To pity
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σπλαγχνίζομαι is the Gospel writers' vivid verb for compassion that moves toward suffering. The local Greek index currently counts about 11 New Testament uses, with selected Gospel witnesses describing Jesus Himself being moved with compassion and parable settings where each figure must be read according to the parable's own aim.
Reader summary
Full entry for σπλαγχνίζομαι (G4697) · Open the biblical lexicon
σπλαγχνίζομαι is the Gospel writers' vivid verb for compassion that moves toward suffering. The local Greek index currently counts about 11 New Testament uses, with selected Gospel witnesses describing Jesus Himself being moved with compassion and parable settings where each figure must be read according to the parable's own aim.
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include He had compassion (4), I have compassion (2), Moved with compassion (2), had compassion [on him] (1), have compassion (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 9:36. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (5), Mark (4), Luke (3).
σπλαγχνίζομαι is the Gospel writers' vivid verb for compassion that moves toward suffering. The local Greek index currently counts about 11 New Testament uses, with selected Gospel witnesses describing Jesus Himself being moved with compassion and parable settings where each figure must be read according to the parable's own aim. The word is physical and concrete: σπλάγχνα names the inward parts.
In passages such as Luke 7:13, Matthew 9:36, Mark 1:41, and Mark 9:22, the compassion described is not detached sympathy but mercy that moves toward action. This companion therefore lets each passage govern the claim: sometimes the result is healing, sometimes teaching or mission, and in parables the application differs by context.
The local Greek index currently counts about 11 NT occurrences of σπλαγχνίζομαι. The selected witnesses are concentrated in the Synoptic Gospels, including direct descriptions of Jesus being moved with compassion and parable settings such as Matthew 18:27, Luke 10:33, and Luke 15:20 that must be interpreted in their own contexts. John does not use this lexeme, though John 11:35 gives a related Gospel witness to Jesus' grief and compassion without being the same lexical term.
When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
The social and spiritual need that triggers Jesus' σπλαγχνίζομαι: not only physical illness but the condition of having no one to care for them. The image 'sheep without a shepherd' echoes Num 27:17 and Ezek 34 — this is not just a metaphor but an indictment. Jesus sees what Israel's leaders have failed to be.
When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”
The widow of Nain. Jesus has not been asked — there is no faith-request, no petition. He sees a widow burying her only son and σπλαγχνίζομαι precedes any request. He then raises the son. The compassion is the engine; the miracle is the result.
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
The father of the prodigal. σπλαγχνίζομαι while the son is still far off — before repentance speech, before any word is spoken. The compassion precedes and drives the running. This is the parable's theological claim: the father who sees from far off and runs is how Jesus describes the God who receives returning sinners.
His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him.
In the parable of the unforgiving servant, σπλαγχνίζομαι is the king's response to the unpayable debt. The debt is enormous (ten thousand talents); the compassion moves him to cancel it entirely. The parable then turns on whether the forgiven servant will extend the same quality toward the one who owes him a fraction.
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”
The leper's request — 'if you will, you can make me clean' — is answered first by σπλαγχνίζομαι, then by touch (a social/ritual transgression), then by the healing word. The compassion determines the response before any deliberation. Note: some manuscripts read 'moved with anger' (ὀργισθείς) here — the textual variant shows this as a distinctively strong emotional term either way.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Deep emotional compassion originating from the bowels; visceral pity moving one to merciful action.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
Read verseI have pity on
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.
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 11 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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 passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 11 lexical occurrence verses.
σπλαγχνίζομαι is built from this root:
Reveals the Shepherd heart of Christ driving gospel mission. Luke 10:25–37
Reveals the heart of Christ toward the afflicted. Luke 15:11–32
Reveals Christ’s shepherd heart. Luke 7:11–17
Demonstrates deep, active mercy. Mark 1:40–45
Reveals the emotional depth of divine mercy.
Reveals Christ’s deep covenant mercy.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
In the selected Gospel witnesses, σπλαγχνίζομαι gives teachers a concrete way to speak about compassion that moves toward sufferers. Some occurrences describe Jesus directly; others appear in parables where the figure's role must be read from the parable's own aim. The widow of Nain (Luke 7:13) is especially clear: no request is recorded, yet Jesus sees her grief, speaks comfort, and acts in mercy.
Pastoral application should therefore keep the movement from sight to compassion to action, while refusing to make every occurrence carry the same theological claim.
Matt.9.36
The Greek σπλάγχνα (bowels) as the seat of compassion and the Hebrew רֶחֶם (womb) as the root of רַחֲמִים represent the same instinct in two anatomical metaphors: deep feeling is located in the body, not the head. English 'compassion' (from Latin com + pati, to suffer with) preserves the relational quality but loses the physical vividness. The NT's σπλαγχνίζομαι is more visceral than any English translation can capture.
Mark 1:41's textual variant (ὀργισθείς, angered, vs σπλαγχνισθείς) shows that both emotions — compassion and anger — are described with the same bodily intensity in the Gospel narratives.
The OT trajectory: Exod 34:6 (YHWH רַחוּם, compassionate) → Ps 103:13 ('as a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion') → Isa 49:15 (womb-compassion as the measure of YHWH's love) → Luke 15:20 (the father of the prodigal σπλαγχνίζεται while the son is still far off). Isa 40:11 — 'he will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms' — is the pastoral compassion that Matt 9:36 says has arrived in Jesus seeing the harassed crowds.
2 Cor 1:3 — 'the Father of mercies (οἰκτιρμῶν)' — names the source: the compassion that σπλαγχνίζεται in Jesus is the character of the Father, expressed in the Son.
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