4621. sitos

Lexical Summary

sitos: Wheat, grain

Original Word: σῖτος
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine; Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: sitos
Pronunciation: SEE-tos
Phonetic Spelling: (see'-tos)
KJV: corn, wheat
NASB: wheat, grain
Word Origin: [of uncertain derivation]

1. grain, especially wheat

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

corn, wheat.

Also plural irregular neuter sita (see'-tah) of uncertain derivation; grain, especially wheat -- corn, wheat.

HELPS Word-studies

4621 sítos – a generic term for any edible grain – typically wheat (BAGD), but sometimes barley, etc.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
a prim. word
Definition
grain
NASB Translation
grain (2), wheat (12).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 4621: σῖτος

σῖτος, σίτου, ὁ (of uncertain origin; cf. Vanicek, Fremdwörter, under the word), from Homer down, the Sept. chiefly for דָּגָן, wheat, grain: Matthew 3:12; Matthew 13:25, 29; Mark 4:28; Luke 3:17; (Luke 12:18 WH Tr text); Luke 16:7; Luke 22:31; John 12:24; Acts 27:38; 1 Corinthians 15:37; Revelation 6:6; Revelation 18:13; plural τά σῖτα (cf. Winer's Grammar, 63 (62)), Acts 7:12 Rec., and often in the Sept..

Topical Lexicon

Overview of Occurrences

The term appears fifteen times in the Greek New Testament, most often translated “wheat,” occasionally “grain” or “food.” The contexts range from agricultural parables and prophetic warnings to accounts of travel and daily provision, giving the word a rich theological resonance that touches on God’s sustenance, judgment, and redemptive purpose.

Old Testament Foundations

Wheat was a covenantal staple in Israel (Genesis 27:28; Deuteronomy 8:8), bound to God’s promise of “grain and new wine” for obedience. By the time of the New Testament, threshing floors, granaries, and harvest festivals (especially Pentecost) had become vivid backdrops for spiritual instruction, preparing hearers to grasp the fuller meanings found in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles.

Parabolic Teaching and Kingdom Imagery

1. Matthew 13:24–30 portrays wheat growing alongside tares until the harvest. The Master’s restraint (“Let both grow together”) underscores divine patience; final separation affirms ultimate justice.
2. Mark 4:26–29 and Mark 4:28 emphasize mysterious, God-given growth: “The earth produces by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.” Human labor sows, but only God grants life and maturation.
3. Matthew 13:31–32 contrasts a tiny mustard seed with the developed tree; together with the wheat parables, the message is clear—God’s kingdom often begins imperceptibly yet ends magnificently.

Purification and Eschatological Separation

John the Baptist announces Messiah’s winnowing (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17). The act of thoroughly clearing the threshing floor points to Christ’s role as righteous Judge who gathers true “wheat” into His barn while burning the chaff “with unquenchable fire.” The imagery unites mercy (secure storage) and wrath (fiery disposal), calling hearers to repentance.

Personal Discipleship and Spiritual Sifting

In Luke 22:31 Jesus warns, “Simon, Simon, look! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat.” The picture of shaking grain in a sieve conveys intense testing. Yet the Lord’s intercession guarantees that genuine faith, like good kernels, will remain. Trials do not destroy Christ’s people; they refine them.

Resurrection and New Creation

Two passages harness wheat’s life cycle to reveal resurrection truth:
• John 12:24: “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Jesus anticipates His own death and the global harvest of redeemed lives that will result.
• 1 Corinthians 15:37 compares the believer’s burial to sowing wheat seed; the risen body, like the mature plant, differs in glory from the seed sown. Death is not the end but the gateway to transformed life.

Provision and Stewardship

• Acts 7:12 recalls Joseph sending “food” to famine-stricken Jacob, demonstrating God’s providence through covenant channels.
• Luke 12:18 shows a rich man enlarging barns for surplus grain, only to lose his soul that very night—warning against hoarding gifts meant for kingdom purposes.
• Acts 27:38 records sailors lightening a storm-tossed ship by throwing wheat overboard, illustrating surrender of earthly security for survival. For believers, material goods serve God’s purposes; they are never ultimate.

Judgment, Commerce, and Global Crisis

Revelation exposes the fragility of human economies built apart from God.
• Revelation 6:6 predicts famine-level prices: “A quart of wheat for a denarius.” Physical scarcity mirrors spiritual famine for those rejecting the Lamb.
• Revelation 18:13 lists wheat among Babylon’s luxuries, all doomed to sudden loss. Earthly markets collapse when confronted with divine judgment, underscoring the fleeting nature of worldly wealth.

Ministry Significance

1. Gospel proclamation—Sowing the word imitates the farmer’s patient labor, trusting God for unseen growth.
2. Pastoral care—Trials that sift believers are expected; shepherds pray, like Christ, that faith will not fail.
3. Eschatological hope—Wheat’s transformation from seed to fruitful crop preaches resurrection certainty.
4. Stewardship—Abundance is a trust, not an idol; generosity aligns with God’s provision patterns.
5. Warning to the unrepentant—The separation of wheat and chaff confronts every hearer with a choice of allegiance.

Intertextual Echoes

The thread of wheat unites Torah promises, prophetic warnings, Gospel parables, apostolic teaching, and apocalyptic vision. Each occurrence reaffirms Scripture’s coherence: the God who supplies daily bread is the same Judge who separates true and false, the Redeemer whose death “bears much fruit,” and the Sustainer who will gather His harvest into everlasting barns.

Forms and Transliterations

σίτα σίτά σιτια σιτία σιτον σίτον σίτόν σῖτον σίτος σιτου σίτου σίτω σίτων sitia sitía siton sîton sitou sítou

Englishman's Concordance

Matthew 3:12 N-AMS
GRK: συνάξει τὸν σῖτον αὐτοῦ εἰς
NAS: and He will gather His wheat into the barn,
KJV: gather his wheat into the garner;
INT: will gather the wheat of him into

Matthew 13:25 N-GMS
GRK: μέσον τοῦ σίτου καὶ ἀπῆλθεν
NAS: tares among the wheat, and went away.
KJV: among the wheat, and
INT: midst of the wheat and went away

Matthew 13:29 N-AMS
GRK: αὐτοῖς τὸν σῖτον
NAS: you may uproot the wheat with them.
KJV: ye root up also the wheat with
INT: them the wheat

Matthew 13:30 N-AMS
GRK: τὸν δὲ σῖτον συναγάγετε εἰς
NAS: them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'
KJV: but gather the wheat into my
INT: and [the] wheat bring together into

Mark 4:28 N-AMS
GRK: εἶτα πλήρης σῖτον ἐν τῷ
NAS: then the mature grain in the head.
KJV: after that the full corn in the ear.
INT: then full grain in the

Luke 3:17 N-AMS
GRK: συναγαγεῖν τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν
NAS: and to gather the wheat into His barn;
KJV: and will gather the wheat into his
INT: will gather the wheat into the

Luke 12:18 N-AMS
GRK: πάντα τὸν σῖτον καὶ τὰ
NAS: all my grain and my goods.
INT: all the grain and the

Luke 16:7 N-GMS
GRK: Ἑκατὸν κόρους σίτου λέγει αὐτῷ
NAS: measures of wheat.' He said
KJV: measures of wheat. And
INT: A hundred cors of wheat he says to him

Luke 22:31 N-AMS
GRK: ὡς τὸν σῖτον
NAS: [permission] to sift you like wheat;
KJV: that he may sift [you] as wheat:
INT: as wheat

John 12:24 N-GMS
GRK: κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς
NAS: a grain of wheat falls
KJV: Except a corn of wheat fall into
INT: grain of wheat having fallen into

Acts 7:12 N-ANP
GRK: Ἰακὼβ ὄντα σιτία εἰς Αἴγυπτον
KJV: heard that there was corn in Egypt,
INT: Jacob [there] was grain in Egypt

Acts 27:38 N-AMS
GRK: ἐκβαλλόμενοι τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν
NAS: by throwing out the wheat into the sea.
KJV: and cast out the wheat into
INT: casting out the wheat into the

1 Corinthians 15:37 N-GMS
GRK: εἰ τύχοι σίτου ἤ τινος
NAS: perhaps of wheat or
KJV: it may chance of wheat, or
INT: if it may be of wheat or of some

Revelation 6:6 N-GMS
GRK: λέγουσαν Χοῖνιξ σίτου δηναρίου καὶ
NAS: A quart of wheat for a denarius,
KJV: A measure of wheat for a penny,
INT: saying A choenix of wheat for a denarius and

Revelation 18:13 N-AMS
GRK: σεμίδαλιν καὶ σῖτον καὶ κτήνη
NAS: and fine flour and wheat and cattle
KJV: fine flour, and wheat, and beasts,
INT: finest flour and wheat and cattle

Strong's Greek 4621
15 Occurrences

σιτία — 1 Occ.
σῖτον — 9 Occ.
σίτου — 5 Occ.