Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary
βλαστανω
The verb βλαστανω (blastano) means to bud, sprout or grow. It's derived from the noun βλαστος (blastos), which in the New Testament occurs only as the name Blastus.
Our verb is used in the Bible in the sense of to produce or yield or to sprout. It lives on in modern English in word such as blastula and blastocyst (and of course, slightly distorted, in the verb to blast).
This verb is used 4 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.
Here at Abarim Publications we propose that the familiar adjective βλασφημος (blasphemos) and associated derivatives are formed from our noun βλαστος (blastos) plus the noun φημη (pheme), meaning conveyance. Alternatively, the first part of this word may stem from the following:
βλαπτω
The verb βλαπτω (blapto) means to hurt, disable or hinder (Mark 16:18 and Luke 4:35 only). It's fairly common in the classics, and describes anything from horses getting caught in branches, chariots getting stopped in whatever way or for whatever reason, mortals getting stumped by divine intervention or man's minds getting warped, misled or distracted by gods, wine or circumstance. The emphasis of this verb is on the terminating of someone's or something's natural or intended route, by means of some intervention or infusion that confounds, permanently disables or wholly alters the recipient. In a negative sense (which is the sense in which this verb occurs in the New Testament) it would mean to contaminate or corrupt.
This verb is thought to derive from a poorly attested Proto-Indo-European root, which doesn't really have any other attestations beyond our Greek verb. Here at Abarim Publications we incline more toward the Aramaic verb בלבל (bilbel) which means to mix, upset or disturb, and which corresponds to the Hebrew verb בלל (balal), to mix.
From our Greek verb derives:
- The adjective βλαβερος (blaberos), meaning harmful, corruptive, hindering, disabling or damaging (1 Timothy 6:9 only). This adjective derives most directly from the noun βλαβη (blabe), harm, damage or corruption from mixing with a corruptive agent.