μάχαιρα, genitive
μαχαίρας (so (with
R G) Lachmann in
Luke 21:24) and
μαχαίρης, dative
μάχαιρα. (so (with
R G) Lachmann in
Luke 22:49;
Acts 12:2) and
μαχαίρῃ (between which forms the manuscripts vary, cf. (
Scrivener, Collation, etc., p. lvi.;
Tdf. Proleg., p. 117;
WHs Appendix, p. 156a);
Winers Grammar, 62 (61);
Buttmann, 11; Delitzsch on
Hebrews 11:34, p. 584 note),
ἡ, (akin to
μάχη and Latin
mactare);
1. a large knife, used for killing animals and cutting up flesh:
Homer,
Pindar,
Herodotus, at.; hence,
Genesis 22:6,
10;
Judges 19:29 Alex., for
מַאֲכֶלֶת.
2. a small sword, distinguished from the large sword, the
ῤομφαία (
Josephus, Antiquities 6, 9, 5
ἀποτεμνει τήν κεφαλήν τῇ ῤομφαία τῇ ἐκείνου (Goliath's),
μάχαιραν,
οὐκ ἔχων αὐτός),
and curred, for a cutting stroke; distinct also from
ξίφος,
a straight sword, for thrusting, Xenophon, r. eq. 12, 11, cf. Hell. 3, 3, 7; but the words are frequently used interchangeably. In the N. T. universally,
a sword (the
Sept. often for
חֶרֶב): as a weapon for making or repelling an attack,
Matthew 26:47,
51,
52,(55);
Mark 14:43,
47;
Luke 22:36,
38,
49,
52;
John 18:10;
Acts 16:27;
Hebrews 11:37;
Revelation 6:4;
Revelation 13:10,(14); by a Hebraism,
στόμα μαχαίρας,
the edge of the sword (
חֶרֶב פִּי,
Genesis 34:26;
Joshua 8:24;
1 Samuel 13:22;
Judges 3:16, etc. (but in the
Sept. the rendering
στόμα ξίφους or
στόμα ῤομφαίας is more common)):
Luke 21:24;
Hebrews 11:34;
μάχαιρα δίστομος (see
δίστομος),
Hebrews 4:12. of the sword as the instrument of a magistrate or judge: death by the sword,
Romans 8:35;
ἀναιρεῖν τινα μάχαιρα,
Acts 12:2;
τήν μαχαίρας φόρειν,
to bear the sword, is used of him to whom the sword has been committed, viz. to use when a malefactor is to he punished; hence, equivalent to
to have the power of life and death, Romans 13:4 (so
ξίφος,
ξιφη ἔχειν,
Philostr. vit. Apoll. 7, 16; vit. sophist. 1, 25, 2 (3), cf. Dion Cass. 42, 27; and in the Talmud
the king who bears the sword, of the Hebrew king). Metaphorically,
μάχαιρα, a weapon of war, is used for
war, or for quarrels and dissensions that destroy peace; so in the phrase
βαλεῖν μάχαιραν ἐπί τήν τήν, to send war on earth,
Matthew 10:34 (for which
Luke 12:51 says
διαμερισμόν);
ἡ μάχαιρα τοῦ πνεύματος, the sword with which the Spirit subdues the impulses to sin and proves its own power and efficacy (which sword is said to be
ῤῆμα Θεοῦ (cf.
Buttmann, 128 (112))),
Ephesians 6:17 (on the genitive in this passage cf. Ellicott or Meyer).
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
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