Lexical Summary perirégnumi: To tear off, to rend, to break apart Original Word: περιρήγνυμι Strong's Exhaustive Concordance tear off completelyFrom peri and rhegnumi; to tear all around, i.e. Completely away -- rend off. see GREEK peri see GREEK rhegnumi NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom peri and rhégnumi Definition to tear off all around NASB Translation tore...off (1). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 4048: περιρρήγνυμιπεριρρήγνυμι (L T Tr WH περιρήγνυμι, with one rho ῥ; see the preceding word): 1 aorist participle plural περιρρήξαντες; (περί and ῤήγνυμι); to break off on all sides, break off all round (cf. περί, III. 1): τό ἱμάτιον, to rend or tear off all around, Acts 16:22. So of garments also in 2 Macc. 4:38 and often in secular authors; Aeschylus sept. 329; Demosthenes, p. 403, 3; Polybius 15, 33, 4; Diodorus 17, 35. Topical Lexicon Overview of the Term Strong’s Greek 4048 depicts the violent act of ripping off a person’s garments. In biblical usage the verb conveys public humiliation, vulnerability, and forcible submission at the hands of hostile authorities. Although it appears only once in the Greek New Testament, the term stands at a crucial juncture in the missionary expansion recorded in Acts. Only New Testament Occurrence: Acts 16:22 “The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.” (Acts 16:22) Here the tearing away of clothing is the prelude to a Roman judicial beating. Luke highlights three layers of injustice: mob hostility, official complicity, and the degrading exposure of the missionaries’ bodies. The single verb captures that whole moment of disgrace. Roman Judicial Procedure and Public Humiliation In a Roman colony such as Philippi, local magistrates (praetors) possessed summary authority to impose corporal punishment on non-citizens. Stripping the accused: For Paul and Silas, the indignity was intensified by their modest Jewish background and, in Paul’s case, by the later revelation that he was in fact a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37). The tearing away of garments therefore magnified both the cruelty of the magistrates and the legal travesty of the sentence. Old Testament and Intertestamental Parallels Though the precise verb is unique to Acts, the motif of stripping the righteous appears repeatedly: In each case, removal of clothing symbolizes the removal of status, security, and public dignity. Acts 16:22 places Paul and Silas squarely in that prophetic trajectory: the faithful servant of God endures shame yet ultimately vindication. Theological Significance of Being Stripped 1. Identification with Christ. Jesus Himself was stripped before His scourging and crucifixion (Matthew 27:28). The missionaries’ experience therefore deepens their fellowship in Christ’s sufferings (Philippians 3:10). Pastoral and Missional Implications • Courage under persecution. The scene affirms that faithful gospel ministry may invite unjust treatment, yet God remains sovereign, as seen when the Philippian jailer is converted the same night (Acts 16:25-34). Christological Echoes The tearing off of robes anticipates the Servant’s humiliation foretold in Isaiah 50:6: “I gave My back to those who strike and My cheeks to those who pull out My beard; I did not hide My face from disgrace and spitting.” In Acts, the servants of Christ relive the Servant Song, authenticating their message by mirroring their Master. Connection to the Church in Philippi The incident supplies the backdrop for themes in the Epistle to the Philippians: The memory of clothes torn away must have lingered in the congregation born out of that night’s events, reinforcing Paul’s call to “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Practical Applications for Modern Believers • Expect opposition: Faithfulness may incur not only verbal ridicule but also cultural or legal forms of stripping away status. Strong’s 4048, though rare, thus opens a window onto the cost of discipleship, the certainty of divine vindication, and the gospel’s unstoppable advance through suffering borne in union with Christ. Forms and Transliterations περιεσκέπασε περιρηξαντες περιρήξαντες περιρρήξαντες περισιαλωμένους περισκελές περισκέλη περισπασμόν περισπασμός περισπασμώ perirexantes perirēxantes perirḗxantesLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts |
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