ἀπαρχή
aparchē
firstfruits
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἀπαρχή (aparchē) is primarily defined as "firstfruits." In the context of agricultural and land-related activities, this term likely refers to the initial harvest or produce reaped from a field or orchard. The semantic domain is limited to this specific area, indicating that its meaning is tied closely to the concept of fertility and productivity in the natural world. The word ἀπαρχή is used nine times in the Bible, suggesting its significance in certain passages. Its repetitive occurrence implies that the authors considered it an important idea or concept worth emphasizing multiple times. The limited range of applications, however, indicates that its meaning is quite specific and may not have been intended to be broadly generalized or abstracted.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
9 total occurrences across the text
Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
Romans 11:16If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.
Romans 16:5Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:20But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
1 Corinthians 16:15Now I beg you, brothers—you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints—
2 Thessalonians 2:13But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth,
James 1:18Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Revelation 14:4These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.