"a hardening; met. hardness of heart, callousness, insensibility, Mk. 3:5; Rom. 11:25; Eph. 4:18*"
Definition and meaning
a hardening; met. hardness of heart, callousness, insensibility, Mk. 3:5; Rom. 11:25; Eph. 4:18*
In the original Greek the word is written: πώρωσις
Historical context
The Gospel of Mark moves urgently — the word "immediately" appears over 40 times. It was written for a Roman audience familiar with power and action. Jesus is portrayed as a man who acts, heals, and commands authority that the Roman world had never seen from a Jewish teacher.
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 porosis (G4457) across the King James Bible.
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
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Common questions
Strong's G4457 (porosis) is a Greek word that means: a hardening; met. hardness of heart, callousness, insensibility, Mk. 3:5; Rom. 11:25; Eph. 4:18* It appears 3 times in the King James Bible.
The word porosis (G4457) appears 3 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G4457 is porosis, a Greek word defined as: a hardening; met. hardness of heart, callousness, insensibility, Mk. 3:5; Rom. 11:25; Eph. 4:18*. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
porosis is a Greek word found in the New Testament.