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κολοβόω

kolobóō

G2856 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To cut short, to reduce in length or duration; primarily means to curtail or abbreviate something spatially or temporally. In figurative contexts, to shorten (time, a process, or something abstract), particularly in the sense of intervening to reduce a period or extent.

Semantic Range

to cut short, to curtail, to abbreviate a period (esp. of time), to dock (in length or number), to truncate (figuratively or literally), to bring to an early end

Root / Etymology

From the root κολοβ- (to cut short, to mutilate, to dock), related to κολοβός (mutilated, curtailed, docked) and ultimately connected to the base of κολάζω (to punish, originally perhaps ‘to curtail’).

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical Greek, κολοβόω is rare; the cognate adjective κολοβός is more common, describing something that is cut short, docked, mutilated, or incomplete. In Koine Greek, especially in the New Testament (see Mark 13:20; Matthew 24:22), κολοβόω is used figuratively to denote shortening or abbreviating a period of time, typically as an act of mercy or intervention. The term does not automatically connote a specific cause for the curtailment. Later translation traditions sometimes render the term as 'shorten' in temporal senses, but its original imagery is spatial (cutting off a part, making something less than whole). In Septuagint usage, the verb is rare and primarily bookish. English translations often flatten the term's metaphorical depth to simple temporal shortening, but the Greek imagery retains the notion of truncation, which may reflect both physical and abstract reduction.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from a derivative of the base of κολάζω; to dock, i.e. (figuratively) abridge:--shorten.

Root Family

κολοβ- (kolobóō) — to cut short, to curtail, to dock, to abridge

Root κολοβ- to cut short, to curtail, to dock, to abridge

Word Forms

3 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G2856-01 ἐκολόβωσεν ekolobosen V AOR ACT IND 3P SG had shortened he cut short he cut short 2
G2856-02 ἐκολοβώθησαν ekolobothesan V AOR PASS IND 3P PL had been shortened they were cut short they were cut short 1
G2856-03 κολοβωθήσονται kolobothesontai V FUT PASS IND 3P PL will be shortened they will be cut short they will be cut short 1

Occurrences in Scripture

4 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G2856-02 Matthew 24:22 ἐκολοβώθησαν ekolobothesan V AOR PASS IND 3P PL had been shortened they were cut short they were cut short
G2856-03 Matthew 24:22 κολοβωθήσονται kolobothesontai V FUT PASS IND 3P PL will be shortened they will be cut short they will be cut short
G2856-01 Mark 13:20 ἐκολόβωσεν ekolobosen V AOR ACT IND 3P SG had shortened he cut short he cut short
G2856-01 Mark 13:20 ἐκολόβωσεν ekolobosen-2 V AOR ACT IND 3P SG he has shortened he cut short he cut short
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