What does ἅρπαξ (hárpax) mean in the Bible?
ἅρπαξ (hárpax): One who seizes greedily; a person characterized by violent taking rather than mere dishonesty or greed.
Greek · G727
ἅρπαξ
Rapacious
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ἅρπαξ G727
Pronunciation hárpax
What does ἅρπαξ (hárpax) mean in the Bible?
ἅρπαξ (hárpax): One who seizes greedily; a person characterized by violent taking rather than mere dishonesty or greed.
Full entry for ἅρπαξ (G727) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G727?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include swindlers (3), a swindler (1), ravenous (1).
Where does ἅρπαξ (hárpax) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:15. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (3), Luke (1), Matthew (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 swindlers 3× Luke 18:11, 1 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 6:10
a swindler 1× 1 Corinthians 5:11
ravenous 1× Matthew 7:15
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:15 ἅρπαγες to ravenous Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Luke 18:11 ἅρπαγες to swindlers Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 5:10 ἅρπαξιν to swindlers Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 5:11 ἅρπαξ to a swindler Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 6:10 ἅρπαγες to swindlers Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 7:15
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 3
Matthew 1 Luke 1 1 Corinthians 3
Source forms
ἅρπαγες 3x harpages Matthew 7:15, Luke 18:11, 1 Corinthians 6:10
ἅρπαξ 1x harpax 1 Corinthians 5:11
ἅρπαξιν 1x harpaxin 1 Corinthians 5:10
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 3x Matthew 7:15, Luke 18:11, 1 Corinthians 6:10
Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 1x 1 Corinthians 5:10
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 5:11
Evidence Summary
Greek word. One who seizes greedily; a person characterized by violent taking rather than mere dishonesty or greed.
Strong's G727
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 3 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Matthew 7:15 Source Gloss
rapacious
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
One who seizes greedily; a person characterized by violent taking rather than mere dishonesty or greed.
(ἁρπάζω), [in LXX: Gen.49:27 (טָרַף) * ;] rapacious: Mat.7:15, Luk.18:11; as subst., a swindler, an extortioner (MM, see word), 1Co.5:10-11 6:10.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:15 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἅρπαγες. arpagev
rapacious, ravenous, a robber, an extortioner
Read verse Luke 18:11 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἅρπαγες, arpagev
rapacious, ravenous, a robber, an extortioner
Read verse 1 Corinthians 5:10 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
ἅρπαξιν, arpaxin
rapacious, ravenous, a robber, an extortioner
Read verse 1 Corinthians 5:11 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἅρπαξ· arpax
rapacious, ravenous, a robber, an extortioner
Read verse 1 Corinthians 6:10 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἅρπαγες, arpagev
rapacious, ravenous, a robber, an extortioner
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 5 Case pattern Nominative (4) Number pattern Plural (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 7:15 · Luke 18:11 · 1 Cor 6:10 3×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine 1 Cor 5:11 1×
Dative · Plural · Masculine 1 Cor 5:10 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
False prophets described as rapacious wolves in sheep's clothing
Pharisee contrasts himself with extortioners and other wicked persons
Swindlers and extortioners whom believers should not associate with
Rapacious persons excluded from inheriting the kingdom of God
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἅρπαξ is built from this root:
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