Strong's Greek: 3251 -- (Not Used)zzz

Lexical Summary

(Not Used): (Not Used)

(Not Used)
Part of Speech:
Transliteration: (Not Used)
(Not Used)

Topical Lexicon

Key Ideas and Range of Meaning

The word behind Strong’s Greek 3251 designates a forced removal from one’s homeland and the resulting status of living as an alien in another territory. In the wider Greek world the same root is used for political deportations and population transfers that followed military conquest. The Septuagint regularly employs the term group for the Babylonian captivity, the Assyrian dispersion of the Northern Kingdom, and the smaller exiles that befell Judah. Although the vocabulary item numbered 3251 does not itself appear in the Greek New Testament, its broader word-family is the linguistic backdrop for expressions such as “the exile to Babylon” (Matthew 1:17, metoikesia) and “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11, paroikous).

Old Testament Background

1. Assyrian Deportations – After the fall of Samaria in 722 BC, the exiles of Israel were “carried away” (2 Kings 17:23).
2. Babylonian Captivity – The climactic use comes with the removal of Judah in three waves (2 Kings 24–25; 2 Chronicles 36:17-20). The prophets interpret the catastrophe as covenant discipline (Jeremiah 25:8-11; Ezekiel 39:23).
3. Promise of Return – Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel look past the judgment to restoration (Isaiah 43:5-7; Jeremiah 29:10-14; Ezekiel 37:21-28). The return under Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4) previews a greater ingathering yet to come.

Theological Significance

• Covenant Discipline and Grace – Exile underscores both the seriousness of covenant violation and the steadfast love of God, who preserves a remnant and pledges return (Deuteronomy 30:1-5).
• Typology of Salvation – Captivity under foreign power becomes a paradigm for humanity’s bondage to sin; liberation foreshadows redemption in Christ (Luke 4:18; Romans 6:17-18).
• Identity of God’s People – Living away from Zion trains Israel—and later the Church—to see themselves as “aliens and strangers” whose true citizenship is heavenly (Hebrews 11:13-16; Philippians 3:20).

Christological Fulfillment

Jesus enters history during the lingering effects of the post-exilic era (Daniel’s “seventy sevens,” Daniel 9:24-27). Matthew places His genealogy within the brackets of “the exile to Babylon” to show that the promised Son of David arrives precisely where the prophets said restoration would begin (Matthew 1:12-17). Through His death and resurrection He effects the ultimate return from exile—reconciliation to God (Ephesians 2:12-19).

Use in Jewish and Greco-Roman Literature

Second-Temple writings (e.g., Tobit, 2 Maccabees, Philo) employ the same word-group to describe dispersion and the hope of regathering. Greek historians such as Herodotus and Thucydides speak of metoikismos when detailing mass resettlements engineered by conquering powers, confirming the political weight the term carried in the ancient world.

Ministry and Pastoral Application

1. Pilgrim Mind-Set – Believers are to live as temporary residents, refusing assimilation into worldly patterns (1 Peter 1:1, 17; 2:11-12).
2. Hope-Shaped Holiness – The promise of final homecoming motivates purity and perseverance (2 Peter 3:13-14).
3. Mission to the Nations – Just as Israel’s scattering placed the knowledge of Yahweh among the Gentiles (Ezekiel 36:23), so the Church’s dispersion is a strategic placement for gospel witness (Acts 8:4).
4. Comfort for the Displaced – Scripture assures refugees and migrants that the Lord oversees boundaries and seasons (Acts 17:26) and gathers His people from “every nation and tribe and tongue” (Revelation 7:9).

Related Terms

• metoikesia – the state of exile (Matthew 1:17)
• metoikeō – to deport or resettle (Septuagint, 2 Kings 24:15)
• paroikos / paroikia – a resident alien and his place of sojourn (Acts 13:17; 1 Peter 1:1)
• diaspora – scattered seed; dispersion of Israel and, by extension, of Christians (James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1)

Summary

Strong’s Greek 3251, though absent from the New Testament text, belongs to a semantic field that is crucial for understanding the Bible’s storyline: God disciplines His covenant people through exile, sustains them as pilgrims, and ultimately restores them through the messianic work of Jesus Christ. The vocabulary of deportation and return thus frames the believer’s identity, ethics, and mission until the consummate gathering in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-4).

Links

Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts