ἄκανθα
A thorn
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What does ἄκανθα (ákantha) mean in the Bible?
ἄκανθα (ákantha) is a Greek word meaning "a thorn". ἄκανθα, -ης, ἡ (ἀκή, a point), [in LXX chiefly for קוֹץ, also for סִיר, שַׁיִת, etc.
Meaning
A prickly plant symbolizing spiritual unfruitfulness, pain, and the curse of sin in NT parables
(ἀκή, a point), [in LXX chiefly for קוֹץ, also for סִיר, שַׁיִת, etc. ;] a prickly plant, thorn, brier; in NT always pl.: Mat.7:16 13:7,22 27:29, Mrk.4:7,18, Luk.6:44 8:7,14, Jhn.19:2, Heb.6:8 (see MM, VGT, see word).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
Biblical Witnesses
Appears In
Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain