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προσδοκία

prosdokía

G4329 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Expectation—the state of waiting for or anticipating something; also, in given contexts, apprehension or foreboding about a possible negative outcome. In Koine usage, προσδοκία most commonly signifies a mental attitude of anticipation toward future events, whether hopeful or anxious, determined by context.

Semantic Range

expectation, anticipation, awaiting an outcome, apprehension, anxious looking for, foreboding, waiting for (with emotional coloring depending on context)

Root / Etymology

From προσδοκάω ('to await, expect'), itself derived from πρός ('toward') + δοκέω ('to think, suppose, imagine'). The noun form προσδοκία denotes the condition or feeling produced by active expecting or awaiting.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In Classical and Hellenistic Greek, προσδοκία refers broadly to anticipation or expectation and may be positive (hope, trust that something good will occur) or negative (anxiety or dread about something harmful). In the Septuagint and New Testament, usage typically carries a neutral or slightly negative sense, often implying anxious expectation or apprehension, but context ultimately determines the emotional valence. Standard English translations such as 'expectation' or 'looking for' can obscure the range from hopeful anticipation to anxious worry. The word appears rarely in extant Greek sources outside of the New Testament but has cognates in philosophical and medical texts, where it expresses the general psychological state of awaiting an outcome. In contrast to ἐλπίς, which implies positive hope, προσδοκία is often more neutral or negative. In the New Testament (e.g., Luke 21:26; Acts 12:11), προσδοκία connotes anxious expectation, especially in the face of uncertain or threatening events.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from προσδοκάω; apprehension (of evil); by implication, infliction anticipated:--expectation, looking after.

Root Family

δοκ- (dógma) — to think, to suppose, to seem, to decree

Root δοκ- to expect, to await, to think, to suppose
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
G1378 δόγμα authoritative decree
G1380 δοκέω may seem
G1384 δόκιμος proven genuine ones
G1385 δοκός a supporting beam
G2107 εὐδοκία goodwill

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G4329-01 προσδοκίας prosdokias N GEN F SG expectation of expectation expectation 2

Occurrences in Scripture

2 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G4329-01 Luke 21:26 προσδοκίας prosdokias N GEN F SG expectation of expectation expectation
G4329-01 Acts 12:11 προσδοκίας prosdokias N GEN F SG expectation of expectation expectation
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