σῑγάω G4601
To be silent, hold one's peace, or stop speaking; also to keep something secret or concealed in silence.
Sigao comes from sige ('silence') and in nine of its ten NT uses simply means to fall silent or refrain from speech — whether by choice or command. After the Transfiguration the disciples 'kept silent' and told no one (Luke 9:36); the crowd tried to silence the blind man, but he cried out all the more (Luke 18:39). Spanish 'callar' and French 'se taire' both render this everyday hush. But in Rom 16:25 Paul stretches the word into a grander register: the mystery 'kept silent' (sesigēmenou) through long ages has now been revealed. Here silence becomes secrecy on a cosmic scale — not a moment of quiet but an era of concealment broken open by the gospel.
Senses
1. be silent, keep quiet — Being silent, holding one's peace, or ceasing to speak — a voluntary or commanded refraining from utterance. Luke is especially fond of this word: the disciples 'kept silent' after the Transfiguration (Luke 9:36), the crowd tried to silence the blind beggar (Luke 18:39), and the Sadducees, marveling at Jesus' answer, 'became silent' (Luke 20:26). In Acts, Peter motions for silence before recounting his escape (Acts 12:17), and the Jerusalem assembly 'fell silent' to hear Barnabas and Paul (Acts 15:12). Spanish 'calló' and 'callaron' capture the decisive moment of becoming quiet. 9×
AR["أَن-سَكَتا","سَكَتوا","سَكَتَ","صَمَتوا","لِـ-يَصْمُتُوا","لِيَصمُت","لِيَصمُتنَ","يَصمُتَ"]·ben["চুপ-করতে","চুপ-করার","চুপ-থাকলেন","চুপ-হয়","চুপ-হল","নীরব-থাকুক","নীরব-থাকুক।"]·DE["schweigt","verschwiegen"]·EN["became-silent","becoming-silent","he-be-silent","kept-silent","let-be-silent","let-him-be-silent","they-were-silent","to-be-silent"]·FR["se-taire"]·heb["וְ-","יִשְׁתֹּק","לִשְׁתֹּק","שֶׁלָּהֶם","שָׁתְקוּ","תִּשְׁתֹּקְנָה"]·HI["चुप-रहने-को","चुप-रहे","चुप-रहें","चुप-हो-गई","चुप-हो-गए","चुप-हो-जाए","चुप-होने-के"]·ID["Diamlah","berdiam-diri","diam","hendaklah-diam.","hendaklah-ia-diam","ia-diam","mereka-diam","untuk-diam"]·IT["esigesan","sigese","tacere"]·jav["Kendel","kendel","mendel,","meneng","mèndel.","tiyang-tiyang-mendel."]·KO["잠잠하도록","잠잠할지니","잠잠해졌다","조용해졌다","조용해지자","조용히-하라고","침묵하였다"]·PT["Calou-se","calaram","calaram-se","calarem-se","cale-se","cale-se.","calem-se."]·RU["Умолкло","замолчал","замолчали","молчать","пусть-молчат","пусть-молчит","умолкнуть","умолчали"]·ES["Calló","callar","callaron","callase","calle","callen"]·SW["Ilinyamaza","anyamaze","kunyamaza","walinyamaza","wanyamaze","wanyamaze,"]·TR["Sustu","susmak-için","sussun","sustuklarında","sustular","sustular,"]·urd["خاموش-رہیں","خاموش-رہے","خاموش-ہونا","خاموش-ہونے-کا","خاموش-ہُوا","چپ-رہے","چپ-ہو-گئے"]
2. keep secret, conceal — Keeping something secret, concealing a truth in silence over a prolonged period. In Rom 16:25 the 'mystery kept silent (sesigēmenou) for long ages' has now been disclosed — here sigao transcends conversational quiet to describe the divine withholding of revelation across epochs. Spanish 'guardado-en-silencio' ('kept in silence') and the German perfect participle 'verschwiegen' both preserve the sense of deliberate, sustained concealment that distinguishes this from merely not speaking. 1×
AR["مَكْتُومٍ،"]·ben["নীরব-রাখা,"]·DE["verschwiegen"]·EN["having-been-silenced"]·FR["se-taire"]·heb["הַ-נֶּחְשָׁה"]·HI["छिपाए-गए-को"]·ID["yang-tersembunyi,"]·IT["tacere"]·jav["dipun-simpen,"]·KO["감추어진"]·PT["silenciado,"]·ES["guardado-en-silencio"]·SW["iliyofichwa,"]·TR["susturulan"]·urd["چھپے-ہوئے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
σῑγάω, Doric dialect 2nd pers. singular σιγῇς Refs 5th c.BC+; Cyrenaic infinitive σιγέν Refs; 1st pers. singular optative σιγῷμ (ι) Refs 5th c.BC+: future -ήσομαιRefs 5th c.BC+ later -ήσω Refs 1st c.BC+: perfect σεσίγηκα Refs 4th c.BC+:— passive, future σιγηθήσομαι Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐσιγήθην Refs 5th c.BC+perfect σεσίγημαι (see. below): (σιγή):— keep silence, used by Refs 8th c.BC+, hush! be…