G4376 — προσφορά (prosphorá)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4376
Original: προσφορά
Transliteration: prosphorá
Pronunciation: pros-for-ah'
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: G4374 προσφέρω (prosphérō) — to bear toward, bring to, offer, present
Occurrences: 9 unique verses (9 tokens) across 4 books
First Occurrence: Acts 21:26 — "to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G4374 (prosphérō); presentation; concretely, an oblation (bloodless) or sacrifice.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 53.002 — Offering, Sacrifice
Parent Domain: 53 — Religious Activities
Other words in subdomain: ἀνάθημα (G334), ἀναφέρω (G399), ἀπαρχή (G536), ἄρτος (G740), θυμίαμα (G2368), θυμιάω (G2370), θυσία (G2378), θύω (G2380), κορβᾶν (G2878), ὁλοκαύτωμα (G3646), πρόθεσις (G4286)

Domain Neighbors (053.002 — Offering, Sacrifice)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G334	ἀνάθημα	1	gifts
G399	ἀναφέρω	5	to offer up
G536	ἀπαρχή	7	firstfruits
G740	ἄρτος	85	bread, loaves
G2368	θυμίαμα	5	incense
G2378	θυσία	26	sacrifice, sacrifices
G2380	θύω	3	kill
G2878	κορβᾶν	2	Corban, treasury
G3646	ὁλοκαύτωμα	3	burnt offerings
G4286	πρόθεσις	11	purpose, shewbread

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
offering	5	55.6%
an offering	2	22.2%
offering up	1	11.1%
offerings	1	11.1%

Every KJV rendering uses "offering" — no semantic spread at all. The word is functionally univocal in English translation.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hebrews	5	1.65
Ephesians	1	0.65
Acts	2	0.20
Romans	1	0.23

Hebrews dominates with 5 of 9 occurrences (all in chapter 10). The word is essentially a Hebrews term in the NT, with the remaining uses scattered across Acts (Jewish temple context), Romans (Gentile offering metaphor), and Ephesians (Christ's self-offering).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Christ's Definitive Self-Offering (Hebrews 10)¶

Heb 10:10 — "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
Heb 10:14 — "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
Heb 10:18 — "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin."

The dominant usage. Christ's single, unrepeatable offering achieves what the old system could not. The genitive construction in 10:10 (τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ σώματος) identifies the offering as Christ's body. The dative in 10:14 (μιᾷ προσφορᾷ) emphasizes "by one offering" — numerical singularity.

2. OT Sacrifice Declared Insufficient¶

Heb 10:5 — "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me"
Heb 10:8 — "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein"

Quoting Psalm 40:6 (LXX 39:7), where prosphorá and thysía are paired and both rejected as inadequate. The four-fold listing in 10:8 exhausts the OT categories: thysía (sacrifice), prosphorá (offering/presentation), holokautōma (burnt offering), and prosphorá for sin.

3. Practical/Ceremonial Offerings (Acts)¶

Acts 21:26 — "to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them"
Acts 24:17 — "Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings."

Temple-connected, Jewish ritual usage. In 21:26 Paul participates in Nazirite purification rites. In 24:17 the "offerings" accompany alms — a general term for what Paul brought to Jerusalem.

4. Metaphorical Offering (Pauline)¶

Eph 5:2 — "Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."
Rom 15:16 — "that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost."

Two distinct metaphors: in Ephesians, Christ himself is the offering (paired with thysía); in Romans, the Gentile converts are the offering Paul presents as a priestly minister. The Rom 15:16 use is unique — the only time prosphorá refers to people rather than a thing or act.

Morphological Distribution¶

Case	Count	Example
Nominative Sg	3	Acts 21:26, Rom 15:16, Heb 10:18
Accusative Sg	2	Eph 5:2, Heb 10:5
Accusative Pl	2	Acts 24:17, Heb 10:8
Genitive Sg	1	Heb 10:10
Dative Sg	1	Heb 10:14

Full case range for 9 occurrences. The genitive (Heb 10:10) and dative (Heb 10:14) are theologically significant constructions.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἁγιάζω (hagiázō)	G37	3x (33%)	"sanctified through the offering" — offering produces sanctification
θυσία (thysía)	G2378	3x (33%)	"sacrifice and offering" — paired as comprehensive term for OT worship
Χριστός (Christós)	G5547	3x (33%)	"offering of... Jesus Christ" — Christ as both offerer and offering
ἁμαρτία (hamartía)	G266	2x (22%)	"offering for sin" — sin as the purpose requiring offering
προσφέρω (prosphérō)	G4374	2x (22%)	"offering should be offered" — cognate verb-noun pairing
σῶμα (sōma)	G4983	2x (22%)	"offering of the body" — the physical body as the substance offered

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4374 προσφέρω (prosphérō) — root verb: to bear toward, bring to, offer, present (48v) — G4374-prosphero.md
G5342 φέρω (phérō) — grandparent root: to bear, carry (58v)
G4314 πρός (prós) — prefix: toward, before

Synonyms (Louw-Nida Domain)¶

G2378 θυσία (thysía) — sacrifice, offering (26v) — the sacrifice itself or the act of sacrificing; broader than prosphorá — G2378-thysia.md
G399 ἀναφέρω (anaphérō) — to offer up, bear upward (5v) — stresses the upward/Godward direction of offering
G1435 δῶρον (dōron) — gift, offering (19v) — the gift-offering brought to the altar
G3646 ὁλοκαύτωμα (holokaútōma) — whole burnt offering (3v) — the specific entirely-consumed type

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
θυσία (thysía)	G2378	both rendered "offering"	thysía = the sacrifice itself (victim or act); prosphorá = the act of presenting/bringing near
προσφέρω (prosphérō)	G4374	"offering" / "to offer"	prosphérō = the verb (to offer); prosphorá = the noun (the offering presented)
H4503 מִנְחָה (minchâh)	H4503	"an offering"	minchâh = specifically grain/meal offering (OT); prosphorá = any presented offering
H7133 קׇרְבָּן (qorbân)	H7133	"offering"	qorbân = anything brought near to God (from qarab); prosphorá = the NT Greek equivalent of this concept
H8641 תְּרוּמָה (trûwmâh)	H8641	"offering"	trûwmâh = a heave/contribution offering lifted up; prosphorá = general presentation

Hebrew Source¶

No direct Hebrew source via LXX mapping data found. However, the word appears in the LXX of Psalm 40:6 (LXX 39:7), quoted in Hebrews 10:5, where it renders H4503 מִנְחָה (minchâh, grain offering).