G4718 — σταφυλή (staphylē)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4718
Original: σταφυλή
Transliteration: staphylē
Pronunciation: staf-oo-lay
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Probably from the base of G4719 (stachys, "head of grain") — a cluster of grapes (as if intertwined)
Occurrences: 3 in NT (3 unique verses, 3 books)
First Occurrence: Mat 7:16 — "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Probably from the base of G4719 (stachys); a cluster of grapes (as if intertwined).

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 3.34 — Fruit Parts of Plants
Subdomain: 003004 — Fruit Parts of Plants
Other words in domain: βότρυς (G1009), ἐλαία (G1636), καρπός (G2590), κεράτιον (G2769), κόκκος (G2848), κριθή (G2915), ὄλυνθος (G3653), ὀπώρα (G3703), σῖτος (G4621)

Domain Neighbors (003004 — Fruit Parts of Plants)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G257	ἅλων	2	floor
G1009	βότρυς	1	clusters
G1636	ἐλαία	14	of Olives, olive tree
G2590	καρπός	56	fruit, fruits
G2769	κεράτιον	1	husks
G2848	κόκκος	6	a grain, corn
G2915	κριθή	1	of barley
G2916	κρίθινος	2	barley
G3653	ὄλυνθος	1	untimely figs
G3703	ὀπώρα	1	fruits
G4621	σῖτος	14	wheat, of wheat

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
grapes	3	100%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	1	0.2
Matthew	1	0.1
Luke	1	0.1

All three occurrences are spread across the Synoptic Gospels and Revelation. No concentration in any single book or author. Absent from Paul, John's Gospel, and all epistles.

Grammatical Forms¶

Reference	Form	Parsing
Mat 7:16	σταφυλὰς	Acc Pl F — object of "gather"
Luk 6:44	σταφυλὴν	Acc Sg F — object of "gather"
Rev 14:18	σταφυλαὶ	Nom Pl F — subject: "her grapes are fully ripe"

Semantic Categories¶

1. Proverbial — Fruit as Moral Indicator (Synoptic Teaching)¶

Mat 7:16 — "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"
Luk 6:44 — "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes."

Both Synoptic uses pair staphylē with sykon (figs) as examples of good fruit that cannot come from thorny plants. The grape functions as the self-evident standard of a good product matched to its proper source.

2. Eschatological — Harvest of Judgment (Revelation)¶

Rev 14:18 — "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe."

Here staphylē appears in an angel's command for eschatological harvest. The ripe grape cluster is destined for the "winepress of the wrath of God" (Rev 14:19). Note that βότρυς (G1009) is used for "clusters" in the same verse, while σταφυλή refers to the individual grapes being ripe.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἄμπελος (ampelos)	G288	1x (33%)	"vine of the earth... grapes" (Rev 14:18)
βότρυς (botrys)	G1009	1x (33%)	"clusters... grapes" (Rev 14:18)
δένδρον (dendron)	G1186	1x (33%)	"every tree known by fruit" (Mat 7:16)
δρέπανον (drepanon)	G1407	1x (33%)	"sharp sickle... gather grapes" (Rev 14:18)
ἐπιγινώσκω (epiginōskō)	G1921	1x (33%)	"know them by fruits... grapes" (Mat 7:16)
καρπός (karpos)	G2590	1x (33%)	"known by fruit... grapes" (Luk 6:44)

With only 3 verses, no collocation exceeds 1 co-occurrence. The most theologically significant are ampelos (vine) and karpos (fruit), which form the grape-vine-fruit semantic cluster.

Synonyms¶

σίκερα (sikera) G4608 — strong drink; intoxicant beyond grape-wine (Lk 1:15)

Antonyms¶

ὄμφαξ (omphax) — unripe grape (not in NT Strong's; semantic opposite as immature vs. ripe cluster)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
עֵנָב (ʻênâb)	H6025	"grapes"	OT Hebrew word for grape (berry); staphylē is the NT Greek equivalent
עֹלֵלָה (ʻôlêlâh)	H5955	"grapes"	OT gleanings of grapes; refers to what is left after harvest

Word Family¶

G4719 στάχυς (stachys) — head of grain; probable etymological base (shared concept of clustered produce on a stalk)
G1009 βότρυς (botrys) — cluster (of grapes); near-synonym focusing on the cluster form rather than the fruit

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
עֵנָב (ʻênâb)	H6025	15	10.29	Primary: the standard Hebrew grape-berry word
אֶשְׁכּוֹל (ʼeshkôwl)	H811	3	9.38	Cluster of grapes; the Hebrew equivalent for the cluster concept
תְּאֵן (tᵉʼên)	H8384	4	7.38	Fig tree; co-occurs in grape-and-fig pairings
גֶּפֶן (gephen)	H1612	4	6.80	Vine; the plant that produces staphylē
יַיִן (yayin)	H3196	3	5.02	Wine; the product made from staphylē

The primary Hebrew equivalent is H6025 ʻênâb (grape as fruit/berry), with H811 ʼeshkôwl mapping to the "cluster" aspect. In the LXX, σταφυλή renders both words depending on context.