What does ἄκανθα (ákantha) mean in the Bible?
ἄκανθα (ákantha): A prickly plant symbolizing spiritual unfruitfulness, pain, and the curse of sin in NT parables
Greek · G173
ἄκανθα
A thorn
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ἄκανθα G173
Pronunciation ákantha
What does ἄκανθα (ákantha) mean in the Bible?
ἄκανθα (ákantha): A prickly plant symbolizing spiritual unfruitfulness, pain, and the curse of sin in NT parables
Full entry for ἄκανθα (G173) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G173?
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include thorns (9), [which] (3), thornbushes (2).
Where does ἄκανθα (ákantha) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (5), Luke (4), Mark (3), Hebrews (1).
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 thorns 9× Matthew 13:7, Matthew 13:22, Matthew 27:29, Mark 4:7
[which] 3× Matthew 13:7, Mark 4:7, Luke 8:7
thornbushes 2× Matthew 7:16, Luke 6:44
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:16 ἀκανθῶν to thornbushes Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural Matthew 13:7 ἀκάνθας to thorns Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Matthew 13:7 ἄκανθαι to [which] Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural Matthew 13:22 ἀκάνθας to thorns Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Matthew 27:29 ἀκανθῶν to thorns Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural Mark 4:7 ἀκάνθας to thorns Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Mark 4:7 ἄκανθαι to [which] Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural Mark 4:18 ἀκάνθας to thorns Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Luke 6:44 ἀκανθῶν to thornbushes Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural Luke 8:7 ἀκανθῶν to thorns Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 7:16
Aligned rows 14
Books represented 5
Matthew 5 Mark 3 Luke 4 John 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
ἀκάνθας 6x akanthas Matthew 13:7, Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:7, Mark 4:18
ἀκανθῶν 5x akanthōn Matthew 7:16, Matthew 27:29, Luke 6:44, Luke 8:7
ἄκανθαι 3x akanthai Matthew 13:7, Mark 4:7, Luke 8:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 6x Matthew 13:7, Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:7, Mark 4:18
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural 5x Matthew 7:16, Matthew 27:29, Luke 6:44, Luke 8:7
Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural 3x Matthew 13:7, Mark 4:7, Luke 8:7
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A prickly plant symbolizing spiritual unfruitfulness, pain, and the curse of sin in NT parables
Strong's G173
Lexical occurrences 14 verses Greek text appearances 14 times Word forms 3 forms 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 6:43-45 Source Gloss
a thorn
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
A prickly plant symbolizing spiritual unfruitfulness, pain, and the curse of sin in NT parables
(ἀκή, a point), [in LXX chiefly for קוֹץ, also for סִיר, שַׁיִת, etc. ;] a prickly plant, thorn, brier; in NT always pl.: Mat.7:16 13:7,22 27:29, Mrk.4:7,18, Luk.6:44 8:7,14, Jhn.19:2, Heb.6:8 (see MM, VGT, see word).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
14 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:16 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
ἀκανθῶν akanqwn
a thorn-bush
Read verse Matthew 13:7 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀκάνθας, akanqav
a thorn-bush
Read verse Matthew 13:7 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
ἄκανθαι akanqai
a thorn-bush
Read verse Matthew 13:22 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀκάνθας akanqav
a thorn-bush
Read verse Matthew 27:29 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
ἀκανθῶν, akanqwn
a thorn-bush
Read verse Mark 4:7 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀκάνθας, akanqav
a thorn-bush
Read verse Mark 4:7 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
ἄκανθαι, akanqai
a thorn-bush
Read verse Mark 4:18 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀκάνθας akanqav
a thorn-bush
Read verse Luke 6:44 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
ἀκανθῶν akanqwn
a thorn-bush
Read verse Luke 8:7 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
ἀκανθῶν, akanqwn
a thorn-bush
Read verse Luke 8:7 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
ἄκανθαι akanqai
a thorn-bush
Read verse Luke 8:14 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀκάνθας akanqav
a thorn-bush
Read verse John 19:2 Noun Genitive Plural Feminine
ἀκανθῶν akanqwn
a thorn-bush
Read verse Hebrews 6:8 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀκάνθας akanqav
a thorn-bush
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 14 Case pattern Accusative (6) Number pattern Plural (14)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Feminine Matt 13:7 · Mark 4:7 · Luke 8:7 3×
Genitive · Plural · Feminine Matt 7:16 · Matt 27:29 · Luke 6:44 · Luke 8:7 · John 19:2 5×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Matt 13:7 · Matt 13:22 · Mark 4:7 · Mark 4:18 · Luke 8:14 · Heb 6:8 6×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Thorns as natural product of evil trees, contrasted with good fruit
Thorns choke word of God in parable of sower, representing worldly cares
Crown of thorns placed on Jesus in mockery during crucifixion narrative
Thorns and thistles as symbols of cursed earth and spiritual unfruitfulness
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἄκανθα is built from this root:
ἀκμήν G188
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.
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