The verb βλαστανω (blastano) means to bud, sprout or grow. It's derived from the noun βλαστος (blastos), which in the New Testament occurs only as the name Blastus.

Our verb is used in the Bible in the sense of to produce or yield or to sprout. It lives on in modern English in word such as blastula and blastocyst (and of course, slightly distorted, in the verb to blast).

This verb is used 4 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.

The verb βλαπτω (blapto) means to hurt, disable or hinder (Mark 16:18 and Luke 4:35 only). It's fairly common in the classics, and describes anything from horses getting caught in branches, chariots getting stopped in whatever way or for whatever reason, mortals getting stumped by divine intervention or man's minds getting warped, misled or distracted by gods, wine or circumstance. The emphasis of this verb is on the terminating of someone's or something's natural or intended route, by means of some intervention or infusion that confounds, permanently disables or wholly alters the recipient. In a negative sense (which is the sense in which this verb occurs in the New Testament) it would mean to contaminate or corrupt.

This verb is thought to derive from a poorly attested Proto-Indo-European root, which doesn't really have any other attestations beyond our Greek verb. Here at Abarim Publications we incline more toward the Aramaic verb בלבל (bilbel) which means to mix, upset or disturb, and which corresponds to the Hebrew verb בלל (balal), to mix.

From our Greek verb derives:

The verb θαλλω (thallo) also means to sprout or shoot, or to bloom or blossom, especially of olive trees and vines. This verb occurs all over the classics, sometimes referring to things other than plants: objects soaking with dew or feasts with lavish banquets. The blooming of persons who thrive economically or intellectually may be described with our verb, but so may diseases that sweep through populations with eager fatality. From our verb derives the noun θαλλος (thallos), meaning a shoot or blossom (particularly of an olive branch), or a case or occasion of blossoming.

Our noun also came to denote a basket woven from palm leaves. Nobody in the ancient world would have missed the link with the once glorious Phoenicians, whose name came from the noun φοινιξ (phoinix), palm-tree, also on account of a famous Carthaginian coin with a palm on it. The same connection might explain an otherwise unexplained custom that involved the lease of some land from a landlord, which was sealed when the renter gave the landlord a ceremonial θαλλος (thallos). From this custom in turn grew the use of our noun to mean any gratuitous gift (or "tip") onto one's legal wage, or any gift given ceremoniously at festivals.

From our noun θαλλος (thallos) also derives the name of one of the three Graces, namely Thalia. Her two sisters were Aglaia (from αγλος, aglos, meaning radiant or beautiful) and Euphrosyne (from ευφροσυνη, euphrosune, meaning merriment, particularly of festive gatherings) also known similarly as Euthymia (from ευθυμος, euthumos, or good social cheer).

Neither the verb nor the noun occur independently in the New Testament, but from the verb derives: