G4735 — στέφανος (stephanos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4735
Original: στέφανος
Transliteration: stephanos
Pronunciation: stef'-an-os
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: στέφω (stepho) — to twine or wreathe
Occurrences: 18 unique verses in NT
Books: 10 (Matthew, Mark, John, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, James, 1 Peter, Revelation)
First Occurrence: Mat 27:29 — "And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From an apparently primary στέφω (stephō, to twine or wreathe); a chaplet (as a badge of royalty, a prize in the public games, or a symbol of honor generally; but more conspicuous and elaborate than the simple fillet, G1238): — crown.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 6 — Artifacts
Subdomain: 006018 — Adornments
Other words in subdomain: διάδημα (G1238), στέμμα (G4725), κόσμος (G2889), κράσπεδον (G2899), φυλακτήριον (G5440), χρυσίον (G5553)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[006] Artifacts
[057] Possess, Transfer, Exchange
[042] Perform, Do

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
a crown	7	38.9%
crown	7	38.9%
crowns	3	16.7%
the crown	1	5.6%

Exclusively rendered "crown" in all KJV occurrences — no semantic spread.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	8	2.0
2 Timothy	1	1.2
1 Thessalonians	1	1.1
1 Peter	1	1.0
James	1	0.9
John	2	0.2
1 Corinthians	1	0.2
Matthew	1	0.1
Mark	1	0.1
Philippians	1	—

Revelation accounts for 44% of all occurrences. The epistles show consistent use in eschatological reward contexts. The Gospels cluster exclusively in the Passion narrative.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Crown of Thorns (Mock Royal Crown)¶

The Passion narrative uses stephanos for the soldiers' mockery, where a thorny wreath substitutes for royal honor.

Mat 27:29 — "when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand"
Mark 15:17 — "they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head"
John 19:2 — "the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe"
John 19:5 — "Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe"

2. Athletic Victor's Wreath (Perishable Prize)¶

Greek athletic games awarded a chaplet of laurel, olive, or pine. Paul uses this image to contrast temporal and eternal reward.

1 Cor 9:25 — "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible"

3. Eschatological Crown of Reward¶

The dominant epistolary use. Stephanos names the eschatological reward promised to the faithful — never earned by merit in context, always received from Christ.

2 Tim 4:8 — "there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day"
James 1:12 — "he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him"
1 Pet 5:4 — "when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away"
Rev 2:10 — "be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life"
Rev 3:11 — "hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown"

4. Persons as Crown (Apostolic Joy)¶

Paul uses stephanos metaphorically for beloved communities — the persons themselves are his crown of honor, his public validation.

1 Thess 2:19 — "what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?"
Phil 4:1 — "my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord"

5. Heavenly Crowned Beings (Apocalyptic Vision)¶

Revelation deploys stephanos across multiple symbolic figures — elders, the conquering rider, locusts, the cosmic woman, and the Son of Man figure.

Rev 4:4 — "four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold"
Rev 4:10 — "the four and twenty elders fall down... and cast their crowns before the throne"
Rev 6:2 — "he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering"
Rev 12:1 — "a woman clothed with the sun... and upon her head a crown of twelve stars"
Rev 14:14 — "upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
κεφαλή (head)	G2776	6x (33%)	"crown upon the head" — physical placement
ἔχω (have)	G2192	5x (28%)	"having a crown" — vision descriptions in Revelation
κάθημαι (sit)	G2521	4x (22%)	elders sitting, crowned, on thrones
κύριος (Lord)	G2962	4x (22%)	crowns given by the Lord; Lord as giver
λευκός (white)	G3022	3x (17%)	white raiment and gold crowns of elders
περιβάλλω (clothed)	G4016	3x (17%)	mock-coronation: clothed in purple, crowned with thorns
πλέκω (plait/weave)	G4120	3x (17%)	the act of weaving the crown of thorns
ἄκανθα (thorns)	G0173	2x (11%)	crown of thorns in Passion narrative

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4737 στεφανόω (stephanoō) — to crown, to wreathe; the verbal form of stephanos (used in 2 Tim 2:5; Heb 2:7, 9)
G4725 στέμμα (stemma) — a wreath (used only in Acts 14:13 for garlands on sacrificial animals)

Synonyms¶

G1391 δόξα — glory / honor; the crown as a visible sign of bestowed honor
G5552 χρυσοῦς — golden; linked by the repeated "golden crown(s)" imagery in Revelation
G2007 ἐπιτίθημι — to place upon; the action verb repeatedly associated with crowning scenes
G2746 καύχησις — boasting / rejoicing; honor-reward vocabulary adjacent to the crown image
G438 ἄνθος — flower; perishable-wreath imagery and fading-beauty associations

Antonyms¶

G877 ἀφροσύνη — foolishness; the lone contrastive term returned by search_relationships.py, opposing the honor/wisdom side of the crown motif

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
διάδημα (diadema)	G1238	both "crowns" (Rev)	diadema = crown of royal sovereignty (the dragon's 7 crowns, beast's 10 crowns, Christ's many crowns in Rev 13:1; 19:12); stephanos = victor's/honor wreath given as prize or recognition
עֲטָרָה (atarah)	H5850	"crown" in OT	primary Hebrew source word; same semantic range — crown of honor, beauty, or righteousness
נֶזֶר (nezer)	H5145	"crown"	specifically the Nazirite head-consecration or the royal diadem; more focused on consecration than victory
זֵר (zer)	H2213	"a crown"	the decorative gold rim/molding on tabernacle furniture (ark, table, altar) — architectural, not worn

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
עֲטָרָה (atarah)	H5850	22	9.66
תִּפְאָרָה (tiphʼarah)	H8597	9	7.19
רֹאשׁ (rosh, head)	H7218	12	4.18
זָהָב (zahab, gold)	H2091	4	3.35

Primary LXX source is H5850 atarah — a crown of honor, beauty, or royal dignity (used in Prov 12:4; 17:6; Isa 28:5; 62:3; Ezek 16:12).