κέντρον G2759
A sharp point: a goad for prodding animals, or a sting (of an insect or of death personified).
Denotes any sharp, piercing point—an ox-goad, the sting of a creature, or figuratively the painful barb of death. In Acts 9:5 and 26:14, the risen Christ tells Paul it is hard to 'kick against the goads,' borrowing a well-known Greek proverb about futile resistance to divine prodding. Paul then turns the image eschatologically in 1 Corinthians 15:55-56, asking triumphantly 'Where, O death, is your sting?'—the sting being sin. Revelation 9:10 returns to the literal sense with scorpion-like creatures whose tails carry stings. The French 'aiguillon' and German 'Stachel' both preserve the double meaning of goad and sting.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A sharp point used as a goad, sting, or piercing instrument. The word spans a spectrum from the herdsman's prodding tool to the venomous sting of death. In Acts 9:5 and 26:14, the 'goads' (Spanish 'aguijones') represent divine direction that Paul resists at his peril—the proverbial κέντρα λακτίζειν. In 1Cor 15:55-56, death's 'sting' is personified and identified as sin, which Christ's resurrection removes. Rev 9:10 describes demonic locusts with scorpion-like stings in their tails. German 'Stachel' and French 'aiguillon' each carry both the agricultural goad and the entomological sting, mirroring the word's full semantic range. 5×
AR["المَنَاخِسِ", "حُمَاتٌ", "شَوكَةُ", "مَنَاخِسَ"]·ben["কাঁটায়", "হুল", "হুল;", "হুল?"]·DE["Stachel", "κέντρα"]·EN["goads", "sting", "stings"]·FR["Stachel", "aiguillon"]·heb["דָּרְבָנוֹת", "דָרְבָנוֹת", "עֹקֶץ", "עֻקְצִים"]·HI["डंक", "पैने", "पैनेको"]·ID["rangsang", "rangsangan", "sengat", "sengat-sengat;", "sengat?"]·IT["kentra", "pungiglione"]·jav["-panyengat", "pacul", "panyengat", "pathokan", "sengat"]·KO["가시들-을", "쏘는-것들을", "찼찌를", "쳤이", "쳤이냐"]·PT["aguilhão", "aguilhão?", "aguilhões", "ferrões"]·RU["жала;", "жало", "рожна"]·ES["aguijones", "aguijón"]·SW["mchomo", "mchomo?", "michokoo", "miiba", "miiba;"]·TR["ama-", "dikenlere", "iğneleri", "o-", "üvendireye"]·urd["آڑوں", "پرانیوں", "ڈنک"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
κέντρον, τό, (κεντέω) any sharp point: __1 horse-goad, [ἵπποι] ἄνευ κέντροιο θέοντες Refs 8th c.BC+, ox-goad Refs 8th c.BC+, used as an instrument of torture, Refs 5th c.BC+; as a symbol of sovereignty, λαβὼν.. χερσὶν κέντρα κηδεύει πόλιν Refs 5th c.BC+ __1.b metaphorically, goad, spur, incentive, Refs 5th c.BC+; ποῦ γὰρ τοσοῦτο κ. ὡς μητροκτονεῖ; Refs 5th c.BC+; κέντρα πτολέμοιο, of the Argives,…