ἀποθνήσκω
apothnḗskō · G599 · Greek · 112 occurrences
Meanings
-
to die, death
The process of dying
ExamplesMatthew 8:32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
Matthew 9:24 He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him.
Matthew 22:24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’
-
to face death, to be likely to die
To be in imminent danger of dying
ExamplesJohn 11:16 Therefore Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”
1 Corinthians 15:31 I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily.
Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
-
to be dead to, to not respond to, to have no part in
(A figurative extension of meaning of ἀποθνῄσκω ‘to die,’) To be unable to respond or react to any impulse or desire
ExamplesRomans 6:2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:7 for the one who has died is freed from sin.
Romans 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
How it’s used In 9 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
111 occurrences in 40 groups
- Not stated in the clause 15
- Not stated: he, she or it 13
- ΧριστόςChrist, Messiah 8
- Not stated: we 6
- Not stated: you (more than one) 5
- Not stated: they 5
- Other words · 28 groups that occur once or twice (36) 36
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἕκαστοςeach 1
- σπέρμαseed, descendants 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
36 occurrences in 36 groups
- ἐνin+ ἁμαρτίαsin 3
- Other words · 35 groups that occur once or twice (38) 38
With adverbsAdverbs
25 occurrences in 15 groups
- οὐnot 7
- μήnot 5
- Other words · 13 groups that occur once or twice (14) 14
Named alongside itApposition
5 occurrences in 5 groups
- κύριοςLord 1
- νεκρόςdead, the dead 1
- πατήρfather 1
- ΧριστόςChrist, Messiah 1
- ἀδελφόςbrother 1
What it doesIt is the subject
8 occurrences in 7 groups
- συμφέρωto be profitable, to be better 2
- γίνομαιto become, to happen, to be 1
- δέωto bind, to tie 1
- δικαιόωto justify, to declare righteous 1
- ζάωto be alive, to live, to come back to life 1
- λαμβάνωto receive, to take 1
What is done to itIt is the object
18 occurrences in 13 groups
- ἔπωto say 5
- Other words · 12 groups that occur once or twice (14) 14
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- κέρδοςgain 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- μετάwith, after 2
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- ἀπογενόμενος apogenómenos · G581 · to cease, to stop, to be dead to
- Both terms convey the concept of being dead to something in a figurative sense, describing renunciation or cessation of relationship to a particular sphere. ἀπογενόμενος appears as a rare participial form used to describe having become absent or renounced, while ἀποθνήσκω is the standard verb for dying that extends metaphorically to this same figurative register of spiritual or ethical separation.
Contrasting words 1 word
- ζάω záō · G2198 · to be alive, to live, to come back to life
- The target, ἀποθνήσκω ('to die'), and ζάω ('to live') denote directly opposed states — death and continuation of life — forming a genuine lexical antonym pair of life versus death.
In the other Testament 3 words
- מוּת mûwth · H4191 · to die, to pass away, to cause to die
- Greek ἀποθνήσκω and Hebrew מוּת are direct cross-linguistic translation equivalents, both denoting the core concept of dying or death in both literal and figurative senses, and the Greek term is used systematically to translate the Hebrew one across the Septuagint.
- גָּוַע gâvaʻ · H1478 · to expire, to breathe one's last, to perish
- Hebrew גָּוַע (gâvaʻ, H1478) typically denotes the act of expiring or breathing one's last breath, often rendered by Greek ἀποθνήσκω (apothnḗskō, G599) in contexts describing death; both terms serve as primary verbs for dying in their respective languages, with substantial overlap in translation practice across the Septuagint alignment data.
- מָוֶת mâveth · H4194 · death, plague
- ἀποθνήσκω (apothnḗskō, G599) is the Greek verbal form corresponding to the Hebrew noun מָוֶת (mâveth, H4194), both denoting death—the verb expressing the action of dying, the noun expressing the state or concept of death itself.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- To face death, to be likely to die23.117
- In 2 Corinthians 6:9, Paul describes his ministry's hardships “as dying (apothnḗskontes) and yet behold, we are alive; as punished and yet not put to death,” describing a recurring exposure to mortal danger rather than an actual death.
- To die, death23.99
- In Matthew 9:24, Jesus says of the ruler's daughter, “the girl has not died (apéthanen), but is asleep,” describing the plain fact of physical death being denied.
- To be dead to, to not respond to, to have no part in74.27
- In Romans 6:2, Paul asks, “how shall we who died (apethánomen) to sin still live in it?” describing believers as no longer responsive to sin's claim on them.
Word family 11 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon imperfect ἀπέθνῃσκον (Lk 8:42); 2 aorist ἀπέθανον; future ἀποθανοῦμαι, Rom 5:7; Jn 8:21,…
I. used properly
1. of the natural death of men: Mt 9:24; Mt 22:24; Lk 16:22; Jn 4:47; Rom 7:2, and very often; ἀποθνῄσκοντες ἀποθνῄσκοντες subject to death, mortal, Heb 7:8 (Buttmann, 206 (178)).
2. of the violent death — both of animals, Mt 8:32, and of men, Mt 26:35; Acts 21:13 etc.; 1 Pet 3:18 L T Tr WH text; ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας, Heb 11:37; of the punishment of death, Heb 10:28; often of the violent death which Christ suffered, as Jn 12:33; Rom 5:6, etc.
3. Phrases: ἀποθνῄσκειν ἐκ τίνος, to perish by means of something, (cf. English to die of), Rev 8:11; ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτία, ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, fixed in sin, hence, to die unreformed, Jn 8:21, Jn 8:24; ἐν τῷ Ἀδάμ by connection with Adam, 1 Cor 15:22; ἐν κυρίῳ in fellowship with, and trusting in, the Lord, Rev 14:13; ἀποθνῄσκειν τί, to die a certain death, Rom 6:10 (θάνατον μακρόν, Chariton, p. 12, D'Orville edition (l. i. c. 8, p. 17, 6, Beck edition; cf. Winers Grammar, 227 (213); Buttmann, 149 (130))); τῇ ἁμαρτία, used of Christ, 'that he might not have to busy himself more with the sin of men,' Rom 6:10; ἑαυτῷ to become one's own master, independent, by dying, Rom 14:7 (cf. Meyer); τῷ κυρίῳ to become subject to the Lord's will by dying, Rom 14:8 (cf. Meyer); διά τινα i. e. to save one, 1 Cor 8:11; on the phrases ἀποθνῄσκειν περί and ὑπέρ τίνος, see περί, the passage cited δ. and ὑπέρ I. 2 and 3. Oratorically, although the proper signification of the verb is retained, καθ' ἡμέραν ἀποθνῄσκω I meet death daily, live daily in danger of death, 1 Cor 15:31, cf. 2 Cor 6:9.
4. of trees which dry up, Jude 1:12; of seeds, which while being resolved into their elements in the ground seem to perish by rotting, Jn 12:24; 1 Cor 15:36.
II. tropically, in various senses;
1. of eternal death, as it is called, i. e. to be subject to eternal misery, and that, too, already beginning on earth: Rom 8:13; Jn 6:50; Jn 11:26.
2. of moral death, in various senses;
a. to be deprived of real life, i. e. especially of the power of doing right, of confidence in God and the hope of future blessedness, Rom 7:10; of the spiritual torpor of those who have fallen from the fellowship of Christ, the fountain of true life, Rev 3:2.
b. with the dative of the thing (cf. Winers Grammar, 210 (197); 428 (398); Buttmann, 178 (155)), to become wholly alienated from a thing, and freed from all connection with it: τῷ νόμῳ, Gal 2:19, which must also be supplied with ἀποθανόντες (for so we must read for Rec.elz ἀποθανόντος) in Rom 7:6 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 159 (150)); τῇ ἁμαρτία, Rom 6:2 (in another sense in Rom 6:10; see I. 3 above); ἀπό τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ κόσμου so that your relation to etc. has passed away, Col 2:20 (ἀπό τῶν παθῶν, Porphyry, de abst. animal. 1, 41 (cf. Buttmann, 322 (277); Winer's Grammar, 370 (347))); true Christians are said simply ἀποθανεῖν, as having put off all sensibility to worldly things that draw them away from God, Col 3:3; since they owe this habit of mind to the death of Christ, they are said also ἀποθανεῖν σύν Χριστῷ, Rom 6:8; Col 2:20. (Compare: συναποθνῄσκω.)
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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