What does δρέπανον (drépanon) mean in the Bible?
A sickle is a harvesting tool. In Mark 4:29 it appears at the end of Jesus' parable of growing seed: when the crop is ready, the sickle is put to work.
Greek · G1407
δρέπανον
A gathering hook (especially for harvesting)
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δρέπανονG1407
Pronunciationdrépanon
What does δρέπανον (drépanon) mean in the Bible?
A sickle is a harvesting tool. In Mark 4:29 it appears at the end of Jesus' parable of growing seed: when the crop is ready, the sickle is put to work.
Reader summary
Full entry for δρέπανον (G1407) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1407?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sickle (8).
Where does δρέπανον (drépanon) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 4:29. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (7), Mark (1).
What This Word Actually Means
A sickle is a harvesting tool. In Mark 4:29 it appears at the end of Jesus' parable of growing seed: when the crop is ready, the sickle is put to work. The image follows growth that the sower does not fully understand or produce by constant intervention. It belongs to Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God.
Revelation 14 places sickles within a vision of harvest. One like the Son of Man sits on a cloud with a sharp sickle, and an angel later gathers grapes into the winepress of God's wrath. The vision's stated actors and descriptions govern the interpretation. The ordinary name of the tool does not by itself identify every harvest as the same event or settle the relationship between the grain and grape scenes. The imagery can summon serious attention to God's timing and judgment without furnishing a calendar of future dates or a commission for readers to enact violence.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
The sickle concludes a kingdom-growth parable in Mark and appears in Revelation's harvest vision, where the description of the grape harvest explicitly names God's wrath.
- Mark.4.29
And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The sickle is used when the grain is ready. The preceding verses emphasize the crop's growth beyond the sower's full understanding, keeping readiness and harvest within the movement of Jesus' kingdom parable.
- Rev.14.14
And I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was One like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.
The visionary figure like the Son of Man is seated on a white cloud with a golden crown and a sharp sickle. The following command announces the harvest's time; the tool alone does not supply a complete interpretation of the scene.
- Rev.14.19
So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.
The angel gathers the earth's grapes and throws them into the winepress explicitly identified as God's wrath. That description gives this harvest its judicial force, without authorizing human imitation of the vision's violence.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itsickle8×Mark 4:29, Revelation 14:14, Revelation 14:15, Revelation 14:16
Show sample aligned rows
Mark 4:29δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:14δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:15δρέπανόνtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:16δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:17δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:18δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:18δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularRevelation 14:19δρέπανονtosickleNoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMark 4:29
Aligned rows8
Books represented2
Mark1Revelation7
Source forms
δρέπανον7xdrepanonMark 4:29, Revelation 14:14, Revelation 14:16, Revelation 14:17
δρέπανόν1xdrepanonRevelation 14:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular8xMark 4:29, Revelation 14:14, Revelation 14:15, Revelation 14:16
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let Mark's image encourage attentive faithfulness without promising visible results on a schedule chosen by the teacher.
- Teach judgment with gravity and humility, preserving Revelation's call to perseverance rather than stirring aggression toward others.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that the word for a sickle itself settles all disputed relationships among Revelation's harvest scenes.
- Do not claim that waiting for God's timing makes ordinary care, faithful action, or responsibility unnecessary.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Curved cutting tool for harvest or pruning, symbolizing divine judgment's swift reaping action
Strong'sG1407
Lexical occurrences8 versesGreek text appearances8 timesWord forms1 form8 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
a gathering hook (especially for harvesting)
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Curved cutting tool for harvest or pruning, symbolizing divine judgment's swift reaping action
(later form of Attic δρεπάνη, δρέπω, to pluck), [in LXX for מַזְמֵדָה, חֶרְמֵשׁ, etc. ;] a sickle, pruning-hook; Mrk.4:29, Rev.14:14-19.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Mark 4:29Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανον,drepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:14Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανονdrepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:15Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανόνdrepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:16Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανονdrepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:17Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανονdrepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:18Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανονdrepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:18Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανονdrepanon
a sickle
Read verseRevelation 14:19Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
δρέπανονdrepanon
a sickle
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 forms8Case patternAccusative (8)Number patternSingular (8)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Accusative · Singular · NeuterMark 4:29 · Rev 14:14 · Rev 14:15 · Rev 14:16 · Rev 14:17 · Rev 14:18 · Rev 14:198×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Mark 4:26–29δρέπανονdrépanon
sickle
Showing 1 selected witness from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Mark 4:29 makes readiness decisive: the sickle comes into use because the harvest has arrived. The preceding picture includes a sower who sleeps and wakes while growth proceeds in ways he does not understand. Jesus gives this sequence as a parable of the kingdom, inviting attention to growth and completion without offering a method for controlling either by anxious effort. The sower still acts when the crop is ready.
Revelation requires a further distinction. Its grape harvest is expressly directed into the winepress of God's wrath, and the vision names the heavenly actors. The seriousness of judgment should remain, while the reader resists assigning that role to a church, political group, or private avenger. Responsible teaching allows the image to call for faithfulness without pretending that knowing the word for a sickle unlocks every question about the future.
Anchor passage
Mark.4.29
Doctrinal connections
- Mark 4:26-29 presents the growing seed and arriving harvest as a parable of God's kingdom.
- The sower's limited understanding in Mark 4:27 accompanies continuing growth and does not eliminate his eventual work.
- Revelation 14:14-16 places the crowned figure and the announced time of harvest within a heavenly vision.
- Revelation 14:17-19 explicitly identifies the gathered grapes with the winepress of God's wrath.
- Joel 3:12-14 supplies a related prophetic harvest and winepress picture in a passage naming divine judgment on the nations.
- Revelation 14:12-13 calls for the saints' perseverance and speaks of rest for those who die in the Lord.
The noun names the harvesting instrument, not the full meaning of the harvest. Sharpness, the person holding it, the crop being gathered, and the accompanying explanation are separate features of the passage that must be read together.
From Old to New Testament
Joel 3:12-14 joins the sickle, ripe harvest, and full winepress with the Lord's judgment on the nations. Revelation 14 draws on closely related prophetic imagery and expressly names God's wrath in the grape scene. This connection illuminates the imagery without establishing that every biblical harvest has an identical meaning or timetable.
Passage contextPastoral application