What does σεληνιάζομαι (selēniázomai) mean in the Bible?
σεληνιάζομαι (selēniázomai): Ancient belief that epilepsy resulted from moon's influence; term reflects pre-scientific medical understanding.
Greek · G4583
σεληνιάζομαι
Be epileptic
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σεληνιάζομαιG4583
Pronunciationselēniázomai
What does σεληνιάζομαι (selēniázomai) mean in the Bible?
σεληνιάζομαι (selēniázomai): Ancient belief that epilepsy resulted from moon's influence; term reflects pre-scientific medical understanding.
Full entry for σεληνιάζομαι (G4583) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4583?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [those] having seizures (1), He has seizures (1).
Where does σεληνιάζομαι (selēniázomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (2).
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[those] having seizures1×Matthew 4:24
He has seizures1×Matthew 17:15
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 4:24
Aligned rows2
Books represented1
Matthew2
Source forms
σεληνιάζεται1xselēniazetaiMatthew 17:15
σεληνιαζομένους1xselēniazomenousMatthew 4:24
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular1xMatthew 17:15
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Plural1xMatthew 4:24
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Ancient belief that epilepsy resulted from moon's influence; term reflects pre-scientific medical understanding.
Strong'sG4583
Lexical occurrences2 versesGreek text appearances2 timesWord forms2 forms2 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
be epileptic
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Ancient belief that epilepsy resulted from moon's influence; term reflects pre-scientific medical understanding.
(σελήνη), act, in Manetho (Caren., 4, 81), in NT depon. -ομαι, to be moonstruck, i.e. epileptic (epilepsy being supposed to be influenced by the moon): Mat.4:24 17:15.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 4:24Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
σεληνιαζομένους,selhniazomenouv
I am a lunatic
Read verseMatthew 17:15Verb Third Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
σεληνιάζεταιselhniazetai
I am a lunatic
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 groups2Aligned forms2TensesPresentVoicesMiddle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Present MiddleMatt 4:241×
Indicativestates a fact or reality1×
Present MiddleMatt 17:151×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 2 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present2
Voice
middle2
Mood
participle1indicative1
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
σεληνιάζομαι is built from this root: