Lexicon

G3860 - paradidomi

Strong's: G3860 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: par-ad-id'-o-mee Part of speech: verb Etymology: para (alongside / over) + didōmi (to give), literally "to give over / hand over" NT occurrences: ~119

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

To deliver / hand over physically, transfer to another's custody.
To betray, to deliver treacherously to an enemy. Used famously of Judas.
To transmit / hand down tradition, pass on teaching from one generation to the next; technical term for transmission of authoritative tradition.
To commit / entrust, put under another's responsibility (1 Corinthians 13:3).
(Theologically) to deliver up for atoning purposes, Christ "given over" for our transgressions (Romans 4:25).

The verb covers the full spectrum from treachery (Judas) to faithful transmission (apostolic tradition) to redemptive substitution (Christ's atonement). The shared idea: a person or thing is handed over from one party to another.

Theological force, three load-bearing applications

1. Pre-Pauline gospel tradition. 1 Corinthians 15.3-8, Paul writes:

"For I delivered (paredōka) to you as of first importance what I also received (parelabon): that Christ died for our sins…"

The vocabulary paredōka / parelabon is technical first-century Jewish-rabbinic terminology for transmitting authoritative tradition (compare m. Avot 1:1, "Moses received [קבל / qibbel] the Torah at Sinai, and delivered [מסר / masar] it to Joshua… and the Men of the Great Assembly delivered it to…"). Paul deliberately uses Greek-equivalent terms to mark the gospel content (Christ's death, burial, resurrection, appearances) as received and transmitted, i.e., not Pauline innovation but apostolic tradition handed down.

The dating implication: Paul wrote 1 Corinthians c. AD 54-55. He says he delivered this content to the Corinthians on his founding visit (c. AD 50-51). He received it earlier, most likely at his Jerusalem visit with Peter and James (c. AD 36-38, three years after his conversion, per Galatians 1:18). This places the content of the gospel creed within ~5 years of the resurrection. Modern apologetic (Habermas, Licona, Bauckham) uses this paradidōmi / paralambanō vocabulary as the linchpin of the historical-resurrection argument: there is no time-window for legendary development; the content is bedrock-early.

2. Christ's substitutionary atonement. The verb appears in passive form for Christ's "being handed over":

Romans 4:25, "He who was paredothē (delivered over) for our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification"
Romans 8:32, "He… paredōken (delivered Him over) for us all"
Galatians 2:20, "the Son of God, who loved me and paredōken Himself up for me"
Ephesians 5:2, 25, Christ "paredōken Himself up for us / for the church"

The dual subject, God the Father paradidōmi-s the Son; the Son paradidōmi-s Himself, preserves both the sovereign-divine plan (the cross is not accident or tragedy) and the voluntary self-giving of the Son (He gives Himself, not against His will).

3. Judas's betrayal. Paradidōmi is the standard verb for Judas's act:

Mark 14:10, 11, 18, 21, 41, 42, 44, Judas "paradidonai (handed over) Jesus"
Matthew 26:15-16, 21, 23-25, 45-48, same pattern
John 13:2, 11, 18:2, 5, Judas "paradidōn Jesus"

The same verb names both the redemptive delivering-up of Christ by the Father (Romans 4:25, 8:32) and the treacherous delivering-up by Judas (Mark 14). The double application is theologically rich: God's sovereign hand and Judas's free wickedness operate on the same act, with utterly different motives. Acts 2:23 makes the dual structure explicit: "this Man, delivered over (ekdoton) by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men."

Notable verses

Pre-Pauline gospel creed

1 Corinthians 15.3-8, paredōka… parelabon, the gospel-creed transmission formula
1 Corinthians 11:23, "I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you", the Last Supper institution
2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6, "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught… in accordance with the tradition (paradosis, the cognate noun) you received from us"

Christ's substitutionary delivering-up

Romans 4:25, "delivered over for our transgressions"
Romans 8:32, "He… delivered Him over for us all"
Galatians 2:20, "the Son of God, who… delivered Himself up for me"
Ephesians 5:2, 25, Christ "delivered Himself up"
Isaiah 53:6, 12 (LXX), paredōken, the Servant's vicarious giving

Judas's betrayal

Mark 14:10-44; Matthew 26; Luke 22:21-22; John 13, repeated paradidōmi of Judas's act

Pilate's handing-over

Mark 15:1, 15, Pilate paredōken Jesus to be crucified

Apostolic transmission

Galatians 1:14, Paul advancing in the paterikōn paradoseōn (ancestral traditions), pre-Christian Pharisaic context
2 Peter 2:21, "the holy commandment delivered to them"
Jude 3, "contend earnestly for the faith which was paradotheisē (once for all delivered) to the saints"

Patristic / scholarly note

The patristic tradition uses paradidōmi / paradosis as the verb / noun pair for tradition. Tertullian (Prescription Against Heretics 36-37, c. AD 200) and Irenaeus (Against Heresies III.3) develop the apostolic tradition as authoritative, the Catholic / Orthodox view that scripture-and-tradition together constitute the apostolic deposit. The Reformation pressed sola scriptura, the only infallible paradosis is the apostolic teaching as preserved in canonical Scripture, against the medieval Catholic claim that ongoing church tradition is co-equally inspired.

Modern resurrection apologetic, Gary Habermas (The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, 2003; The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 2004); N. T. Wright (The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003); Mike Licona (The Resurrection of Jesus, 2010), develops the paradidōmi / paralambanō vocabulary in 1 Corinthians 15:3 as the linchpin of the early-creed argument: the resurrection content is pre-Pauline, traceable to within 2-5 years of the events.

Verses in this codex

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