What does σβέννυμι (sbénnymi) mean in the Bible?
σβέννυμι (sbénnymi): Quench literally suppresses fire; metaphorically suppresses the Holy Spirit's influence and work.
Greek · G4570
σβέννυμι
To extinguish (literally or figuratively)
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σβέννυμι G4570
Pronunciation sbénnymi
What does σβέννυμι (sbénnymi) mean in the Bible?
σβέννυμι (sbénnymi): Quench literally suppresses fire; metaphorically suppresses the Holy Spirit's influence and work.
Full entry for σβέννυμι (G4570) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4570?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include are going out (1), Do not extinguish (1), extinguish (1), He will not extinguish (1), is never quenched (1).
Where does σβέννυμι (sbénnymi) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (2), 1 Thessalonians (1), Ephesians (1), 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 are going out 1× Matthew 25:8
Do not extinguish 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:19
extinguish 1× Ephesians 6:16
He will not extinguish 1× Matthew 12:20
is never quenched 1× Mark 9:48
quenched 1× Hebrews 11:34
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 12:20 σβέσει to He will not extinguish Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 25:8 σβέννυνται to are going out Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural Mark 9:48 σβέννυται to is never quenched Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular Ephesians 6:16 σβέσαι to extinguish Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1 Thessalonians 5:19 σβέννυτε to Do not extinguish Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural Hebrews 11:34 ἔσβεσαν to quenched Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 12:20
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 5
Matthew 2 Mark 1 Ephesians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
ἔσβεσαν 1x esbesan Hebrews 11:34
σβέννυνται 1x sbennyntai Matthew 25:8
σβέννυται 1x sbennytai Mark 9:48
σβέννυτε 1x sbennyte 1 Thessalonians 5:19
σβέσαι 1x sbesai Ephesians 6:16
σβέσει 1x sbesei Matthew 12:20
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Hebrews 11:34
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1x Ephesians 6:16
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Matthew 12:20
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural 1x 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x Matthew 25:8
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Mark 9:48
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Quench literally suppresses fire; metaphorically suppresses the Holy Spirit's influence and work.
Strong's G4570
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 3 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Matthew 12:20 Source Gloss
to extinguish (literally or figuratively)
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Quench literally suppresses fire; metaphorically suppresses the Holy Spirit's influence and work.
of fire or things on fire, to quench: with accusative, Mat.12:20, Eph.6:16, Heb.11:34; pass., Mat.25:8, Mrk.9:48, [44, 46]. Metaphorical (cf. Sng.8:7, 4Ma.16:4): τὸ πνεῦμα, 1Th.5:19. ζβέννυμι, for σβ-, 1Th.5:19 T (see WH, Notes, 148).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 12:20 Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
σβέσει· sbesei
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse Matthew 25:8 Verb Third Person Plural Present Passive Indicative
σβέννυνται. sbennuntai
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse Mark 9:44 Verb Third Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
σβέννυται. sbennutai
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse Mark 9:46 Verb Third Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
σβέννυται. sbennutai
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse Mark 9:48 Verb Third Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
σβέννυται. sbennutai
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse Ephesians 6:16 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
σβέσαι. sbesai
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Verb Second Person Plural Present Active Imperative
σβέννυτε· sbennute
I extinguish, suppress
Read verse Hebrews 11:34 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἔσβεσαν esbesan
I extinguish, suppress
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 3 Aligned forms 6 Tenses Future, Present, Aorist Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Present Passive Matt 25:8 · Mark 9:48 2×
Future Active Matt 12:20 1×
Aorist Active Heb 11:34 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Active Eph 6:16 1×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Present Active 1 Thess 5:19 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 3 aorist 2 future 1
Voice
active 4 passive 2
Mood
indicative 4 imperative 1 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 12:20 σβέσει future active indicative prospective Matthew 25:8 σβέννυνται present passive indicative ongoing Mark 9:48 σβέννυται present passive indicative ongoing Ephesians 6:16 σβέσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive 1 Thessalonians 5:19 σβέννυτε present active imperative imperative Hebrews 11:34 ἔσβεσαν aorist active 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.
Biblical Witnesses
extinguish a smoldering wick, literal quenching of fire
extinguish flaming arrows as metaphor for spiritual attacks
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
σβέννυμι is a primary verb - no further derivation.
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