πενθερ-ά G3994
Mother-in-law; a wife's or husband's mother.
Penthera is the standard Greek kinship term for 'mother-in-law,' the feminine counterpart of pentheros ('father-in-law'). Its NT appearances cluster around two memorable scenes: Jesus healing Peter's mother-in-law of a fever (Matt 8:14; Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38), and Jesus' warning that his coming will set family members against one another — 'mother-in-law against daughter-in-law' (Matt 10:35; Luke 12:53). The translations are remarkably uniform across languages: Spanish 'suegra,' French 'belle-mere,' German 'Schwiegermutter.'
Senses
1. sense 1 — Mother-in-law — the mother of one's spouse. The multilingual glosses converge precisely: Spanish 'suegra,' French 'belle-mere,' German 'Schwiegermutter' each denote this specific kinship relation. In the Gospels, the word appears in two distinct settings: the healing of Simon Peter's mother-in-law (Matt 8:14; Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38), which demonstrates Jesus' compassion in a domestic setting, and the prophetic household-division sayings (Matt 10:35; Luke 12:53), where the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law tension symbolizes the cost of discipleship fracturing even extended family bonds. 6×
AR["حَماةُ", "حَماتَهُ", "حَماتِها", "حَمَاةٌ", "حَمَاةُ", "حَمَاتِهَا"]·ben["শাশুড়ি", "শাশুড়িকে", "শাশুড়ির"]·DE["Schwiegermutter", "πενθεράν", "πενθερὰ", "πενθερὰν", "πενθερᾶς"]·EN["mother-in-law"]·FR["belle-mère"]·heb["חֲמוֹת", "חֲמוֹתוֹ", "חוֹתֶנֶת"]·HI["सास", "सास-के", "सास-को"]·ID["ibu-mertua", "mertua-perempuan"]·IT["suocera"]·jav["Maratuwa-èstri", "ibu-marasepuh", "marasepuh-estri", "maratuwa-èstri", "maratuwané-wadon"]·KO["시어머니", "시어머니가", "시어머니에", "장모", "장모-가"]·PT["sogra"]·RU["свекрови", "свекровь", "тёща", "тёщу"]·ES["suegra"]·SW["mama-mkwe"]·TR["kaynana", "kaynanası", "kaynanaya", "kayınvalidesi", "kayınvalidesine", "kayınvalidesini"]·urd["ساس"]
Related Senses
H0376 1. man, person, human male (2130×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H0001 2. ancestor, forefather (146×)H5288 1. Youth, young man (122×)H0269 1. sister (female sibling) (113×)H1755 1. generation, contemporaries (96×)G5043 1. child, offspring (89×)G0444 2. people, humankind (86×)H3206 1. child, boy, youth (86×)H2145 1. male (human being) (79×)G3384 1. mother (77×)H6485a 1. Qal passive participle: numbered ones, enrollment (76×)H1397 1. man (strong/mighty) (65×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
πενθερ-ά, Ionic dialect πενθερή, ἡ, feminine of πενθερός, mother-in-law, NT+4th c.BC+