πωρ-όω G4456
To harden, make callous; to render spiritually insensitive or blind, used of hearts and minds resistant to God.
A verb derived from πῶρος (stone, calcium deposit), meaning to petrify or make callous — to produce a hard, insensible covering over the heart or mind. In the NT, every use is metaphorical and theological, describing spiritual hardening. Mark twice records the disciples' hardened hearts despite witnessing miracles (6:52; 8:17). John 12:40 cites Isaiah 6:10 to explain Israel's unbelief: God 'has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts.' Romans 11:7 and 2 Corinthians 3:14 extend this to Israel's corporate hardening. The French 'aveugler' (to blind) and 'endurcir' (to harden) capture the dual effect, while the German 'verhärten' preserves the hardening image.
Senses
1. sense 1 — To harden or make callous — to render someone spiritually insensitive, dull, or blind. The root πῶρος (calcium stone, callus) gives this verb a strikingly medical quality: like bone forming over a fracture or a callus deadening sensation, the heart loses its capacity to perceive and respond. In Mark 6:52, the disciples fail to understand the loaves because their hearts 'were hardened' — even eyewitness miracle experience could not penetrate. Mark 8:17 repeats the charge. John 12:40 links this hardening to Isaiah's divine judgment, and Rom 11:7 applies it to the portion of Israel that did not obtain what it sought. In 2 Cor 3:14, the hardening extends to 'minds' (νοήματα) when reading the old covenant without Christ. The German 'verhärten' and Spanish 'endurecer' both preserve the physicality of the hardening metaphor. 5×
AR["أَقْسَى", "أُغلِقَتْ", "أُقْسِيَتْ-قُلُوبُ-هُمْ", "مُتَحَجِّرَةً", "مُتَقَسِّيَةً"]·ben["কঠিন", "কঠিন-করা-হয়েছে,", "কঠিন-করেছে", "কঠিন-হল"]·DE["verhaerten"]·EN["hardened", "were-hardened"]·FR["aveugler", "endurcir"]·heb["הִקְשָׁה", "הֻקְשׁוּ", "הֻקְשוּ", "מֻקְשֶׁה"]·HI["कठोर", "कठोर-कर-दिया-है", "कठोर-किए-गए", "कठोर-हो-गए"]·ID["dikeraskan", "mengeraskan", "tumpul"]·IT["eporosen", "indurire", "peporomene", "peporomenen"]·jav["Wangkot", "dipun-atosaken,", "dipun-watu-aken", "sampun-atos-aken", "wangkot."]·KO["굳게-했다", "굳어졌다", "무딘한.", "완고해진", "완악해졌다"]·PT["endurecido", "foram-endurecidos", "foram-endurecidos,"]·RU["ожесточил", "ожесточились", "окаменевшее", "окаменевшим"]·ES["endurecido", "fueron-endurecidos", "ha-endurecido"]·SW["Imekuwa-mgumu", "ameifanya-migumu", "ilikazwa", "imekuwa-migumu", "walifanywa-wagumu,"]·TR["katılaşmış", "katılaştırdı", "katılaştırıldı", "körleştirildi"]·urd["سخت", "سخت-کر-دیا-ہے", "سخت-کیے-گئے", "سخت-ہوئے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
πωρ-όω, (from {πῶρος}) petrify, λίθος πεπωρωμένος Refs 2nd c.AD+ __II cause a stone or callus to form:—passive, of a stone forming in the bladder, Refs 5th c.BC+ __II.2 unite fractured bones by a callus, Refs 1st c.AD+:—passive, become hard, Refs 4th c.BC+; become thickened, coagulated, Refs 5th c.BC+ __III in passive, become insensible, of the flesh, ὑπὸ τῆς πεπωρωμένης ἐκ τοῦ στέατος σαρκός Refs 3rd c.BC+: metaphorically, become insensible, obtuse, or blind, of the heart, LXX+NT