αἱμοῤῥέω
haimorrhéō
G131 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To lose blood, to experience a continued flow of blood; specifically, to suffer from a chronic or pathological discharge of blood. Primary meaning is to experience bleeding, often denoting a persistent or uncontrollable hemorrhage, most commonly used with reference to a medical or ritual condition associated with continuous blood loss or discharge.
Semantic Range
to flow with blood, to suffer from a continual flow of blood, to experience hemorrhage, to be afflicted with a chronic blood discharge
Root / Etymology
A compound of αἷμα (haima, 'blood') and ῥέω (rheō, 'to flow'); the term literally means 'to flow blood.'
Historical & Contextual Notes
The verb αἱμοῤῥέω appears in extant Greek primarily in medical, anatomical, and ritual contexts. Its use is rare, with notable attestation in medical texts (e.g., Hippocratic corpus) and the Septuagint and New Testament (notably Mark 5:25, Luke 8:43) to describe persons—often women—afflicted with chronic bleeding. In the context of the New Testament and contemporary Greek medical literature, the word describes not general bleeding but continual loss of blood, typically interpreted clinically as a persistent hemorrhage or menstrual/uterine disorder. In ritual or Levantine contexts, such conditions led to impurity or exclusion based on purity laws (cf. Leviticus 15 LXX). Traditional English translations render this as 'issue of blood' or 'hemorrhage,' but the Greek term encompasses any pathological blood flow, not exclusively menstrual. Compared to the more general term ῥέω ('to flow'), αἱμοῤῥέω is specialized and marked as medical or technical.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from αἷμα and ῥέω; to flow blood, i.e. have a hæmorrhage:--diseased with an issue of blood.
Root Family
αἱμοῤῥέω (haimorrheō) — to bleed, to flow, to discharge
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G131-01 |
αἱμορροοῦσα | aimorroousa | V PRS ACT PTCP NOM F SG |
who had a hemorrhage | bleeding continually | bleeding continually | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G131-01 |
Matthew 9:20 | αἱμορροοῦσα | aimorroousa | V PRS ACT PTCP NOM F SG |
who had a hemorrhage | bleeding continually | bleeding continually |