δεῖγμα
deîgma
G1164 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Visible instance or specimen; something presented as illustrative or demonstrative evidence of a category or quality. In contextual usage: a case, example, or tangible manifestation, particularly one used as a warning or pattern. The basic sense is that of a thing shown or exhibited, especially to serve as an example to others.
Semantic Range
specimen, sample, example (esp. as warning), case in point, tangible evidence, illustration, thing exhibited as proof
Root / Etymology
From the verb δεικνύω (also the common form δεικνύω/δείκνυμι), meaning 'to show, point out, display.' δεῖγμα is the noun formed from its stem, denoting 'that which is shown.'
Historical & Contextual Notes
In classical Greek, δεῖγμα referred broadly to 'a proof, specimen, sample,' including commercial (e.g., a sample of goods for sale) or rhetorical (a specimen argument) contexts. In Koine and the Hellenistic period, though rare, it takes on a moral or didactic sense—an 'example' especially in the sense of a public model, sometimes as a warning or as illustrative of consequences (cf. Jude 7 in the New Testament, where Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth as an example through punishment). In the Septuagint and New Testament, the term retains its demonstrative sense but is applied more in ethical and judicial contexts. Most English translations render it as 'example,' but this can obscure its nuance as a specimen publicly displayed to illustrate a principle, whether positively (a model) or negatively (a warning). Distinguished from παράδειγμα ('pattern, model, example'), which is more common and general; δεῖγμα carries a sense of something concretely exhibited, sometimes with judicial or moral overtones, as opposed to a mere schematic or notional pattern. Earliest attestations in classical Greek (Herodotus, Plato) show its use for tangible samples or proofs.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from the base of δεικνύω; a specimen (as shown):--example.
Root Family
δειγ- (deîgma) — to show, to make visible, to exhibit
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| G1165 | δειγματίζω | to publicly expose |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G1164-01 |
δεῖγμα | deigma | N ACC N SG |
an example | an exhibited specimen | an example | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G1164-01 |
Jude 1:7 | δεῖγμα | deigma | N ACC N SG |
an example | an exhibited specimen | an example |