What does χάσμα (chásma) mean in the Bible?
χάσμα (chásma): Impassable gulf between realms; represents irreversible spiritual separation, not mere distance.
Greek · G5490
χάσμα
A "chasm" or vacancy (impassable interval)
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χάσμαG5490
Pronunciationchásma
What does χάσμα (chásma) mean in the Bible?
χάσμα (chásma): Impassable gulf between realms; represents irreversible spiritual separation, not mere distance.
Full entry for χάσμα (G5490) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5490?
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include chasm (1).
Where does χάσμα (chásma) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 16:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (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 Itchasm1×Luke 16:26
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 16:26
Aligned rows1
Books represented1
Luke1
Source forms
χάσμα1xchasmaLuke 16:26
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular1xLuke 16:26
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Impassable gulf between realms; represents irreversible spiritual separation, not mere distance.
Strong'sG5490
Lexical occurrences1 verseGreek text appearances1 timeWord forms1 form1 referenceVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 16:19–31Source Gloss
a "chasm" or vacancy (impassable interval)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 16:26Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
χάσμαcasma
a gap, gulf, chasm
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 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns1Aligned forms1Case patternNominative (1)Number patternSingular (1)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · NeuterLuke 16:261×
Sampled Scripture Occurrences
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Additional Occurrences
Luke 16:19–31χάσμαchásma
Chasm, gulf
New Testament Witnesses
great chasm
Word Origins
χάσμα is from an obsolete root - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
Emphasizes irreversible separation after death.
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.