G1099 — γλυκύς (glykys)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1099
Original: γλυκύς
Transliteration: glykys
Pronunciation: gloo-koos'
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: Of uncertain affinity
Occurrences: 4 unique verses (4 tokens) in NT
Books: 2 (James, Revelation)
First Occurrence: James 3:11 — "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet [water] and bitter?"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Of uncertain affinity; sweet (i.e. not bitter nor salt): — sweet, fresh.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 79 — Features of Objects
Subdomain: 79.008 — Sweet, Bitter, Tasteless
Other words in subdomain: ἄψινθος (G894, wormwood), μωραίνω (G3471, lose savour), πικραίνω (G4087, make bitter), πικρία (G4088, bitterness), πικρός (G4089, bitter)

Morphological Forms¶

All 4 NT occurrences are neuter singular (modifying implied or stated neuter nouns):

Reference	Form	Parsing
James 3:11	γλυκὺ	Accusative singular neuter
James 3:12	γλυκὺ	Accusative singular neuter
Rev 10:9	γλυκὺ	Nominative singular neuter
Rev 10:10	γλυκύ	Nominative singular neuter

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
sweet	3	75%
fresh	1	25%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
James	2	1.9
Revelation	2	0.5

Confined entirely to two books. James uses it in a wisdom discourse on speech/nature; Revelation uses it in the apocalyptic little-book vision. Absent from the Gospels, Pauline epistles, and all other NT literature.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Sweet vs. Bitter Water (Nature Illustration)¶

James 3:11 — "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet [water] and bitter?"
James 3:12 — "Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so [can] no fountain both yield salt water and fresh."

James uses glykys to describe wholesome, drinkable water as opposed to bitter (pikros G4089) or salt (halykos G252) water. The point is that a single source cannot produce contradictory outputs — sweet and bitter cannot flow from the same spring. Here "fresh" (KJV 3:12) translates the same word rendered "sweet" in 3:11.

2. Sweetness of the Prophetic Word¶

Rev 10:9 — "Take [it], and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey."
Rev 10:10 — "And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."

In the Ezekiel-patterned prophetic commission (cf. Ezek 3:1-3), the little scroll is glykys "sweet as honey" (glykys hos meli) in the mouth but bitter in the belly. The sweetness describes the initial reception of divine revelation — pleasant to receive — while the bitterness represents the difficult content or consequences of the prophetic message.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
πηγή (pēgē)	G4077	2× (50%)	"fountain" producing sweet water — Jas 3:11-12
πικραίνω (pikrainō)	G4087	2× (50%)	sweet-then-bitter contrast — Rev 10:9-10
μέλι (meli)	G3192	2× (50%)	"sweet as honey" simile — Rev 10:9-10
στόμα (stoma)	G4750	2× (50%)	"in my mouth sweet" — Rev 10:9-10
κοιλία (koilia)	G2836	2× (50%)	mouth-sweet vs. belly-bitter — Rev 10:9-10
βιβλαρίδιον (bibliaridion)	G974	2× (50%)	the "little book" that tastes sweet — Rev 10:9-10

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1098 γλεῦκος (gleukos) — sweet/new wine; akin to glykys per lexicon; hapax in Acts 2:13

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מָתוֹק (mathoq)	H4966	"sweet"	Hebrew adjective for sweetness (taste); glykys is the primary Greek equivalent via LXX (7× co-occurrence, PMI 10.78)
נִיחוֹחַ (niychoach)	H5207	"sweet"	Hebrew "sweet savour" = soothing/restful aroma (sacrificial); not taste-based sweetness
סַם (sam)	H5561	"sweet"	Hebrew aromatic spice/perfume; smell-based, not taste

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 79.008)¶

Word	Strong's	Verses	Primary Translation
ἄψινθος (apsinthos)	G894	2	Wormwood
μωραίνω (mōrainō)	G3471	4	have lost his savour
πικραίνω (pikrainō)	G4087	4	bitter, be
πικρία (pikria)	G4088	4	bitterness
πικρός (pikros)	G4089	2	bitter

Glykys is the only positive-taste word in this subdomain; all neighbors denote bitterness, wormwood, or loss of flavour. The sweet/bitter pairing (glykys/pikros) is the fundamental taste opposition in this domain.

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Definition
מָתוֹק (mathoq)	H4966	7	10.78	sweet (taste)
דְּבַשׁ (debash)	H1706	3	7.27	honey

The LXX uses glykys primarily to render H4966 mathoq "sweet." The association with H1706 debash "honey" reflects the "sweet as honey" simile pattern carried into Rev 10:9-10 from Ezek 3:3 and Psalm 19:10.