874. aphormé
Strong's Lexicon
aphormé: Occasion, Opportunity, Pretext

Original Word: ἀφορμή
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: aphormé
Pronunciation: af-or-MAY
Phonetic Spelling: (af-or-may')
Definition: Occasion, Opportunity, Pretext
Meaning: (a) a starting, a start, (b) cause, occasion, opportunity.

Word Origin: Derived from ἀπό (apo, meaning "from") and ὁρμή (hormé, meaning "impulse" or "onset")

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: While there is no direct Hebrew equivalent for "aphormé," the concept of an "opportunity" or "occasion" can be related to Hebrew words like פֶּתַח (pethach, meaning "opening" or "entrance") and עֵת (eth, meaning "time" or "season").

Usage: In the New Testament, "aphormé" is used to denote an opportunity or occasion, often implying a pretext or a starting point for action. It can refer to both positive and negative contexts, where an opportunity is seized for good or ill purposes.

Cultural and Historical Background: In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of "aphormé" was understood as a strategic advantage or a starting point for an endeavor. It was often used in military contexts to describe a base of operations or a point of departure for an attack. In the New Testament, this term is used metaphorically to describe opportunities or occasions that arise in the moral and spiritual life of individuals.

HELPS Word-studies

874 aphormḗ (from 575 /apó, "away from" and 3730 /hormḗ, "a violent rush") – properly, a pretext ("launching point") to assert an idea – literally, "what charges from (off) a starting point"; (figuratively) the occasion something has to come forward because having the "successful launching pad" to get something started ("affording an opportunity"). 874 (aphormḗ) is usually used negatively in the NT, but positively in 2 Cor 5:12.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from apo and hormaó
Definition
a starting point, i.e. fig. an occasion
NASB Translation
occasion (2), opportunity (5).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 874: ἀφορμή

ἀφορμή, ἀφορμῆς, (ἀπό and ὁρμή which see);

1. properly, a place from which a movement or attack is made, a base of operations: Thucydides 1, 90 (τήν Πελοποννησον πᾶσιν ἀναχωρησιν τέ καί ἀφορμήν ἱκανήν εἶναι); Polybius 1, 41, 6.

2. metaphorically, "that by which endeavor is excited and from which it goes forth; that which gives occasion and supplies matter for an undertaking, the incentive; the resources we avail ourselves of in attempting or performing anything": Xenophon, mem. 3, 12, 4 (τοῖς ἑαυτῶν παισί καλλιους ἀφορμας εἰς τόν βίον καταλειπουσι), and often in Greek writings; λαμβάνειν, to take occasion, find an incentive, Romans 7:8, 11 διδόναι, 2 Corinthians 5:12; 1 Timothy 5:14 (3Macc. 3:2; both phrases often also in Greek writings); 2 Corinthians 11:12; Galatians 5:13. On the meanings of this word see Viger. edition Herm., p. 81f; Phryn. ed. Lob., p. 223f; (Rutherford, New Phryn., p. 304).

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
occasion.

From a compound of apo and hormao; a starting-point, i.e. (figuratively) an opportunity -- occasion.

see GREEK apo

see GREEK hormao

Forms and Transliterations
αφορμή αφορμην αφορμήν ἀφορμήν ἀφορμὴν aphormen aphormēn aphormḗn aphormḕn
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Englishman's Concordance
Romans 7:8 N-AFS
GRK: ἀφορμὴν δὲ λαβοῦσα
NAS: taking opportunity through
KJV: taking occasion by
INT: opportunity however having taken

Romans 7:11 N-AFS
GRK: γὰρ ἁμαρτία ἀφορμὴν λαβοῦσα διὰ
NAS: taking an opportunity through
KJV: taking occasion by
INT: indeed sin an occasion having taken by

2 Corinthians 5:12 N-AFS
GRK: ὑμῖν ἀλλὰ ἀφορμὴν διδόντες ὑμῖν
NAS: to you but [are] giving you an occasion to be proud
KJV: give you occasion to glory on
INT: to you but occasion are giving to you

2 Corinthians 11:12 N-AFS
GRK: ἐκκόψω τὴν ἀφορμὴν τῶν θελόντων
NAS: that I may cut off opportunity from those
KJV: I may cut off occasion from them which desire
INT: I might cut off the occasion of those wishing

2 Corinthians 11:12 N-AFS
GRK: τῶν θελόντων ἀφορμήν ἵνα ἐν
NAS: who desire an opportunity to be regarded
KJV: from them which desire occasion; that
INT: of those wishing an occasion that wherein

Galatians 5:13 N-AFS
GRK: ἐλευθερίαν εἰς ἀφορμὴν τῇ σαρκί
NAS: [do] not [turn] your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh,
KJV: for an occasion to the flesh,
INT: freedom for an occasion to the flesh

1 Timothy 5:14 N-AFS
GRK: οἰκοδεσποτεῖν μηδεμίαν ἀφορμὴν διδόναι τῷ
NAS: the enemy no occasion for reproach;
KJV: give none occasion to the adversary to
INT: to manage the house no occasion to give to the

Strong's Greek 874
7 Occurrences


ἀφορμὴν — 7 Occ.















873
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