G4374 — προσφέρω (prosphérō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4374
Original: προσφέρω
Transliteration: prosphérō
Pronunciation: pros-fer'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: πρός (pros, "toward") + φέρω (pherō, "to bear/carry")
Occurrences: 48 tokens across 45 unique verses
Books: 6 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Hebrews)
First Occurrence: Matt 2:11 — "they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From πρός and φέρω (including its alternate); to bear towards, i.e. lead to, tender (especially to God), treat.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domains¶

Domain 15.024: Carry, Bear — physical movement of objects toward a destination
Domain 15.023: Lead, Bring, Take — bringing persons or things to someone
Domain 57.008: Give — presenting/offering something to another
Domain 41.001: Behavior, Conduct — dealing with or treating someone

Domain Neighbors (15.024 — Carry, Bear)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total vv	Primary KJV Translation
G71	ἄγω	17	brought
G142	αἴρω	22	take up
G399	ἀναφέρω	5	offer up
G667	ἀποφέρω	6	carried away
G941	βαστάζω	10	bear
G1308	διαφέρω	5	better than
G1521	εἰσάγω	5	brought in
G1533	εἰσφέρω	5	lead in
G5342	φέρω	16	bring

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
brought / they brought / was brought	14	31%
offer / offered / offering / offered up	18	40%
presented	1	2%
put	1	2%
dealeth	1	2%
doeth	1	2%
Other verbal forms	9	20%

The two major translation poles — "bring" (physical movement) and "offer" (sacrificial/liturgical action) — reflect the compound meaning: bearing something toward God or toward a person.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hebrews	18	5.94
Matthew	15	1.40
Luke	5	0.43
Acts	3	0.30
Mark	2	0.29
John	2	0.23

Hebrews dominates with 40% of all uses and 4x the density of the next book. Matthew accounts for another 33%. The word is absent from Paul's non-Hebrews epistles, the General Epistles, and Revelation. Its concentration in Hebrews reflects that book's extended priestly/sacrificial argument; in Matthew, it clusters around physical bringing (sick people, children, gifts) and the Mosaic offering commands.

Morphological Distribution¶

Tense-Voice	Count	Notes
Aorist Active	23	Dominant: completed acts of bringing/offering (Indicative 16, Imperative 2, Subjunctive 2, Participle 2, Infinitive 1)
Present Active	13	Ongoing/habitual offering (Indicative 2, Subjunctive 3, Infinitive 3, Imperative 1, Participle 4)
Present Passive	5	Gifts/sacrifices being offered (Indicative 4, Participle 1)
Aorist Passive	3	Christ/persons brought or offered (Indicative 2, Participle 1)
Imperfect Active	3	Repeated past bringing (all 3P Indicative)
Perfect Active	1	Heb 11:17 — Abraham "has offered" Isaac (completed with abiding result)

The aorist active dominates narrative contexts (completed historical acts). Present forms cluster in Hebrews for habitual/ongoing priestly activity. The sole perfect in Heb 11:17 (προσενήνοχεν) emphasizes the permanent significance of Abraham's act. The aorist passive in Heb 9:28 (προσενεχθείς, "having been offered") describes Christ's once-for-all sacrifice.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Bringing of Persons (to Jesus)¶

Matt 4:24 — "they brought unto him all sick people"
Matt 9:2 — "they brought to him a man sick of the palsy"
Matt 9:32 — "they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil"
Matt 19:13 — "there were brought unto him little children"

2. Presenting Gifts or Money¶

Matt 2:11 — "they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh"
Matt 22:19 — "they brought unto him a penny"
Matt 25:20 — "he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents"
Acts 8:18 — "he offered them money"

3. Mosaic Sacrificial Offering¶

Matt 8:4 — "offer the gift that Moses commanded"
Mark 1:44 — "offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded"
Luke 5:14 — "offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded"
Acts 21:26 — "until that an offering should be offered for every one of them"

4. Priestly Offering — General/Habitual¶

Heb 5:1 — "every high priest...is ordained...that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins"
Heb 5:3 — "he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins"
Heb 8:3 — "every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices"
Heb 10:1 — "those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually"
Heb 10:11 — "every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices"

5. Christ's Once-for-All Self-Offering¶

Heb 9:14 — "Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God"
Heb 9:25 — "nor yet that he should offer himself often"
Heb 9:28 — "so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many"
Heb 10:12 — "this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down"

6. OT Faith Offerings¶

Heb 11:4 — "by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain"
Heb 11:17 — "by faith Abraham...offered up Isaac"
Acts 7:42 — "have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices...in the wilderness?"

7. Non-Sacrificial Offering / Treating¶

John 16:2 — "whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (prosphérō latreia)
Heb 5:7 — "when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying"
Heb 12:7 — "God dealeth with you as with sons"
Luke 23:36 — "the soldiers also mocked him...offering him vinegar"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
δῶρον (dōron)	G1435	9x (20%)	"offer/bring gifts" — gift presented at altar or to a person
θυσία (thysía)	G2378	9x (20%)	"offer sacrifices" — the standard sacrificial construction
ἁμαρτία (hamartía)	G266	8x (18%)	"offer for sins" — sin as the occasion for offering
θεός (theós)	G2316	7x (16%)	"offer to God" — divine recipient of the offering
ἱερεύς (hiereús)	G2409	5x (11%)	"priest offers" — priestly subject performing the act
ἀρχιερεύς (archiereús)	G749	4x (9%)	"high priest offers" — high priestly office
δαιμονίζομαι (daimonizomai)	G1139	4x (9%)	"brought demon-possessed" — Synoptic bringing narratives
θεραπεύω (therapeúō)	G2323	4x (9%)	"brought...and healed" — bringing the sick for healing
λατρεύω (latreúō)	G3000	4x (9%)	"offer...service/worship" — cultic context
αἷμα (haîma)	G129	3x (7%)	"offered...blood" — blood sacrifice in Hebrews

Word Family / Cognates¶

G5342 φέρω (pherō) — root verb: to bear, carry, bring (16v)
G399 ἀναφέρω (anaphérō) — ἀνά + φέρω: to bear upward, offer up (9v)
G4376 προσφορά (prosphorá) — cognate noun: an offering, presentation (9v)
G1533 εἰσφέρω (eisphérō) — εἰς + φέρω: to bring into (5v)
G667 ἀποφέρω (apophérō) — ἀπό + φέρω: to carry away (6v)
G1308 διαφέρω (diaphérō) — διά + φέρω: to carry through, differ (5v)

Synonyms¶

G680 ἅπτω (haptō) — to touch, kindle (Louw-Nida synonym)
G3982 πείθω (peithō) — to persuade, bring to (Louw-Nida synonym)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
φέρω (pherō)	G5342	"brought"	pherō = general carrying/bearing; prosphérō adds directional force (toward a person or God)
ἄγω (agō)	G71	"brought"	agō = to lead (persons); prosphérō = to bear/carry (often objects or sick persons)
ἀναφέρω (anaphérō)	G399	"offered/offered up"	anaphérō = bear upward (ascending to God, or bearing sin vicariously); prosphérō = bear toward/present (the general offering verb)
δίδωμι (didōmi)	G1325	"offer"	didōmi = to give (general); prosphérō = to present formally, especially in cultic contexts

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
קָרַב (qārab)	H7126	83x	5.89	"to approach/bring near" — primary LXX equivalent; priestly bringing near
קׇרְבָּן (qorbān)	H7133	31x	6.21	"something brought near" — the offering noun from same root
מִנְחָה (minchāh)	H4503	25x	4.60	"grain/meal offering" — the gift-type offering
עֹלָה (ʻōlāh)	H5930	23x	4.04	"burnt offering" — ascending offering
אִשֶּׁה (ʼishsheh)	H801	10x	4.86	"fire offering" — liturgical fire-offering term
שֶׁלֶם (shelem)	H8002	11x	4.62	"peace/fellowship offering"
זֶבַח (zebach)	H2077	13x	4.01	"slaughter/sacrifice"

The dominant Hebrew source is H7126 קָרַב (qārab, "to bring near"), which shares the directional semantics of πρός in prosphérō. The LXX translators consistently chose prosphérō for the act of presenting offerings, making it the primary Greek rendering of Levitical "bringing near" to the altar.