The noun ογκος (ogkos) means bulk or mass — or tumor; hence the "onco-" part of the English word "oncology", the study of cancer. In the classics, our noun is used to refer to any sort of mass, heap or bulk, or even some figurative load such as a tall story to tell or some great worry or (usually) self-conceited pride or lofty dignity. Such masses are typically burdensome but need not be very big: even a child growing in the womb was referred by our word.

It's entirely unclear where our word comes from. An identical (and much rarer) noun ογκος (ogkos), meaning barb or pointy end of an arrow, derives from the Proto-Indo-European noun "honkos", hook, from the root "henk-", to curve or bend, and this second word may actually be the same as the first, and both speak of any bulging curvature. Another possibility is that our word has something to do with the proverbially massive ocean, from ωκεανος (okeanos), the world-river, which is the mythological way of talking about the collective subconscious from which emerges the dry land that is collective conscious (including language), which ultimately meets the heaven of the legislated κοσμος (kosmos).

All these ideas may actually not be European in origin but rather Semitic and correspond to what the Bible refers to as king Og, whose name comes from the verb עוג ('uga), to be circular or curved. This legendary king Og was the last of the giant Rephaim, who were a subset of the giant Anakim, from ענק ('anaq), a necklace (which is a circular ornament). Lacking a better explanation, here at Abarim Publications we would surmise that this word ענק ('anaq) is what ultimately resulted in the Greek word ογκος (ogkos). See our article on the many Hebrew roots of Greek

But whatever its pedigree, our noun ογκος (ogkos) occurs in the New Testament in Hebrews 12:1 only. From it derives: