Quick Definition
βαστάζω v. I carry, carry away, bear
Strong's Definition
perhaps remotely derived from the base of 939 (through the idea of removal); to lift, literally or figuratively (endure, declare, sustain, receive, etc.)
KJV Usage: bear, carry, take up
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
verb | ἀδυσβάστακτος · δυσβάστακτος
15.188 · Linear Movement · Carry, Bear
to carry, to bear to bear or carry a relatively heavy or burdensome object
MAT 3:11 · MRK 14:13 · LUK 7:14 · LUK 10:4 · LUK 22:10 · JHN 19:17 · ACT 3:2 · ACT 21:35 · REV 17:7
15.201 · Linear Movement · Carry, Bear
to remove, to carry away, to take away to carry away from a place, with the probable implication of something that is relatively heavy
25.177 · Attitudes and Emotions · Patience, Endurance, Perseverance
to endure, to bear up under (similar in meaning to ὑποφέρω ‘to endure,’ 25.175, but probably somewhat more emphatic in meaning) to continue to bear up under unusually trying circumstances and difficulties
MAT 20:12 · ACT 15:10 · ROM 15:1 · GAL 6:2 · GAL 6:5 · REV 2:2
35.32 · Help, Care For · Provide For, Support
to provide for, to support to provide continuous and possibly prolonged assistance and help by supplying the needs of someone
90.80 · Case · Experiencer
to undergo, to suffer to undergo a grievous, difficult experience
31.55 · Hold a View, Believe, Trust · Accept As True
to accept, to receive to accept, but with the implication of the truth being difficult to comprehend or to respond to properly
33.210 · Communication · Inform, Announce
Collocation: βαστάζω ὄνομα
to make known, to inform (an idiom, literally: to carry a name) to spread information extensively about a person
90.84 · Case · Experiencer
Collocation: βαστάζω στίγματα
to bear the marks of a slave, to experience being the slave of (an idiom, literally: to bear marks) to undergo experiences which mark one as the slave of some master See also 8.55 and 33.481.
24.83 · Sensory Events and States · Pain, Suffering
Collocation: βαστάζω τὸν σταυρόν
to be prepared to suffer even unto death, to take up one’s cross (a productive idiomatic expression, literally: to carry one’s cross) to be prepared to endure severe suffering, even to the point of death The idiom ‘to carry one’s cross’ or ‘to take up one’s cross’ involves a number of important features of meaning. Unfortunately, this expression is frequently not understood correctly by many people who hear it or even use it. One reason for this is the actual absence of crucifixion in modern society. If a literal translation is to be employed, then some marginal note will probably be necessary in order to indicate clearly the full implications of such a statement.
23.51 · Physiological Processes and States · Birth, Procreation
Collocation: ἡ κοιλία βαστάζει
to be pregnant with, to carry in the womb (an idiom, literally: the womb carries) to experience the process of pregnancy It may, however, be necessary in some languages to render LUK 11:27 as ‘fortunate is the woman who gave you birth,’ since a literal reference to carrying in the womb may seem unduly crude.
1 ROM 11:18 It is possible to interpret βαστάζω in ROM 11:18 in a more or less literal sense, namely ‘to carry’ or ‘to bear’ (see 15.188), but the overall context of ROM 11:18 is figurative. 2 GAL 6:17 It is difficult to know the extent to which βαστάζω στίγματα should be regarded as an idiom. It is possible to understand this expression to mean that Paul had the scars from wounds which were similar to those of Jesus, but it seems far better to understand this in a more figurative sense, despite the fact that one cannot determine precisely the extent to which such a phrase had become a standardized idiom.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
βαστάζω; fut. βαστάσω; laor.¢€Bacraca; 1. to take up with the hands: λίθους, Jn. x. 31, (λᾶαν, Hom. Od. 11, 594; τὴν μάχαιραν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, Joseph. antt. 7, 11, 7). 2. to take up in order to carry or bear; to put upon one’s self (something) to be carried; to bear what is burdensome: τὸν σταυρόν, Jn. xix.17; Lk. xiv. 27, (see orarrds Batos 2a. and b.); Metaph.: βαστάζειν τι, to be equal to understanding a matter and receiving it calmly, Jn. xvi. 12 (Epict. ench. 29,5); φορτίον, Gal. vi. 5; βαστάσει τὸ κρίμα, must take upon himself the condemnation of the judge, Gal. v. 10 (9 Nw, Mic. vii. 9). Hence to bear, endure: Mt. xx. 12; Acts xv. 10 (ζυγόν); Ro. xv.1; Gal. vi. 2; Rev. 11. 2588. (Epict. diss. 1, 3, 2; Anthol. 5, 9, 3; in this sense the Greeks more commonly use φέρειν.) 3. simply to bear, carry: Mt. iii. 11; Mk. xiv. 13; Lk. vii. 14; xxii. 10; Rev. xvii. 7; pass., Acts iii. 2; xxi. 35. τὸ ὄνομά pov ἐνώπιον ἐθνῶν, so to bear it that it may be in the presence of Gentiles, i. e. by preaching to carry the knowledge of my name to the Gentiles, Acts ix. 15. to carry on one’s person: Lk. x. 4; Gal. vi. 17 [cf. Ellic. ad loc.]; of the womb carrying the fetus, Lk. xi. 27; to sustain, i. e. uphold, support: Ro. xi. 18. 4. by a use unknown to Attic writ., to bear away, carry off: νόσους, to take away or remove by curing them, Mt. viii. 17 (Galen de compos. medicam. per gen. 2, 14 [339 ed. Bas.] Wopas re θεραmevet καὶ ὑπώπια βαστάζει) [al. refer the use in Mt. ]. c. to 2; cf. Meyer]. Jn. xii. 6 (ἐβάσταζε used to pilfer [R. V. txt. took away; ef. our ‘shop/ifiing’, though perh. this lift is a diff. word, see Skeat s. v.]); Jn. xx. 15, (Polyb. 1, 48, 2 ὁ ἄνεμος τοὺς πύργους τῇ Bia βαστάζει, Apollod. bibl. 2, 6, 2; 8, 4, 8; Athen. 2, 26 p. 46 f.; 15, 48 p. 693e.; very many instances fr. Joseph. are given by Krebs, Observy. p. 152 sqq.). [Sywn. ef. Schmidt ch. 105.]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
βαστάζω bastazō 27x
pr. to lift, raise, bear aloft; to bear, carry in the hands or about the person; carry as a message, Acts 9:15; to take away, remove, Mt. 8:17; Jn. 20:15; to take up, Jn. 10:31; Lk. 14:27; to bear as a burden endure, suffer; to sustain, Rom. 11:18; to bear with, tolerate; to sustain mentally, comprehend, Jn. 16:12
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
βαστάζω,
[in LXX: Jg 16:30 (נטה), Ru 2:16, II Ki 23:5, IV Ki 18:14 and Jb 21:3 (נשׂא), Si 6:25, Da TH Bel 36*;]
to take up with the hands, to lift: λίθους, Jo 10:31.
to bear, to carry, as a burden, and metaph., to endure; Mt 3:11 20:12, Mk 14:13, Lk 7:14 10:7 11:27 14:27 22:10, Jo 16:12 19:17, Ac 3:2 9:15 15:1 21:35, Ro 11:18 15:1, Ga 5:10 6:2, 5 17, Re 2:2, 3 17:7.
In late writers (MM, Exp., ii, iii, x), to take away; Mt 8:17 (Is 53:4, Heb.);
to carry off, steal: Jo 12:6 20:15.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
βαστάζω known passage at all approaching” Rev 2%.) Nearer the literal sense, and illustrating distantly Ac 9", is P Oxy X. 1242117, an interesting document of early iii/A.p., where Trajan is said to have granted an audience to rival Greek and Jewish emissaries from Alexandria, ἕκαστοι βαστάζοντες τοὺς ἰδίους θεούς. To the same heading may be referred its use in Gal 617, for which Deissmann (AS, p. 352 ff.) refers to a bilingual (Memotic and Greek) papyrus of iii/A.D. now in the Leiden Museum. The papyrus contains a spell in which the words occur βαστάζω τὴν ταφὴν τοῦ ᾿Οσίρεως . . . ἐάν μοι ὁ δεῖνα κόπους παράσχῃ, προσ(τ)ρέψω αὐτὴν αὐτῷ, “1 carry the corpse of Osiris. . . should so-and-so trouble me, I shall use it against him.” Just, that is, as the βαστάζειν of a particular amulet associated with the god acts as a charm against the κόπους παρέχειν of an adversary, so the Apostle finds himself protected against similar attacks by ‘‘ bearing ” the στίγματα Ἰησοῦ. From carvy is developed carry away, which is the commonest meaning. Thus Cagnat IV. 446, an inscr. of Roman age, where the Pergamene demos honour C. Julius Maximus σημείων ἀβαστάκτωι, “ornatus insigni “quod tolli non poterat,’ fortasse purpura perpetua” (Ed.). So very often in papyri. P Fay 1225 (c. a.p. 100) ἐά[σ]ας αὐτὸν βαστάξαι ἀρτάβας εἴκοσι ὀκτώ, ‘allowing him to carry off 28 artabae.” Ρ Ryl II. 168! (a.p. 120) βαστάξεις ἐκ τῆς κοινῆς ἅλωι πάντα, ‘you shall carry it all from the common threshing-floor” (Edd.): cf. P Thead 5% (,.p. 338). Similarly P Oxy IIT. 507° (a.p. 169) ὅνπερ χόρτον οὐκ ἐξέσται μοι βαστάξαι οὐδὲ πωλεῖν οὐδὲ ὑποτίθεσθαι, ‘it shall not be lawful for me to remove or sell or pledge this hay ” (Edd.), 74. 5224 (ii/A.p.) φορέτρο(υ) (πυροῦ) (ἀρταβῶν) poa βασταχθίεισῶν), ‘carriage of 171 artabae of wheat transported” (Edd.). With personal object, P Amh II. 77° (A.D. 139) ἀμφότεροι βίᾳ βασίτ]άξαντές pe εἰσήνεγκαν els τὸ λογ[ιἸστήριον τοῦ ἐπιτρόπου τῶν οὐσιῶν, “taking me up by force they together carried me to the counting-house of the superintendent of the domains” (Edd.). This is of course capable of meaning, in contrast to the use named later, a perfectly legitimate action: cf. P Iand 91° (ii/a.p.) σ]ὺ οὖν βάσταξε (sc.-at) λυπὸν ὃ ἂν ervo[y ἢ] τῆς κρίσεως, “δῖα autem tolle porro, quaecumque causa est iudicii” (Ed.). The firmly established vernacular use determines the meaning of Mt 311 as ‘* whose sandals I am not worthy to éake of”: the phrase is an excellent example of Mt’s skilful abbreviation, for one word fully expresses all that Mk 17 tells us in four. Citations multiply for the meaning ‘*pilfer,” as in Jn 128, especially in papyri of ii/A.D.—P Tebt II. 3307 (ii/A.D.) εὗρον τὴν οἰκίαν μου σεσυλημένην Te καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔνδον ἀποκείμενα βεβασταγμ[έϊνα, 20. 3312 (c. A.D. 131) ἐβ]άσταξαν ὅσα κιθῶνα καὶ ἱμ[ά]τιον λευκά : Loth petitions to the strategus complaining of robbery. In MGr the verb has added a new intransitive meansee Thumb Hazdbook, p. 322, Abbott Songs, p. 261. The flexion of the verb differs curiously in the papyri and in NT. In the former the guttural forms, ἐβάσταξα, etc., prevail almost without variant, as will be seen from our quotations, and from the list in the editor’s note to P Hamb I. 10'%, In MGr the aorist is ἐβάσταξα. It will be noticed that our citations are later than NT: the verb does not seem to have entered the etc. ing, ‘wait, hold out”:
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
βαστάζω (bastazō) — to carry. βαστάζω, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: future -άσω[Refs 5th c.BC+]; late -άξω [Refs 3rd c.AD+]: aorist ἐβάστασα [LXX+8th c.BC+]:—passive, future βασταχθήσομαι [Refs 3rd c.AD+]aorist ἐβαστάχθην[Refs 2nd c.AD+]: aorist 2 βασταγῆναι [Refs 2nd c.AD+]perfect βεβάσταγμαι (ἐμ-) [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—lift up, raise, λᾶαν βαστάζοντα.. ἀμφοτέρῃσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; lift a veil, [Refs]:—passive, of sluice-gates, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
2. metaphorically, lift up, exalt, ennoble, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II. bear, carry, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. hold in one's hands, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of books, συνεχῶς β. [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—in passive, to be popular, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II.3. β. ἐν γνώμῃ bear in mind, consider, weigh, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; β. προβούλευμα deliberate on.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]on consideration, [Refs]
II.4. bear, endure, οὐκέτι βαστάζω τὴν σεῖο διαζυγίην [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II.5. produce, yield, of land, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
III. carry off, take away, [NT]; steal, [NT+2nd c.BC+]
III.2. in passive, to be sublimated,[Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV. in Trag., touch, χέρα ἄνακτος.. τῇδε β. χερί [Refs 4th c.BC+]; embrace, σῶμα [Refs 5th c.BC+]—Not in Attic dialect Prose: passive first in [Refs 2nd c.BC+]