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φάρμακος

phármakos

G5333 noun

SILEX Entry

Root φαρμακ- drug, potion, poison, magical practice

Definition

One who prepares or administers drugs, herbs, potions, or spells, especially for magical, ritual, or harmful purposes; a practitioner of potions or magical arts (often with negative connotations of poisoning, witchcraft, or sorcery). In Hellenistic and early Roman contexts, typically refers to someone thought to use drugs or incantations for manipulation, maleficium (harmful magic), or illicit influence.

Semantic Range

one who prepares or uses drugs/potions (especially for harmful purposes), magician, sorcerer, one who practices ritual magic, poisoner; in earlier periods, sometimes scapegoat or ritual victim

Root / Etymology

From the root φαρμακ- (pharmak-), which relates to drugs, potions, or magical substances. Directly derived from φάρμακον (phármakon), meaning a drug, medicine, potion, or poison. The agentive suffix -ος (-os) forms nouns indicating a person associated with the root activity.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical Greek, φάρμακος could refer to someone who prepares or administers φάρμακα (drugs, potions, poisons), and sometimes to a scapegoat or ritual victim, distinct from medical practitioners. By the Hellenistic period, the term becomes associated mainly with those who practice harmful magic, witchcraft, or sorcery—including the use of potions for manipulating or harming others. In the New Testament (Revelation 21:8, 22:15), usage reflects prevailing Greco-Roman suspicion of ritual magic, and the term is rendered in English as 'sorcerer,' though this may flatten its range: it conveys both the sense of a magician or occult practitioner and that of a poisoner. The related term φαρμακεύς (pharmakeus, G5332) has a strongly similar semantic profile. There is some overlap with other Greek terms for magic-workers (e.g., μάγος), but φάρμακος carries a specific connotation of one who manipulates through substances—especially when such practices are culturally condemned. Persian and later Greek sources sometimes connect this with practices viewed as foreign or subversive. Latin translations often use 'veneficus' for φάρμακος, indicating the linkage with poisoning as well as sorcery. The sense of 'scapegoat' (ritual victim) found in some classical sources is absent from the New Testament and most Koine-era usage.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

the same as 5332:--sorcerer.

Root Family

φάρμακος (pharmakos) — drug, potion, poison, magical practice

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
G5333-02 φαρμάκοις pharmakois N DAT M PL sorcerers to drug-sorcerers 1
G5333-01 φάρμακοι pharmakoi N NOM M PL sorcerers potion-practitioners 1

Occurrences in Scripture

2 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
G5333-02 Revelation 21:8 φαρμάκοις pharmakois N DAT M PL sorcerers to drug-sorcerers
G5333-01 Revelation 22:15 φάρμακοι pharmakoi N NOM M PL sorcerers potion-practitioners
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