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πραγματεία

pragmateía

G4230 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Activity or occupation focused on the management, administration, or transaction of business; engagement in practical affairs, especially commercial or professional undertakings. Also denotes any matter involving effort, enterprise, or enterprise management. In certain contexts, can refer to concerns, responsibilities, or activities that preoccupy a person in daily life beyond the strictly commercial sphere.

Semantic Range

business activity, commercial transaction, management of affairs, negotiation, occupation, pursuit, handling of responsibilities, undertaking (intellectual or practical), treatment of a topic

Root / Etymology

From πραγματεύομαι (pragmateúomai, 'to do business, to trade, to be occupied with'), itself derived from the noun πρᾶγμα (pragma, 'deed, matter, thing'), which traces to the root πράσσω (prassō, 'to do, to act'). Thus, πραγματεία is a noun of action denoting the process or activity of conducting business or enterprise.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical and Hellenistic Greek, πραγματεία primarily denoted business activities, commercial transactions, or extended efforts in managing affairs. It could further indicate a general occupation or field of activity—a person's 'business' in the sense of whatever absorbed their time and effort, not limited to commerce. In philosophical or rhetorical texts, it came to mean the treatment of a subject or undertaking of an intellectual project, especially when referring to a treatise (cf. Latin 'tractatus'). In the New Testament (e.g., Luke 19:13), πραγματεία is less common than the verbal form πραγματεύομαι, but when it does occur or is implied, it refers to engagement with entrusted responsibilities, whether in finance, management, or broader affairs. English translations often reduce the sense to 'business' or 'affair,' but the word encompasses a range of practical, commercial, and managerial activities.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from πραγματεύομαι; a transaction, i.e. negotiation:--affair.

Root Family

πραγματεία (pragmateia) — business activity, management of affairs, commercial undertaking, negotiation

Root πραγματευ- to do business, to engage in affairs, to manage, to negotiate

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G4230-01 πραγματίαις pragmatiais N DAT F PL affairs in business undertakings business undertakings 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G4230-01 2 Timothy 2:4 πραγματίαις pragmatiais N DAT F PL affairs in business undertakings business undertakings
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