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παραφρονία

paraphronía

G3913 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Condition or quality of mental derangement, especially manifesting as irrational thinking or behavior; also, reckless folly or senselessness often associated with moral or intellectual failure. In some contexts, used figuratively to indicate extreme foolishness or unreasonableness.

Semantic Range

insanity, madness; extreme folly, reckless senselessness, irrationality, derangement, mental imbalance, utter lack of reason

Root / Etymology

From the verb παραφρονέω (paraphroneō, 'to be mad, to be out of one's mind'), itself formed from παρά (para, 'beside, beyond') and φρονέω (phroneō, 'to think, to be minded'). The combination indicates a departure from sound or normal thought.

Historical & Contextual Notes

παραφρονία is relatively rare in Greek literature. The noun appears as a technical term for insanity—a state of mental derangement or loss of reason—in medical and philosophical contexts from the classical period onward. In Koine and Hellenistic usage, particularly in moral or rhetorical literature, it broadens to include reckless imprudence, excessive folly, or behaviour so unreasonable as to be likened to madness. In the New Testament (Acts 26:24), the word communicates a charge of utter irrationality or mental disturbance, used rhetorically to accuse someone of being irrational or deluded rather than as a clinical diagnosis. English translations typically render it as 'madness' or 'insanity,' but in context, it can also refer to foolish recklessness rather than clinical psychosis. The term does not carry a technical psychiatric sense as in modern terminology but aligns more with the notion of severe folly or intolerable lack of reason.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from παραφρονέω; insanity, i.e. foolhardiness:--madness.

Root Family

παραφρονία (paraphronia) — insanity, derangement, reckless senselessness, irrationality

Root φρον- to think, to be minded, to reason

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G3913-01 παραφρονίαν paraphronian N ACC F SG madness mental derangement madness 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G3913-01 2 Peter 2:16 παραφρονίαν paraphronian N ACC F SG madness mental derangement madness
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