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Greek verb · G4972

σφραγίζω

sphragizosfrag-id'-zo

to seal

15 uses in the Greek text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: sphragízō

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's G4972is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 6 of 27
    New Testament books
  • 10
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · G4972

to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation (literally or figuratively); by implication, to keep secret, to attest

The King James renders it: (set a, set to) seal up, stop.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

sphragizo is rendered "to seal". It stands 15 times in the Greek text, across six books.

  • Eight of the uses stand in Revelation, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Matthew 27:66So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.
  • The Greek text spells it ten different ways.

The first use

So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 27:66σφραγίσαντες

The first use, in the order of the New Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Eight of the word's fifteen uses are in Revelation.

The other 21 New Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • sealed5
  • having sealed3
  • you were sealed2
  • do seal1
  • has sealed1
  • has set his seal1
  • may seal1
  • we may have sealed1

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

σφραγίςsphragissealUses16

All 15, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

10 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • ἐσφράγισεν3
  • ἐσφραγίσθητε2
  • ἐσφραγισμένοι2
  • σφραγισάμενος2
  • ἐσφραγισμένοι.¶1
  • ἐσφραγισμένων1
  • σφραγίσαντες1
  • σφραγίσῃς1
  • σφράγισον1
  • σφραγίσωμεν1

The grammar of each form

  • verb · aorist active, indicative · 3rd person singular3V-AAI-3S
  • verb · perfect passive, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine plural3V-RPP-NPM
  • verb · aorist middle, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singular2V-AMP-NSM
  • verb · aorist passive, indicative · 2nd person plural2V-API-2P
  • verb · aorist active, command · 2nd person singular1V-AAM-2S
  • verb · aorist active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine plural1V-AAP-NPM
  • verb · aorist active, subjunctive · 1st person plural1V-AAS-1P
  • verb · aorist active, subjunctive · 2nd person singular1V-AAS-2S
  • verb · perfect passive, participle · genitive (“of”) · masculine plural1V-RPP-GPM

Matthew

one use
  • So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

    Matthew 27:66

    • σφραγίσαντεςsphragisantesverb · aorist active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine pluraltagged: having sealed

John

two uses
  • Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.

    John 3:33

    • ἐσφράγισενesphragisenverb · aorist active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: has set his seal
  • Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

    John 6:27

    • ἐσφράγισενesphragisenverb · aorist active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: has sealed

Romans

one use
  • So after I have completed this service and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set off to Spain by way of you.

    Romans 15:28

    • σφραγισάμενοςsphragisamenosverb · aorist middle, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: having sealed

2 Corinthians

one use
  • placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.

    2 Corinthians 1:22

    • σφραγισάμενοςsphragisamenosverb · aorist middle, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: having sealed

Ephesians

two uses
  • And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

    Ephesians 1:13

    • ἐσφραγίσθητεesphragistheteverb · aorist passive, indicative · 2nd person pluraltagged: you were sealed
  • And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

    Ephesians 4:30

    • ἐσφραγίσθητεesphragistheteverb · aorist passive, indicative · 2nd person pluraltagged: you were sealed

Revelation

eight uses
  • “Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

    Revelation 7:3

    • σφραγίσωμενsphragisomenverb · aorist active, subjunctive · 1st person pluraltagged: we may have sealed
  • And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:

    Revelation 7:4

    • ἐσφραγισμένωνesphragismenonverb · perfect passive, participle · genitive (“of”) · masculine pluraltagged: sealed
    • ἐσφραγισμένοιesphragismenoiverb · perfect passive, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine pluraltagged: sealed
  • From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

    Revelation 7:5

    • ἐσφραγισμένοιesphragismenoiverb · perfect passive, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine pluraltagged: sealed
  • from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

    Revelation 7:8

    • ἐσφραγισμένοι.¶esphragismenoiverb · perfect passive, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine pluraltagged: sealed
  • When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

    Revelation 10:4

    • σφράγισονsphragisonverb · aorist active, command · 2nd person singulartagged: do seal
  • And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.

    Revelation 20:3

    • ἐσφράγισενesphragisenverb · aorist active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: sealed
  • Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near.

    Revelation 22:10

    • σφραγίσῃςsphragisesverb · aorist active, subjunctive · 2nd person singulartagged: may seal

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESG (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0), the Brief lexicon based on Abbott-Smith (1922).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →