G4053 — περισσός (perissos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4053
Original: περισσός
Transliteration: perissos
Pronunciation: per-is-sos'
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: περί (peri, G4012) — around, beyond
Occurrences: 14 unique verses (16 tokens) in NT
Books: 7
First Occurrence: Matt 5:37 — "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G4012 (in the sense of beyond); superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); used also (in neuter as noun) preeminence, or (as adverb) vehemently.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 78.1: Much, Little [Positive-Negative Degree]
Domain 59.6: Abundance, Excess, Sparing
Domain 58.8: Unusual, Different From the Ordinary
Other words in 78.1: ἄμετρος (G280), ἀνάχυσις (G401), αὐξάνω (G837), βάθος (G899), βαθύς (G901), βάρος (G922)
Other words in 59.6: περισσεία (G4050), περίσσευμα (G4051), περισσεύω (G4052), πλεονάζω (G4121), πλούσιος (G4145)

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
more	3	21.4%
more abundant	2	14.3%
advantage	1	7.1%
hath	1	7.1%
measure	1	7.1%
more abundantly	1	7.1%
much more	1	7.1%
superfluous	1	7.1%
vehemently	1	7.1%
whatsoever is more	1	7.1%
with overmuch	1	7.1%
ye more	1	7.1%

Wide translation variety (12 renderings for 14 verses) reflects the word's flexible adjectival/adverbial usage.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Corinthians	3	1.2
1 Corinthians	2	0.5
Matthew	3	0.3
Mark	2	0.3
Luke	2	0.2
Romans	1	0.2
John	1	0.1

Concentrated in Gospels (8 of 14 verses) and Paul's Corinthian letters (5 verses). The word appears exclusively in the Gospels and Pauline epistles — absent from the General Epistles and Revelation.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Exceeding / Beyond What Is Expected¶

That which surpasses a norm or standard — the "more than" that distinguishes. - Matt 5:37 — "whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" — beyond yes/no is surplus, and here surplus is suspect - Matt 5:47 — "what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?" — exceeding the baseline of common courtesy - Luke 12:4 — "after that have no more that they can do" — nothing beyond bodily harm remains

2. Superabundant Quantity or Degree¶

Expressing surplus that overflows ordinary measure. - John 10:10 — "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" — life that exceeds mere existence - 1 Cor 12:23 — "upon these we bestow more abundant honour" — compensatory surplus of honor on less honorable members - 1 Cor 12:24 — "having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked" — God's design of surplus provision for deficiency

3. Superior Status or Preeminence¶

A qualitative superiority — something greater than its class. - Matt 11:9 — "A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet" — John exceeds the prophetic category - Luke 7:26 — "much more than a prophet" — same declaration with intensifier πολύ - Rom 3:1 — "What advantage then hath the Jew?" — the surplus benefit of Jewish identity (τὸ περισσόν as substantive)

4. Intensified Emotion or Action¶

Adverbial force — vehemence, excess of feeling. - Mark 6:51 — "they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure" — astonishment exceeding capacity - Mark 14:31 — "he spake the more vehemently" — Peter's intensified insistence - 2 Cor 2:7 — "lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow" — grief beyond what is restorative

5. Unnecessary / Superfluous¶

That which exceeds need and is therefore redundant. - 2 Cor 9:1 — "it is superfluous for me to write to you" — writing beyond what is necessary - 2 Cor 10:8 — "though I should boast somewhat more of our authority" — surplus boasting

Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Parsing	Count	Usage
περισσόν	Neuter (nom/acc sg)	5	Substantival ("the surplus") and adverbial
περισσοτέραν	Comparative fem acc sg	3	"more abundant" (honor, in 1 Cor 12)
περισσότερον	Comparative neut acc sg	9	Comparative adjectival/adverbial use
περισσοτέρᾳ	Comparative fem dat sg	1	"with overmuch" (sorrow, in 2 Cor 2:7)

The comparative form (περισσότερος) appears more frequently (13 of 21 total parsed occurrences) than the positive form (8 occurrences), indicating the word is characteristically used to express relative surplus rather than absolute superabundance.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἔχω (echo)	G2192	4x	"have more" — possessing surplus (life, ability)
λέγω (lego)	G3004	4x	"I say unto you, and more than" — prophetic declarations
σῶμα (soma)	G4983	3x	"more abundant honour" on body members (1 Cor 12)
δίδωμι (didomi)	G1325	2x	"having given more abundant" — God's allocation
μᾶλλον (mallon)	G3123	2x	Double-comparative intensification
τιμή (time)	G5092	2x	"more abundant honour" — surplus dignity
προφήτης (prophetes)	G4396	2x	"more than a prophet" — John the Baptist

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4052 περισσεύω (perisseuo) — verb: to superabound, be in excess (39 verses)
G4050 περισσεία (perisseia) — feminine noun: surplusage, superabundance (4 verses)
G4051 περίσσευμα (perisseuma) — neuter noun: a surplus, remainder (5 verses)
G4054 περισσότερον (perissoteron) — comparative (neuter as adverb): more superabundantly (4 verses)
G4056 περισσοτέρως (perissoteros) — adverb: more superabundantly (13 verses)
G4057 περισσῶς (perissos, adv.) — adverb: exceedingly, out of measure (3 verses)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
μᾶλλον (mallon)	G3123	"more"	mallon = comparative degree marker ("rather, more"); perissos = qualitative surplus beyond a standard
ἔτι (eti)	G2089	"more"	eti = temporal "still, yet"; perissos = quantitative/qualitative excess
πλείων (pleion)	G4119	"more"	pleion = comparative of polys (more in number/quantity); perissos = beyond the expected, surplus
περισσοτέρως (perissoteros)	G4056	"more abundant"	perissoteros = adverb from the comparative; perissos = the adjective itself

Semantic Domain¶

[078] Degree — words expressing extent or intensity
[059] Quantity — words for amount, surplus, excess
[065] Value — words expressing worth, advantage, benefit

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
יַתִּיר (yattir)	H3493	5	9.54	Aramaic — preeminent, exceeding; strongest alignment
יוֹתֵר (yowther)	H3148	4	9.22	Redundant, over and above; active participle of yathar
יָתַר (yathar)	H3498	4	5.61	To jut over, exceed; root verb
יֶתֶר (yether)	H3499	3	5.31	Overhanging, remainder, surplus

The primary LXX alignment is with the יתר (y-t-r) word family — "to exceed, be left over" — which maps the Hebrew concept of surplus/remainder onto the Greek notion of superabundance.