G129 — αἷμα (haima)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G129
Original: αἷμα
Transliteration: haima
Pronunciation: hah'-ee-mah
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: Of uncertain derivation
Occurrences: 99 tokens in 92 unique verses across 14 NT books
First Occurrence: Matt 16:17 — "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Of uncertain derivation; blood, literally (of men or animals), figuratively (the juice of grapes) or specially (the atoning blood of Christ); by implication, bloodshed, also kindred.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 8.002 — Body, Body Parts — Parts of the Body - 9.001 — People — Human Beings (metonymy: "flesh and blood" = human person) - 20.004 — Violence — Kill (metonymy: bloodshed = violent death) - 23.007 — Physiological Processes — Live, Die (blood = death/violent death) - Glosses: blood | death | violent death

UBS Semantic Domains: - [008] Body, Body Parts, and Body Products - [023] Physiological Processes and States - [020] Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill - [009] People

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
blood	74	80.4%
of blood	8	8.7%
the blood	5	5.4%
from blood	2	2.2%
in blood	1	1.1%
of the blood	1	1.1%
that the blood	1	1.1%
to the blood	1	1.1%
with blood	1	1.1%

Uniformly translated "blood" in every occurrence. Variation is purely syntactic (prepositional phrases), not semantic.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hebrews	20	6.6
Revelation	17	4.2
1 John	3	2.9
Colossians	2	2.1
Ephesians	3	1.9
1 Peter	2	1.9
Acts	12	1.2
1 Corinthians	4	0.9
Matthew	9	0.8
Romans	3	0.7
Galatians	1	0.7
John	6	0.7
Luke	7	0.6
Mark	3	0.4

Hebrews dominates (6.6/100vv), reflecting its sustained argument about sacrificial blood. Revelation is second (4.2/100vv), where blood appears in both judgment imagery and redemption language. Absent from the Pastoral Epistles, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 2 Thessalonians, Philemon, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Atoning/Covenant Blood of Christ¶

Matt 26:28 — "this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins"
Eph 1:7 — "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"
Heb 9:14 — "How much more shall the blood of Christ... purge your conscience from dead works"
1 Pet 1:19 — "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot"

2. Sacrificial/Ritual Blood (OT Typology)¶

Heb 9:7 — "the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself"
Heb 9:12 — "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once"
Heb 9:22 — "almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission"
Heb 10:4 — "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins"

3. Communion/Eucharistic Blood¶

Mark 14:24 — "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many"
1 Cor 10:16 — "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?"
1 Cor 11:25 — "This cup is the new testament in my blood"
John 6:54 — "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life"

4. Bloodshed / Violent Death (Metonymy)¶

Matt 23:35 — "all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel"
Acts 22:20 — "when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed"
Rev 6:10 — "How long, O Lord... dost thou not judge and avenge our blood"
Rev 17:6 — "the woman drunken with the blood of the saints"

5. "Flesh and Blood" — Human Nature / Mortality¶

Matt 16:17 — "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven"
1 Cor 15:50 — "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God"
Eph 6:12 — "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities"
Heb 2:14 — "as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part"

6. Physical Blood / Bodily Fluid¶

Mark 5:25 — "a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years"
Luke 22:44 — "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground"
John 19:34 — "forthwith came there out blood and water"
Acts 15:20 — "abstain from... things strangled, and from blood"

7. Eschatological/Judgment Blood¶

Acts 2:19-20 — "blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood"
Rev 8:7 — "hail and fire mingled with blood"
Rev 14:20 — "blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles"
Rev 16:3-4 — "the sea... became as the blood of a dead man... the rivers... became blood"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
σάρξ (sarx)	G4561	11x	"flesh and blood" — human nature idiom
ἐκχέω (ekcheo)	G1632	10x	"shed blood" — violent death or sacrifice
διαθήκη (diatheke)	G1242	8x	"blood of the covenant/testament"
Χριστός (Christos)	G5547	8x	"blood of Christ" — redemptive formula
ἁμαρτία (hamartia)	G266	7x	blood offered/shed for sin
ὕδωρ (hudor)	G5204	7x	"water and blood" — purification pairing
πίνω (pino)	G4095	6x	"drink blood" — communion language
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	6x	Spirit paired with blood in witness/atonement
ἅγιος (hagios)	G40	5x	"blood of saints" — martyrdom

Word Family / Cognates¶

G130 αἱματεκχυσία (haimatekchysia) — shedding of blood (hapax: Heb 9:22); compound of haima + ekcheo
G131 αἱμοῤῥέω (haimorrheo) — to flow blood, hemorrhage (hapax: Matt 9:20)
G184 Ἀκελδαμά (Akeldama) — "field of blood" (Aramaic loan; Acts 1:19)

Synonyms¶

No close lexical synonyms were identified by search_relationships.py. In NT Greek, αἷμα occupies an unusually exclusive slot and is the only word regularly rendered "blood" in the KJV.

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were identified by search_relationships.py.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
דָּם (dam)	H1818	"blood"	Hebrew OT equivalent; same semantic range but includes dietary blood laws absent from NT haima usage

No other NT Greek word is translated "blood" — haima has exclusive domain over this translation.

Domain Neighbors¶

Word	Strong's	Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference
σάρξ (sarx)	G4561	130	"flesh"	Physical body/human nature; paired with haima in "flesh and blood" idiom
ὕδωρ (hudor)	G5204	70	"water"	Purification element; paired with blood in baptismal/witness contexts
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	350	"Spirit/Ghost"	Invisible life-force; contrasted with blood as physical life-substance
θάνατος (thanatos)	G2288	106	"death"	Death as abstract state; haima as metonymy for violent death specifically
σφάζω (sphazo)	G4969	9	"slain"	The act of slaughter; haima is the result (blood shed)
θύω (thyo)	G2380	13	"kill/sacrifice"	Sacrificial act; haima is the offering substance
ἐκχέω (ekcheo)	G1632	28	"poured out"	The verb for shedding; haima is what is shed

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
דָּם (dam)	H1818	269	34.72
שָׁפַךְ (shaphak)	H8210	48	19.91
זָרַק (zaraq)	H2236	23	18.44
נָקִי (naqiy)	H5355	22	16.90
שָׁחַט (shachat)	H7819	25	15.83
נָזָה (nazah)	H5137	13	14.69

H1818 דָּם (dam) is the overwhelming primary Hebrew equivalent (269 LXX co-occurrences, PMI 34.72). The remaining high-PMI words are verbs and adjectives from the sacrificial blood ritual vocabulary: pour (shaphak), sprinkle (zaraq), innocent (naqiy), slaughter (shachat), spatter (nazah).