Original Word: διασπορά
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: diaspora
Pronunciation: dee-as-por-ah'
Phonetic Spelling: (dee-as-por-ah')
Definition: Dispersion, Scattering
Meaning: lit: scattering abroad of seed by the sower, hence: dispersion, used especially of the Jews who had migrated and were scattered over the ancient world.

Word Origin: From the Greek verb διασπείρω (diaspeirō), meaning "to scatter" or "to spread abroad."

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: - H1473 גָּלוּת (galut): Captivity, exile

- H6340 פָּזַר (pazar): To scatter, disperse

Usage: The term "diaspora" refers to the scattering or dispersion of people from their original homeland. In the New Testament, it is used to describe the Jewish population living outside of Israel. The concept of diaspora encompasses both the physical scattering of people and the cultural and religious implications of living away from the ancestral land.

Cultural and Historical Background: The Jewish diaspora began with the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, where large numbers of Jews were taken from their homeland and settled in foreign lands. This dispersion continued through various historical events, including the conquests by the Greeks and Romans. The diaspora played a significant role in the spread of Judaism and later Christianity, as Jewish communities established synagogues and maintained their religious practices in foreign lands. These communities often served as a bridge for the spread of the Gospel in the early Christian era.

1290 diasporá (from 1223 /diá, "through," intensifying 4687 /speírō, "sow or scatter seed," which is the root of sperma, "seed") – properly, thoroughly scatter, distribute seed widely.

1290 (diaspora) is used figuratively of the Jews in NT times. They were literally scattered throughout the Roman empire (i.e. dispersed) and therefore called "the Diaspora."

[1290 (diasporá) properly refers to Israelites exiled to foreign lands, i.e. Jews residing outside of Palestine (see Jn 7:35).]

Word Origin
from diaspeiró
Definition
a dispersion (Isr. in Gentile countries)
NASB Translation
dispersed (1), Dispersion (1), scattered throughout (1).

STRONGS NT 1290: διασπορά

διασπορά, διασπορᾶς, ἡ (διασπείρω, cf. such words as ἀγορά, διαφθορά) (Vulg.dispersio), a scattering, dispersion: ἀτομων, opposed to σύμμιξις καί παραζευξις, Plutarch, mor., p. 1105 a.; in the Sept. used of the Israelites dispersed among foreign nations, Deuteronomy 28:25; Deuteronomy 30:4; especially of their Babylonian exile, Jeremiah 41:17 (); Isaiah 49:6; Judith 5:19; abstract for concrete of the exiles themselves, Psalm 146:2 () (equivalent to (נִדְחִים, expelled, outcasts); 2 Macc. 1:27; εἰς τήν διασποράν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, unto those dispersed among the Greeks (Winer's Grammar, § 30, 2 a.), John 7:35. Transferred to Christians (i. e. Jewish Christians (?)) scattered abroad among the Gentiles: James 1:1 (ἐν τῇ διασπορά, namely, οὖσι); παρεπίδημοί διασπορᾶς Πόντου, sojourners far away from home, in Pontus, 1 Peter 1:1 (see παρεπίδημος). (BB. DD. under the word ; especially Schürer, N. T. Zeitgeseh. § 31.)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

diaspora, a dispersion

From diaspeiro; dispersion, i.e. (specially and concretely) the (converted) Israelite resident in Gentile countries -- (which are) scattered (abroad).

see GREEK diaspeiro

Forms and Transliterations

διασπορα διασπορά διασπορᾷ διασποραν διασποράν διασπορὰν διασπορας διασποράς διασπορᾶς diaspora diasporā̂i diasporan diasporàn diasporas diasporâs

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