κολυμβ-άω G2860
to swim
Luke narrates Paul's shipwreck with precise nautical detail, including the centurion's order that 'those able to swim' should jump overboard first and make for land (Acts 27:43). The verb appears in classical Greek for swimming, diving, or plunging into water. In the dramatic context of the Maltese shipwreck, the ability to swim becomes a matter of survival. The verb's range includes both skilled swimming and desperate floundering in water.
Senses
1. sense 1 — In the climactic scene of Acts 27, swimming ability divides the 276 passengers into those who could save themselves immediately and those who needed planks and debris. The classical usage encompasses diving and plunging as well as swimming proper. All language witnesses render this straightforwardly as the physical act of swimming, with no metaphorical extension in this context. 1×
AR["أَنْ-يَسْبَحُوا"]·ben["সাঁতার-কাটিতে"]·DE["κολυμβᾶν"]·EN["to-swim"]·FR["nager"]·heb["לִשְׂחוֹת"]·HI["तैरने"]·ID["berenang,"]·IT["nuotare"]·jav["nglangi,"]·KO["헤엄치기를"]·PT["nadar,"]·RU["плавать"]·ES["nadar"]·SW["kuogelea"]·TR["yüzmek"]·urd["تیرنا"]
Related Senses
G0846 1. third-person pronoun reference (5552×)H???? 1. (4670×)H6213a 1. do, perform, act (2383×)G4160 1. do, act, perform (473×)H5221 1. Hifil: to strike in battle, smite enemies (362×)H0899b 1. garment, article of clothing (216×)H6213a 2. make, construct, fabricate (148×)H3772 1. cut a covenant / make a pact (97×)H5060 1. touch physically (Qal) (96×)H3615 1. complete a task (Piel) (85×)H3772 2. cut off / destroy (Hifil causative) (81×)H3920 1. capture, seize (Qal) (76×)H???? 12. (76×)H3772 3. be cut off / be eliminated (Niphal) (74×)H6213a 3. be done, be made (Niphal) (73×)G4160 2. make, construct, create (62×)H3847 1. Qal: put on, wear (60×)H8210 1. pour out (liquid/libation) (59×)G2440 1. garment or clothing (general) (54×)H4191 4. kill / put to death (Hifil causative) (50×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
κολυμβ-άω (Doric dialect -φάω accusative to Refs, dive, plunge headlong, εἰς τὸν Τάρταρον Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 swim, τοὺς δυναμένους κολυμβᾶν NT