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Greek · G4645 · unreviewed

σκληρύνω

To harden

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σκληρύνω G4645
Pronunciation sklērýnō

What does σκληρύνω (sklērýnō) mean in the Bible?

σκληρύνω (sklērýnō) is a Greek word meaning "to harden". σκληρύνω (σκληρός), [in LXX chiefly for קָשָׁה hi. Describes God’s judicial action in confirming persistent rebellion.

Full entry for σκληρύνω (G4645) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

to harden
Extended definition

Hardening the heart against God's word through willful resistance, not mere intellectual disagreement

(σκληρός), [in LXX chiefly for קָשָׁה hi., also for חָזַק ;] to harden. Metaphorical, to harden, make stubborn: with accusative of person(s), Rom.9:18; T. καρδίας (Psa.95:8), Heb.3:8, 15 4:7. Pass., to become hardened: Act.19:9, Heb.3:13.

Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Why This Word Matters
Describes God’s judicial action in confirming persistent rebellion. Acts 19:8-10
Describes moral resistance to God's voice. Hebrews 3:7-19
Describes the spiritual condition of rejecting hearers. Romans 9:14-29
Grammatical Forms

How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.

Tenses
Aorist Imperfect Present
Voices
Active Passive
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 4×
Aorist Active Heb 3:8 · Heb 3:15 · Heb 4:7 3×
Aorist Passive Heb 3:13 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 2×
Imperfect Passive Acts 19:9 1×
Present Active Rom 9:18 1×
6 total occurrences across all forms in the biblical text Morphology: MorphGNT SBLGNT — CC BY-SA 3.0
Discourse Aspect

How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).

Aspect
ongoing 1 subjunctive 4
Tense
aorist 4 present 1
Voice
active 4 passive 1
Mood
subjunctive 4 indicative 1
NT Occurrences
Romans 9:18 σκληρύνει present active indicative ongoing Hebrews 3:13 σκληρυνθῇ aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive Hebrews 3:15 σκληρύνητε aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Hebrews 3:8 σκληρύνητε aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Hebrews 4:7 σκληρύνητε aorist active subjunctive subjunctive

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)

Biblical Occurrences

Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.

New Testament Witnesses
Acts 19:8-10 Hardened sklērýnō Indicative · Imperfect Passive
To become stubborn or resistant.
Hebrews 3:7-19 σκληρύνω sklērýnō Subjunctive · Aorist Active
to harden
Romans 9:14-29 σκληρύνω sklērýnō Indicative · Present Active
To harden, make stubborn.
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.

Acts 19 — The Word of the Lord Grows Mightily in Ephesus Romans 9 — God’s Faithfulness, Sovereign Mercy, and Israel’s Stumbling Over Christ

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

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

STEPBible Data — CC BY 4.0

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