What does ἐκκεντέω (ekkentéō) mean in the Bible?
ἐκκεντέω means to pierce or thrust through. In John 19:37 the word appears in the Scripture citation: they will look on the One they have pierced.
Greek · G1574
ἐκκεντέω
To transfix
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ἐκκεντέω G1574
Pronunciation ekkentéō
What does ἐκκεντέω (ekkentéō) mean in the Bible?
ἐκκεντέω means to pierce or thrust through. In John 19:37 the word appears in the Scripture citation: they will look on the One they have pierced.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐκκεντέω (G1574) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1574?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include pierced (1), they have pierced (1).
Where does ἐκκεντέω (ekkentéō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 19:37. Its strongest book concentrations include John (1), Revelation (1).
What This Word Actually Means
ἐκκεντέω means to pierce or thrust through. In John 19:37 the word appears in the Scripture citation: they will look on the One they have pierced. The verb is not decorative. It belongs to John's passion witness, where Jesus' death is real, scripturally witnessed, and publicly looked upon.
The pastoral value is sober attention to the crucified Christ. The word should not be turned into gore or speculation. John gives it as Scripture witness, tied to the one who has been pierced. It helps teachers keep the cross bodily and scriptural: Jesus is not symbolically wounded only, and the passion is not outside God's written witness.
How the Bible Uses It
John 19:37 uses ἐκκεντέω in the Scripture citation about looking on the One they pierced.
- John 19:37 places the verb in a Scripture citation after Jesus' death.
- The pierced One is the focus of looking, witness, and fulfillment context.
- The word contributes to the bodily realism of the passion without inviting graphic excess.
ἐκκεντέω gives John 19:37 a sharp and bodily word. Jesus is pierced, and Scripture speaks of looking on the pierced One. The verb helps prevent a purely symbolic or sentimental cross. Yet it must remain within John's fulfillment frame. The passage calls readers to see the crucified Christ as the one Scripture witnesses, not to linger in graphic detail for its own sake.
In John 19, ἐκκεντέω supports the passion witness that the crucified Jesus is the pierced One to whom Scripture points.
Passage contextcanonical_witnesstheological_synthesisPastoral application
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 pierced 1× Revelation 1:7
they have pierced 1× John 19:37
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 19:37
Aligned rows 2
Books represented 2
John 1 Revelation 1
Source forms
ἐξεκέντησαν 2x exekentēsan John 19:37, Revelation 1:7
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x John 19:37, Revelation 1:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Keep the word tied to John's Scripture citation and passion context.
- Let the pierced Christ remain the focus, not the mechanics of the wound.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that ἐκκεντέω alone proves every fulfillment connection.
- Do not turn the piercing into graphic spectacle.
Passage contextPastoral applicationlexical
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To pierce through, emphasizing penetration of the body—specifically Christ's crucifixion wound.
Strong's G1574
Lexical occurrences 2 verses Greek text appearances 2 times Word forms 1 form 2 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to transfix
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 19:37 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐξεκέντησαν. exekenthsan
I pierce through, transfix
Read verse Revelation 1:7 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐξεκέντησαν· exekenthsan
I pierce through, transfix
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 1 Aligned forms 2 Tenses Aorist Voices 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 2×
Aorist Active John 19:37 · Rev 1:7 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 2 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 2
Voice
active 2
Mood
indicative 2
NT Occurrences
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)
Word Origins
ἐκκεντέω is built from these roots:
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
What this word opens up
This word opens John's Scripture-shaped passion witness: the crucified Jesus is the pierced One on whom people look.
What it corrects
It corrects readings that make the cross only an idea, and readings that dwell on physical detail without scriptural purpose.
Framing suggestions
Frame ἐκκεντέω through John 19:37 and the surrounding fulfillment statements. The pierced body and Scripture witness belong together.
Illustrations
- A wound can become a witness when Scripture tells us how to look at it.
Watch points
- Do not use the word for graphic effect detached from John's purpose.
- Do not make the piercing less than bodily and historical.
Passage contextcanonical_witnessPastoral application
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