TR: ʻâbar → diabaino (Cross Over / Pass Through)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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עָבַר (ʻâbar) → διαβαίνω (diabaino) → διαβαίνω (diabaino)
H5674, 493x 99x as translation 3x in NT
"cross over" of ʻâbar "cross over, pass through"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H5674 | עָבַר (ʻâbar) | 493v | cross over, pass through/by, transgress, remove |
| H5676 | עֵבֶר (eber) | — | region beyond, opposite side (cognate noun) |
| H4569 | מַעֲבָר (maʻabar) | — | ford, crossing-place (derived noun) |
Key OT passages: - Jos 3:17 — "the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground" (defining narrative: Israel crosses Jordan) - Exo 12:12 — "I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn" (divine judgment-passage) - Zech 3:4 — "I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee" (Hiphil causative: removal of sin)
See H5674-abar.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occurrences | PMI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ʻâbar (H5674) | διαβαίνω (G1224) | 99x | 25.28 | Primary — physical crossing |
| ʻâbar (H5674) | παρέρχομαι (G3928) | 81x | 22.86 | Pass by / pass away |
| ʻâbar (H5674) | διέρχομαι (G1330) | 63x | 19.51 | Pass through territory |
| ʻâbar (H5674) | παραπορεύομαι (G3899) | 29x | 18.38 | Travel near, pass by |
| ʻâbar (H5674) | παραβαίνω (G3845) | 13x | 10.66 | Transgress, violate |
Semantic split in translation: The LXX fragments ʻâbar's wide semantic range across multiple Greek verbs. Diabaino captures only the core "cross over a boundary" sense — primarily the Jordan-crossing narratives. The transgression, transience, removal, and wrath senses are carried by different Greek words. This means no single NT Greek word inherits the full theological range of ʻâbar.
Reverse bridge — what Hebrew words does diabaino translate: | Hebrew | Strong's | Co-occurrences | Notes | |--------|----------|---------------|-------| | ʻâbar | H5674 | 99x | Dominant source (crossing narratives) | | Yarden | H3383 | 50x | Place name — Jordan as object of crossing | | maʻabar | H4569 | 4x | Ford/passage — derived from ʻâbar | | eber | H5676 | 7x | "Beyond" — cognate noun |
Diabaino is tightly bound to the ʻâbar word family. It is essentially the LXX's dedicated rendering for physical crossing.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1224 | διαβαίνω (diabaino) | 3v | cross over, pass through |
All NT occurrences: - Luke 16:26 — "between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot" (impassable eschatological boundary) - Acts 16:9 — "Come over into Macedonia, and help us" (missionary crossing — geographic) - Heb 11:29 — "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land" (explicit OT echo: Exodus sea-crossing)
TODO(need G1224 study)
Direct OT→NT Quotations¶
| NT Verse | Alludes To | Shared Concept | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heb 11:29 | Exo 14–15 (Red Sea) | Crossing waters by faith | Direct echo of OT crossing-narrative — same verb diabaino used in LXX of the Exodus event |
Hebrews 11:29 is the clearest continuity: the author uses diabaino for the Red Sea crossing, the same word the LXX uses for Israel's water-crossings throughout the Pentateuch and Joshua.
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Diabaino consistently means "to cross a boundary" — physical geography in both testaments - The faith-and-crossing pattern (Israel crossing by divine action) carries from OT narrative into Hebrews 11 as an exemplar of faith - The idea that God enables impossible crossings (Jordan, Red Sea) persists
What shifts: - The massive OT range of ʻâbar (transgression, removal of sin, wrath, transience) does NOT carry through diabaino into the NT. These senses are served by different Greek words (parabaino for transgression, parerchomai for passing away) - Diabaino appears only 3x in the NT, making it a minor word. The theological weight of ʻâbar distributes across several Greek word families in the NT - Luke 16:26 introduces a new sense not present in OT usage: an impassable boundary that cannot be crossed — inverting the OT pattern where God enables crossing
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-05-14