.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every dispersed community is under divine judgment. The verb names scattering, while each passage explains its cause and meaning.
- Do not claim that organizational unity fulfills John 11:52 by itself. John grounds the gathering of God's children in Jesus' sacrificial death.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Scatter with dispersal away from center; often implies waste or squandering when applied to property.
Strong's G1287
Lexical occurrences 9 verses Greek text appearances 9 times Word forms 2 forms 9 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 1:39–56 Source Gloss
to scatter
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Scatter with dispersal away from center; often implies waste or squandering when applied to property.
to scatter abroad, disperse: of sheep, Mat.26:31 = Mrk.14:27" (LXX) ; of persons, Luk.1:51, Act.5:37, opposite to συνάγω, Jhn.11:52; of winnowing grain, Mat.25:24, 26; metaphorically, of property, to squander, waste: Luk.15:13 16:1.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
9 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 25:24 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
διεσκόρπισας· dieskorpisav
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Matthew 25:26 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
διεσκόρπισα· dieskorpisa
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Matthew 26:31 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
διασκορπισθήσεται diaskorpisqhsetai
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Mark 14:27 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
διασκορπισθήσεται diaskorpisqhsetai
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Luke 1:51 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
διεσκόρπισεν dieskorpisen
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Luke 15:13 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
διεσκόρπισε dieskorpisen
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Luke 16:1 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
διασκορπίζων diaskorpizwn
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse John 11:52 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Accusative Plural Neuter
διεσκορπισμένα dieskorpismena
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verse Acts 5:37 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Passive Indicative
διεσκορπίσθησαν. dieskorpisqhsan
I scatter, winnow, disperse, waste
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 9 Tenses Future, Aorist, Present, Perfect Voices Passive, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 7×
Aorist Active Luke 1:51 · Luke 15:13 · Matt 25:24 · Matt 25:26 4×
Future Passive Matt 26:31 · Mark 14:27 2×
Aorist Passive Acts 5:37 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Active Luke 16:1 1×
Perfect Passive John 11:52 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 9 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 5 future 2 perfect 1 present 1
Voice
active 5 passive 4
Mood
indicative 7 participle 2
NT Occurrences
Matthew 25:24 διεσκόρπισας aorist active indicative completed Matthew 25:26 διεσκόρπισα aorist active indicative completed Matthew 26:31 διασκορπισθήσονται future passive indicative prospective Mark 14:27 διασκορπισθήσονται future passive indicative prospective Luke 1:51 διεσκόρπισεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 15:13 διεσκόρπισεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 16:1 διασκορπίζων present active participle participle John 11:52 διεσκορπισμένα perfect passive participle participle Acts 5:37 διεσκορπίσθησαν aorist passive indicative completed
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
scattered
Additional Occurrences
Luke 1:46–55 διασκορπίζει diaskorpízō
Scatters, disperses
Luke 16:1–13 διεσκόρπισεν diaskorpízō
Wasted, scattered
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
διασκορπίζω is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Describes God’s decisive action against pride. Luke 1:39–56
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Scattering in Scripture can describe wasted goods, frightened disciples, or a people dispersed and in need of gathering. John 11 places the word within the saving purpose of Jesus' death: the Son dies to gather God's scattered children into one. This unity is neither sentiment nor organizational efficiency. It is created through Christ's sacrificial work and received through faith in Him.
The disciples' scattering also warns against confidence in human courage; even sincere followers can flee under pressure. Teaching this word should lead to repentance from self-rule, patient restoration of fearful disciples, and a church life centered on Christ rather than personality, ethnicity, or institution.
Anchor passage
John.11.52
Doctrinal connections
- John 10:14-16 - one flock and one Shepherd
- John 11:45-53 - Caiaphas and the saving purpose of Jesus' death
- Matthew 26:31-35 - the Shepherd struck and disciples scattered
- Ephesians 2:11-22 - one new humanity in Christ
The verb emphasizes dispersal from a gathered state. Context determines whether it concerns property, people, or a theological picture of separation and gathering.
From Old to New Testament
Prophets speak of God's scattered people and promised regathering. John 11 presents Jesus' death as the decisive gathering act, while the exact lexical links vary across the Hebrew and Greek witnesses.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain