"sharp, keen, Rev. 1:16; 2:12; 14:14, 17, 18; 19:15; swift, nimble, Rom. 3:15*"
Definition and meaning
sharp, keen, Rev. 1:16; 2:12; 14:14, 17, 18; 19:15; swift, nimble, Rom. 3:15*
In the original Greek the word is written: ὀξύς
Historical context
Paul wrote Romans from Corinth, one of the most important commercial cities in the empire. Rome had a Jewish population of around 50,000. The letter addresses real tensions between Jewish believers with centuries of Torah tradition and Gentile believers with no such background. Emperor Nero was on the throne. Within ten years he would execute both Paul and Peter.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of oxys (G3691) across the King James Bible.
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
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Common questions
Strong's G3691 (oxys) is a Greek word that means: sharp, keen, Rev. 1:16; 2:12; 14:14, 17, 18; 19:15; swift, nimble, Rom. 3:15* It appears 7 times in the King James Bible.
The word oxys (G3691) appears 7 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G3691 is oxys, a Greek word defined as: sharp, keen, Rev. 1:16; 2:12; 14:14, 17, 18; 19:15; swift, nimble, Rom. 3:15*. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
oxys is a Greek word found in the New Testament.