G4578 — σεισμός (seismós)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4578
Original: σεισμός
Transliteration: seismós
Pronunciation: sice-mos
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: G4579 σείω (seíō) — to rock, vibrate (sideways); to agitate
Occurrences: 12 unique verses, 14 tokens, 5 books
First Occurrence: Matt 8:24 — "there arose a great tempest (seismós) in the sea"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G4579 (seíō); a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 014010: Movement of the Earth (primary — covers earthquake)
Domain 014005: Events Involving Liquids and Dry Masses (secondary — covers Matt 8:24 "tempest/storm")
Domain 014: Physical Events and States

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[014] Physical Events and States

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
earthquake	6	50.0%
an earthquake	3	25.0%
earthquakes	3	25.0%
tempest	1	8.3%

Note: Matt 8:24 is the sole "tempest" rendering, referring to a violent sea commotion rather than ground movement.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	5	1.2
Matthew	4	0.4
Mark	1	0.1
Luke	1	0.1
Acts	1	0.1

Revelation accounts for the heaviest concentration (1.2 per 100 verses). The word is absent from all OT books, the Pauline epistles, and the General Epistles outside Revelation. It clusters in eschatological and theophanic contexts.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Sea Storm / Violent Commotion¶

Matt 8:24 — "there arose a great tempest (seismós) in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves"

The word's lexical range includes any violent agitation. Here it denotes a storm-induced shaking of the sea, not a ground earthquake. This is the only "tempest" rendering.

2. Eschatological Warning Signs (Olivet Discourse)¶

Matt 24:7 — "there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes (seismoí), in divers places"
Mark 13:8 — "there shall be earthquakes in divers places"
Luke 21:11 — "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences"

All three Synoptics use seismós in Jesus' list of "beginning of sorrows" — paired with λιμός (famine) and λοιμός (pestilence).

3. Earthquake at the Passion¶

Matt 27:54 — "the centurion... saw the earthquake (seismós), and those things that were done"
Matt 28:2 — "there was a great earthquake (seismós): for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven"

Seismós marks both the death and resurrection of Jesus as earth-shaking divine events. Unique to Matthew's Passion and resurrection accounts.

4. Divine Deliverance¶

Acts 16:26 — "suddenly there was a great earthquake (seismós), so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened"

God's earthquake breaks open Paul's prison — seismós as instrument of miraculous liberation.

5. Apocalyptic Theophany in Revelation¶

Rev 6:12 — "there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth"
Rev 8:5 — "the angel... cast [fire] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake"
Rev 11:13 — "the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell"
Rev 11:19 — "there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail"
Rev 16:18 — "there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth"

Revelation's standard theophanic formula pairs seismós with φωνή (voices), βροντή (thunderings), and ἀστραπή (lightnings) — occurring at the sixth seal and at each of the three judgment series' climaxes (trumpets, bowls, and their intercalations).

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
οὐρανός (heaven)	G3772	4x (33%)	Revelation judgment scenes — heaven opened
ἀστραπή (lightning)	G796	3x (25%)	Theophanic triad in Rev 8:5, 11:19, 16:18
βροντή (thunder)	G1027	3x (25%)	Theophanic triad in Rev 8:5, 11:19, 16:18
φωνή (voice/sound)	G5456	3x (25%)	Theophanic triad in Rev 8:5, 11:19, 16:18
λιμός (famine)	G3042	3x (25%)	Olivet Discourse triad: earthquake + famine + pestilence
ἀνοίγω (open)	G455	3x (25%)	Temple/heaven opened at judgment climax
θεός (God)	G2316	3x (25%)	Divine agency explicit in judgment contexts
τόπος (place)	G5117	3x (25%)	"Earthquakes in divers places"
λοιμός (pestilence)	G3061	2x (17%)	Olivet Discourse: earthquake + famine + pestilence
ἔθνος (nation)	G1484	2x (17%)	"Nation against nation" parallel to earthquake

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4579 σείω (seíō) — root verb: to rock, vibrate, agitate; used of the earth shaking at the crucifixion (Matt 27:51), of the city being "moved" at Jesus' triumphal entry (Matt 21:10), and of the eschatological shaking in Heb 12:26

Synonyms¶

G3709 ὀργή — judgment-context synonym listed by search_relationships.py

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms surfaced by search_relationships.py.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
רַעַשׁ (raʻash)	H7494	"earthquake" (KJV)	OT Hebrew equivalent; seismós is the Greek rendering of raʻash in the LXX

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrence	PMI Score	Notes
רַעַשׁ (raʻash)	H7494	11	10.23	Primary OT equivalent: vibration, shaking, uproar
קוֹל (qôwl)	H6963	7	4.86	Voice/thunder — shares contexts (theophany)
גָּדוֹל (gâdôwl)	H1419	5	4.18	"Great" — modifies raʻash and seismós in same way

H7494 raʻash is the dominant LXX source word (PMI 10.23). The LXX consistently renders raʻash as seismós in passages like 1 Kgs 19:11–12 (earthquake before Elijah), Amos 1:1, and Zech 14:5.