What does ῥήγνυμι (rhḗgnymi) mean in the Bible?
The Greek verb rhegnumi describes bursting or tearing something, breaking forth in sound, or throwing with violent force. Jesus' wineskin sayings use it for old skins ruptured by new wine.
Greek · G4486
ῥήγνυμι
To throw violently
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ῥήγνυμιG4486
Pronunciationrhḗgnymi
What does ῥήγνυμι (rhḗgnymi) mean in the Bible?
The Greek verb rhegnumi describes bursting or tearing something, breaking forth in sound, or throwing with violent force. Jesus' wineskin sayings use it for old skins ruptured by new wine.
Reader summary
Full entry for ῥήγνυμι (G4486) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4486?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include will burst (3), break forth (1), it throws him to the ground (1), slammed him to the ground (1), tear you to pieces (1).
Where does ῥήγνυμι (rhḗgnymi) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Mark (2), Matthew (2), Galatians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
The Greek verb rhegnumi describes bursting or tearing something, breaking forth in sound, or throwing with violent force. Jesus' wineskin sayings use it for old skins ruptured by new wine. Matthew warns that swine may turn and tear, while Mark and Luke use the verb in accounts of a child being violently thrown during severe spiritual and bodily distress. Paul quotes Isaiah's call for the barren woman to break forth in joyful shouting.
The shared idea is force that ruptures a container, body, relationship, or silence, but each context supplies a different agent and outcome. The child's convulsions must not become a template for diagnosing epilepsy, disability, or every unexplained symptom as demonic. Jesus rebukes the spirit, heals the boy, and returns him to his father; the narrative does not authorize violent restraint, shouted rituals, or interruption of medical care.
The wineskin images concern fitting forms and Jesus' presence, not contempt for older people or traditions. Responsible teaching distinguishes material rupture, bodily assault, animal attack, and joyful proclamation while protecting vulnerable people from stigma and coercion.
How the Bible Uses It
Rhegnumi expresses forceful rupture, tearing, breaking forth, or throwing down. The object and agent distinguish burst containers, threatening animals, a child's violent affliction, and a scriptural summons to joyful speech.
- Matt.7.6
Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Jesus warns that swine may trample pearls and turn to tear the giver apart.
- Matt.9.17
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
New wine bursts old wineskins, spills the wine, and ruins the containers instead of preserving both.
- Mark.9.18
Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”
A father reports that the spirit repeatedly throws his son down with severe bodily symptoms.
- Luke.9.42
Even while the boy was approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
As the boy approaches Jesus, the demon throws him down, but Jesus heals him and returns him to his father.
- Mark.2.22
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”
Jesus explains that fermenting new wine would burst old skins and ruin both wine and containers.
- Gal.4.27
For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”
Paul quotes Isaiah's summons for the desolate woman to break forth in joyful crying.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itwill burst3×Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37
break forth1×Galatians 4:27
it throws him to the ground1×Mark 9:18
slammed him to the ground1×Luke 9:42
tear you to pieces1×Matthew 7:6
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:6ῥήξωσινtotear you to piecesVerb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person PluralMatthew 9:17ῥήγνυνταιtowill burstVerb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person PluralMark 2:22ῥήξειtowill burstVerb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularMark 9:18ῥήσσειtoit throws him to the groundVerb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularLuke 5:37ῥήξειtowill burstVerb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularLuke 9:42ἔρρηξενtoslammed him to the groundVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularGalatians 4:27ῥῆξονtobreak forthVerb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 7:6
Aligned rows7
Books represented4
Matthew2Mark2Luke2Galatians1
Source forms
ῥήξει2xrhēxeiMark 2:22, Luke 5:37
ἔρρηξεν1xerrēxenLuke 9:42
ῥήγνυνται1xrhēgnyntaiMatthew 9:17
ῥῆξον1xrhēxonGalatians 4:27
ῥήξωσιν1xrhēxōsinMatthew 7:6
ῥήσσει1xrhēsseiMark 9:18
Parsing patterns
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular2xMark 2:22, Luke 5:37
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular1xGalatians 4:27
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xLuke 9:42
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural1xMatthew 7:6
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xMark 9:18
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural1xMatthew 9:17
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- A seizure lasting several minutes, repeated seizures, injury, breathing difficulty, or a first known seizure may require immediate emergency response and qualified medical evaluation.
- Families facing neurological, developmental, or psychiatric illness need consent-based care, privacy, respite, clinical support, and church companionship without blame or speculative spiritual labels.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that severe bodily symptoms prove demonic possession or that prayer should replace emergency and clinical care.
- Do not claim that every old practice must be discarded because Jesus mentioned old wineskins.
- Do not claim that promised joy requires an infertile, bereaved, or traumatized person to suppress grief.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To break or burst apart violently; of voice, to break forth suddenly into speech.
Strong'sG4486
Lexical occurrences7 versesGreek text appearances7 timesWord forms3 forms7 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 5:33-39Source Gloss
to throw violently
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:6Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
ῥήξωσινrhxwsin
I break, break forth
Read verseMatthew 9:17Verb Third Person Plural Present Passive Indicative
ῥήγνυνταιrhgnuntai
I break, break forth
Read verseMark 2:22Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ῥήσσειrhssei
I break, break forth
Read verseMark 9:18Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ῥήσσειrhssei
I break, break forth
Read verseLuke 5:37Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ῥήξειrhxei
I break, break forth
Read verseLuke 9:42Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔρρηξενerrhxen
I break, break forth
Read verseGalatians 4:27Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Imperative
ῥῆξονrhxon
I break, break forth
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 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.
Form groups3Aligned forms7TensesFuture, Aorist, PresentVoicesActive, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality5×
Future ActiveMark 2:22 · Luke 5:372×
Present PassiveMatt 9:171×
Present ActiveMark 9:181×
Aorist ActiveLuke 9:421×
Subjunctivepossibility, probability, or purpose1×
Aorist ActiveMatt 7:61×
Imperativecommand or strong request1×
Aorist ActiveGal 4:271×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist3future2present2
Voice
active6passive1
Mood
indicative5imperative1subjunctive1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 7:6ῥήξωσινaorist active subjunctivesubjunctiveMatthew 9:17ῥήγνυνταιpresent passive indicativeongoingMark 2:22ῥήξειfuture active indicativeprospectiveMark 9:18ῥήσσειpresent active indicativeongoingLuke 5:37ῥήξειfuture active indicativeprospectiveLuke 9:42ἔρρηξενaorist active indicativecompletedGalatians 4:27ῥῆξονaorist active imperativeimperative
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
new wine breaks or ruptures old wineskins, describing violent rupture
demon violently throws a child to the ground in convulsions
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ῥήγνυμι is built from this root:
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Rhegnumi gathers very different scenes around forceful rupture. Matthew 7 warns disciples to exercise discernment when holy things are treated with contempt, but the animal imagery must not become permission to call unwanted people dogs or pigs. The wineskin sayings picture the damage caused when fermenting wine is placed in an unsuitable container. Jesus' comparison calls readers to attend to His presence and the fitness of forms, not to discard elderly people, historic wisdom, or every inherited practice.
Mark 9 gives a father's report of a child repeatedly thrown down amid alarming symptoms and failed help. Luke 9 emphasizes that Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, heals the boy, and gives him back to his father. The accounts name spiritual oppression in this particular narrative while also directing attention to the child's suffering and restoration. Present symptoms require compassionate medical assessment and safety, never an automatic supernatural diagnosis.
Galatians 4 quotes Isaiah's call for the desolate woman to break forth in joy within Paul's allegorical argument about promise and freedom. The verse must not shame people experiencing infertility or command emotional performance. Faithful application protects persons under violent pressure, chooses forms that can bear their purpose, practices discernment without dehumanizing labels, and receives promised joy without denying grief.
Anchor passage
Luke.9.42
Doctrinal connections
- Jesus' warning about pearls calls for discernment without granting permission to dehumanize people.
- The wineskin saying locates fitting practice around Jesus and His present work.
- The father's report gives sustained attention to his child's dangerous and humiliating suffering.
- Jesus heals the boy and returns him to family rather than exploiting the crisis.
- Failed disciples are corrected while the suffering child remains the focus of mercy.
- Isaiah's quoted joy belongs to God's promise and does not erase present grief.
Rhegnumi transliterates Greek ῥήγνυμι. Active forms can describe an agent tearing or throwing, while intransitive or passive senses describe something bursting or a voice breaking forth; the direct object and narrative subject prevent these meanings from being collapsed.
From Old to New Testament
Galatians explicitly quotes Isaiah 54, carrying the image of breaking into joyful speech into Paul's argument about promise. Hebrew breach and demolition verbs such as H6555 and H5422 in this batch overlap in forceful imagery, but they remain distinct words with different objects and contexts.