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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1"/><title>Strong's Greek: 4686. σπεῖρα (speira) -- Cohort, band, company</title></title><link rel="canonical" href="http://biblehub.com/greek/4686.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/strongsnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="/interlinear/vmenus/matthew/1-1.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmstrongs/greek/4686.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="/">Bible</a> > <a href="/strongs.htm">Strong's</a> > <a href="/englishmans_greek.htm">Greek</a> > 4686</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../greek/4685.htm" title="4685">◄</a> 4686. speira <a href="../greek/4687.htm" title="4687">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Strong's Lexicon</div><div align="left"><span class="toptitle2">speira: Cohort, band, company</span></div><p><span class="tophdg">Original Word: </span><span class="greek">σπεῖρα</span><br><span class="tophdg">Part of Speech: </span>Noun, Feminine<br><span class="tophdg">Transliteration: </span>speira<br><span class="tophdg">Pronunciation: </span>SPI-rah<br><span class="tophdg">Phonetic Spelling: </span>(spi'-rah)<br><span class="tophdg">Definition: </span>Cohort, band, company<br><span class="tophdg">Meaning: </span>a cohort, the tenth part of a legion; a military guard.<p><span class="tophdg">Word Origin: </span>Derived from the Greek verb σπείρω (speirō), meaning "to sow" or "to scatter."<p><span class="tophdg">Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: </span>While there is no direct Hebrew equivalent for "speira," the concept of a military unit or group can be related to terms like חַיִל (chayil), meaning "army" or "force."<p><span class="tophdg">Usage: </span>In the New Testament, "speira" refers to a Roman military unit known as a cohort. A cohort was a subdivision of a Roman legion and typically consisted of about 600 soldiers, though the number could vary. The term is used to describe a group of soldiers or a band of men, often in the context of those who were involved in significant events, such as the arrest of Jesus.<p><span class="tophdg">Cultural and Historical Background: </span>In the Roman military system, a legion was composed of several cohorts. Each cohort was further divided into centuries, led by a centurion. The presence of a "speira" in the New Testament reflects the Roman occupation of Judea during the time of Jesus. Roman soldiers were a common sight and played a crucial role in maintaining order and enforcing Roman law.<div class="vheading2">NAS Exhaustive Concordance</div><span class="hdg">Word Origin</span><br>of Latin origin<br><span class="hdg">Definition</span><br>anything wound up or coiled, by ext. a body (of soldiers), i.e. a cohort<br><span class="hdg">NASB Translation</span><br>cohort (7).<p><div align="center"><span class="smalltext"><iframe width="100%" height="85" scrolling=no src="/nasec.htm" frameborder=0 cellpadding=0></iframe></span></div><div class="vheading2">Thayer's Greek Lexicon</div><span class="maintitle">STRONGS NT 4686: σπεῖρα</span><br><br><span class="arttitle"><span class="grktitle">σπεῖρα</span></span> (on the accent cf. <span class="abbreviation">Buttmann</span>, 11; <span class="abbreviation">Chandler</span> § 161; <span class="manuref">Tdf.</span> Proleg., p. 102), <span class="greek2">ἡ</span>, genitive <span class="greek2">σπείρης</span> (<a href="/interlinear/acts/10-1.htm">Acts 10:1</a>; <a href="/interlinear/acts/21-31.htm">Acts 21:31</a>; <a href="/interlinear/acts/27-1.htm">Acts 27:1</a>; see (<span class="manuref">Tdf.</span> Proleg., p. 117; <span class="manuref">WH</span>'s Appendix, p. 156; and) <span class="greek2">μάχαιρα</span>, at the beginning) (cognate with <span class="greek2">σπυρίς</span> (which see)); <p><span class="emphasized">a.</span> Latin<span class="latin">spira</span>; anything rolled into a circle or ball, anything wound, rolled up, folded together. <p><span class="emphasized">b.</span> <span class="accented">a military cohort</span> (<span class="abbreviation">Polybius</span> 11, 23, 1 <span class="greek2">τρεῖς</span> <span class="greek2">σπείρας</span>. <span class="greek2">τοῦτο</span> <span class="greek2">δέ</span> <span class="greek2">καλεῖται</span> <span class="greek2">τό</span> <span class="greek2">σύνταγμα</span> <span class="greek2">τῶν</span> <span class="greek2">πεζῶν</span> <span class="greek2">παρά</span> <span class="greek2">Ῥωμαίοις</span> <span class="greek2">κωρτις</span>), i. e. the tenth part of a legion (i. e. about 600 men (i. e. legionaries), or if auxilialies either 500 or 1,000; cf. Marquardt, Römisch. Alterth. III. ii., p. 371. But surely <span class="greek2">τοῦτο</span> <span class="greek2">τό</span> <span class="greek2">σύνταγμα</span> in the quotation comprehends the <span class="greek2">τρεῖς</span> <span class="greek2">σπεῖρα</span>; hence, <span class="abbreviation">Polybius</span> here makes a <span class="greek2">σπεῖρα</span> equal to a maniple, cf. 2, 3, 2; 6, 24, 5; cf. <span class="abbreviation">Zonaras</span>, Lex., p. 1664, <span class="greek2">σπεῖρα</span> <span class="greek2">σύνταγμα</span> <span class="greek2">διακοσίων</span> <span class="greek2">ἀνδρῶν</span>. On the other hand, "the later Greek writings almost uniformly employ <span class="greek2">σπεῖρα</span> as the representative of cohors" (Smith, <span class="abbreviation">Dict. of Antiq.</span>, edition 2, under the word exercitus, p. 500); and the rise of <span class="greek2">χιλίαρχος</span> (which was the equivalent of tribunus, the commander of a cohort) in connection with it (<a href="/interlinear/john/18-12.htm">John 18:12</a>; <a href="/interlinear/acts/21-31.htm">Acts 21:31</a>), together with the uniform rendering of the word by cohors in the Latin versions, warrants the margin <span class="accented">cohort</span> uniformly added in <span class="abbreviation">R. V.</span> to the rendering band): <a href="/interlinear/matthew/27-27.htm">Matthew 27:27</a>; <a href="/interlinear/mark/15-16.htm">Mark 15:16</a>; <a href="/interlinear/acts/10-1.htm">Acts 10:1</a>; <a href="/interlinear/acts/21-31.htm">Acts 21:31</a>; <a href="/interlinear/acts/27-1.htm">Acts 27:1</a>, and often in <span class="abbreviation">Josephus</span>; a maniple, or the thirtieth part of a legion, often so in <span class="abbreviation">Polybius</span> ((see above)); <span class="accented">any band, company, or detachment, of soldiers</span> (2 Macc. 8:23; Judith 14:11): <a href="/interlinear/john/18-3.htm">John 18:3, 12</a>.<FOOTNOTE:1> <br><br><iframe width="100%" height="85" scrolling=no src="/bsoft.htm" frameborder=0 cellpadding=0></iframe><div class="vheading2">Strong's Exhaustive Concordance</div>cohort<p>Of immediate Latin origin, but ultimately a derivative of <a href="/greek/138.htm">haireomai</a> in the sense of its cognate <a href="/greek/1507.htm">heilisso</a>; a coil (spira, "spire"), i.e. (figuratively) a mass of men (a Roman military cohort; also (by analogy) a squad of Levitical janitors) -- band. <p>see GREEK <a href="/greek/1507.htm">heilisso</a> <p>see GREEK <a href="/greek/138.htm">haireomai</a> <div class="vheading2">Forms and Transliterations</div>σπειρα σπείρα σπεῖρα σπειραν σπείραν σπεῖραν σπειρης σπείρης speira speîra speiran speîran speires speirēs speíres speírēs<div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/matthew/1-1.htm">Interlinear Greek</a> • <a href="/interlinear/genesis/1-1.htm">Interlinear Hebrew</a> • <a href="/strongs.htm">Strong's Numbers</a> • <a href="/englishmans_greek.htm">Englishman's Greek Concordance</a> • <a href="/englishmans_hebrew.htm">Englishman's Hebrew Concordance</a> • <a href="/texts/matthew/1-1.htm">Parallel Texts</a></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="vheading">Englishman's Concordance</div><b><a href="/text/matthew/27-27.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">Matthew 27:27</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular">N-AFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/matthew/27.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">ὅλην τὴν <b>σπεῖραν</b> </span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/matthew/27.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> the whole <span class="itali">[Roman] cohort</span> around<br><a href="/kjvs/matthew/27.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> him the whole <span class="itali">band</span> [of soldiers].<br><a href="/interlinear/matthew/27-27.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> all the <span class="itali">battalion</span><p><b><a href="/text/mark/15-16.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">Mark 15:16</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular">N-AFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/mark/15.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">ὅλην τὴν <b>σπεῖραν</b> </span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/mark/15.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> the whole <span class="itali">[Roman] cohort.</span><br><a href="/kjvs/mark/15.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> they call together the whole <span class="itali">band.</span><br><a href="/interlinear/mark/15-16.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> all the <span class="itali">battalion</span><p><b><a href="/text/john/18-3.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">John 18:3</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular">N-AFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/john/18.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">λαβὼν τὴν <b>σπεῖραν</b> καὶ ἐκ</span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/john/18.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> having received <span class="itali">the [Roman] cohort</span> and officers<br><a href="/kjvs/john/18.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> having received <span class="itali">a band</span> [of men] and<br><a href="/interlinear/john/18-3.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> having procured the <span class="itali">band</span> and [some] from<p><b><a href="/text/john/18-12.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">John 18:12</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular">N-NFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/john/18.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">Ἡ οὖν <b>σπεῖρα</b> καὶ ὁ</span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/john/18.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> So <span class="itali">the [Roman] cohort</span> and the commander<br><a href="/kjvs/john/18.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> Then <span class="itali">the band</span> and the captain<br><a href="/interlinear/john/18-12.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> then <span class="itali">[the] band</span> and the<p><b><a href="/text/acts/10-1.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">Acts 10:1</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular">N-GFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/acts/10.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">ἑκατοντάρχης ἐκ <b>σπείρης</b> τῆς καλουμένης</span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/acts/10.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> of what was called the Italian <span class="itali">cohort,</span><br><a href="/kjvs/acts/10.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> of <span class="itali">the band</span> called<br><a href="/interlinear/acts/10-1.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> a centurion of <span class="itali">a cohort</span> which is called<p><b><a href="/text/acts/21-31.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">Acts 21:31</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular">N-GFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/acts/21.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">χιλιάρχῳ τῆς <b>σπείρης</b> ὅτι ὅλη</span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/acts/21.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> up to the commander <span class="itali">of the [Roman] cohort</span> that all<br><a href="/kjvs/acts/21.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> unto the chief captain <span class="itali">of the band,</span> that<br><a href="/interlinear/acts/21-31.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> chief captain of the <span class="itali">band</span> that all<p><b><a href="/text/acts/27-1.htm" title="Biblos Lexicon">Acts 27:1</a> <a href="/abbrev.htm" title="Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular">N-GFS</a></b><br><a href="/interlinear/acts/27.htm" title="Greek">GRK:</a> <span class="greek3">ὀνόματι Ἰουλίῳ <b>σπείρης</b> Σεβαστῆς </span><br><a href="http://biblehub.com/nas/acts/27.htm" title="New American Standard Bible">NAS:</a> of the Augustan <span class="itali">cohort</span> named<br><a href="/kjvs/acts/27.htm" title="King James Bible with Strong's">KJV:</a> a centurion of Augustus' <span class="itali">band.</span><br><a href="/interlinear/acts/27-1.htm" title="Biblos Interlinear Bible">INT:</a> by name Julius <span class="itali">of the cohort</span> of Augustus<p><b><a href="/greek/4686.htm">Strong's Greek 4686</a><br><a href="/greek/strongs_4686.htm">7 Occurrences</a></b><br><br><a href="/greek/speira_4686.htm">σπεῖρα — 1 Occ.</a><br><a href="/greek/speiran_4686.htm">σπεῖραν — 3 Occ.</a><br><a href="/greek/speire_s_4686.htm">σπείρης — 3 Occ.</a><br><br></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="/greek/4685.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="4685"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="4685" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="/greek/4687.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="4687"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="4687" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>