G4077 — πηγή (pēgē)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4077
Original: πηγή
Transliteration: pēgē
Pronunciation: pay-gay
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Probably from πήγνυμι (pēgnymi) — to fix, fasten (through the idea of gushing plumply)
Occurrences: 11 unique verses (12 tokens) in NT
First Occurrence: Mark 5:29 — "And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Probably from πήγνυμι (through the idea of gushing plumply); a fount (literal or figurative), i.e. source or supply — fountain, spring, well.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 1.78: Bodies of Water — a spring of water
Domain 7.57: Constructions for Holding Water — a well or cistern
Domain 23.181: Physiological Processes — a flow (of blood)
Other words in "Bodies of Water" domain: θάλασσα (G2281, sea), λίμνη (G3041, lake), ποταμός (G4215, river), φρέαρ (G5421, pit/well), χείμαρρος (G5493, brook)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
001	Geographical Objects and Features	`search_relationships.py` places pēgē in the natural-landscape field as a spring or fountain source.
007	Constructions	Captures the well/cistern side of the word's usage, especially in John 4.
023	Physiological Processes and States	Covers the bodily-flow sense in Mark 5:29 ("fountain of blood").

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
fountain	4	36.4%
fountains	3	27.3%
the fountains	1	9.1%
well	1	9.1%
a well	1	9.1%
wells	1	9.1%

"Fountain(s)" dominates at 73% of uses; "well(s)" covers the remaining 27%.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
James	2	1.9
2 Peter	1	1.6
Revelation	5	1.2
John	2	0.2
Mark	1	0.1

Concentrated in Revelation (5 of 11 verses). Entirely absent from the OT-quoting Pauline epistles and the Synoptics (except Mark 5:29). The word clusters in apocalyptic/eschatological and wisdom/ethical contexts.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Water Source (Well/Spring)¶

John 4:6 — "Now Jacob's well (πηγή) was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well"
John 4:14 — "the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well (πηγή) of water springing up into everlasting life"

The Samaritan well scene uses πηγή for the physical well, then transitions it into metaphor. John 4:6 uses πηγή twice (nominative + dative), treating the well as a natural spring-fed source.

2. Bodily Flow (Physiological Source)¶

Mark 5:29 — "And straightway the fountain (πηγή) of her blood was dried up"

The only medical/physiological use. Refers to the source of the woman's hemorrhage — the originating flow rather than the blood itself.

3. Metaphor for Speech/Character (Ethical Source)¶

James 3:11 — "Doth a fountain (πηγή) send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?"
James 3:12 — "so can no fountain (πηγή) both yield salt water and fresh"

James uses πηγή as a figure for the human tongue/heart as the source from which speech flows. The argument: a single source cannot produce contradictory outputs.

4. Dry/Empty Source (False Teachers)¶

2 Peter 2:17 — "These are wells (πηγαί) without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest"

Plural πηγαί applied to false teachers — sources that promise refreshment but deliver nothing. The emphasis falls on the expected function (water supply) being absent.

5. Cosmic/Eschatological Water Sources¶

Revelation 8:10 — "it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters"
Revelation 14:7 — "worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters"
Revelation 16:4 — "the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters"

In the Revelation judgment sequences, πηγαί τῶν ὑδάτων ("fountains of waters") appears as a standard phrase alongside rivers — the freshwater supply infrastructure of the earth subject to divine judgment.

6. Eschatological Life-Giving Source¶

Revelation 7:17 — "the Lamb...shall lead them unto living fountains (πηγὰς ζωσάς) of waters"
Revelation 21:6 — "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain (πηγή) of the water of life freely"

The redemptive counterpart to the judgment uses. God/the Lamb as the πηγή of living water echoes John 4:14 and the OT spring-of-life motif.

Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Parsing	Occurrences
πηγή (nom sg)	N-NSF	5 (Mark 5:29; John 4:6, 4:14; James 3:11)
πηγῇ (dat sg)	N-DSF	1 (John 4:6)
πηγῆς (gen sg)	N-GSF	1 (Revelation 21:6)
πηγαί (nom pl)	N-NPF	1 (2 Peter 2:17)
πηγάς (acc pl)	N-APF	4 (Revelation 7:17, 8:10, 14:7, 16:4)

Singular dominates in narrative/metaphorical uses; plural appears exclusively in Revelation's cosmic scope and 2 Peter's polemic.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ὕδωρ (hydōr)	G5204	6x (55%)	"fountain(s) of waters" — πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων
ποταμός (potamos)	G4215	2x (18%)	"rivers and fountains" — paired freshwater sources
ζωή (zōē)	G2222	2x (18%)	"well of water springing up into everlasting life"; "fountain of the water of life"
διψάω (dipsaō)	G1372	2x (18%)	"him that is athirst...of the fountain" — thirst satisfied by the source
αἷμα (haima)	G129	2x (18%)	"fountain of her blood" (Mark); "became blood" (Rev 16:4)
γλυκύς (glykys)	G1099	2x (18%)	"sweet water" vs. bitter — the quality test of the source

Domain Neighbors (Bodies of Water)¶

Word	Strong's	Total Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference
θάλασσα (thalassa)	G2281	78	sea	Large body of salt water; πηγή is a freshwater source
λίμνη (limnē)	G3041	10	lake	Standing body of water; πηγή is a flowing/springing source
ποταμός (potamos)	G4215	10	river	Flowing waterway; πηγή is the origin point where water emerges
φρέαρ (phrear)	G5421	7	pit, well	Constructed/dug cistern; πηγή emphasizes the natural spring source

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py returned a broad water-source field rather than tight lexical equivalents. The closest usable overlaps are: - G5421 φρέαρ (phrear) — well/cistern; the nearest structural parallel, though more often a dug well than a spring - G5204 ὕδωρ (hydōr) — water; not identical to pēgē, but the content/source term most closely paired with it

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G4077.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
φρέαρ (phrear)	G5421	"well"	φρέαρ = a dug well or pit (artificial); πηγή = a spring or natural source. In John 4, the woman calls it φρέαρ (v.11-12, the dug well), while the narrator calls it πηγή (v.6, 14, the spring-fed source)
מַעְיָן (ma'yan)	H4599	"fountain(s)"	Primary Hebrew equivalent in LXX — a flowing spring; closest semantic match
עַיִן ('ayin)	H5869	"fountains"	Hebrew "eye/spring" — occasionally rendered πηγή in LXX

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
מַעְיָן (ma'yan)	H4599	19	24.4
מָקוֹר (maqor)	H4726	16	23.3
מַיִם (mayim)	H4325	33	15.3
עֵין רֹגֵל ('Eyn Rogel)	H5883	4	13.4
תְּהוֹם (tehom)	H8415	7	12.4
מַבּוּעַ (mabbua')	H4002	3	11.5

The two strongest LXX bridges are H4599 מַעְיָן (a flowing spring, 19 co-occurrences) and H4726 מָקוֹר (a source/origin, 16 co-occurrences). מָקוֹר is especially significant: in Hebrew it means "source" in both literal (Psalm 36:9, "fountain of life") and figurative senses (Proverbs 13:14, "fountain of life" = wise teaching), which maps directly onto πηγή's dual literal/metaphorical range in the NT.