ἀποκτείνω
apokteinō
to kill
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἀποκτείνω (apokteinō) is a verb that means "to kill." Its semantic domain is centered around the concepts of death and life, indicating that it encompasses a range of meanings related to taking life, causing death, or ending life. With 75 occurrences in the Bible, this word is a significant component of the Greek vocabulary used in the New Testament. The frequency and versatility of ἀποκτείνω suggest that it is a fundamental concept in the biblical narrative. Its usage includes both literal and figurative meanings, such as causing physical death, executing a sentence, or symbolically killing one's life through sin or disobedience. This range of usage underscores the complexity and multifaceted nature of the concept of death in the biblical worldview. The significance of ἀποκτείνω lies in its associations with the human experience of mortality, the consequences of sin, and the nature of redemption. Its repeated use in the Bible highlights the gravity of death as a universal human experience and the importance of understanding its implications for human existence.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
75 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Matthew 10:28Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Matthew 14:5When he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
Matthew 16:21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
Matthew 17:23and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up.” They were exceedingly sorry.
Matthew 21:35The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Matthew 21:38But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’
Matthew 21:39So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
Matthew 22:6and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.
Matthew 23:34Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;
Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
Matthew 24:9Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.
Matthew 26:4They took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit, and kill him.
Mark 3:4He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” But they were silent.
Mark 6:19Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, but she couldn’t,
Mark 9:31For he was teaching his disciples, and said to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again.”
Mark 9:31For he was teaching his disciples, and said to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again.”
Mark 10:34They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
Mark 12:5Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some.
Mark 12:5Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some.
Mark 12:7But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
Mark 12:8They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
Mark 14:1It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception, and kill him.
Luke 9:22saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”
Luke 11:47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
Luke 11:48So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.
Luke 11:49Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,
Luke 12:4“I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luke 12:5But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
Luke 13:4Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
Luke 13:31On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”
Luke 13:34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
Luke 18:33They will scourge and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again.”
Luke 20:14“But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’
Luke 20:15They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
John 5:16For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
John 5:18For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 7:1After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
John 7:19Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
John 7:20The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”
John 8:22The Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?”
John 8:37I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
John 8:40But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this.
John 11:53So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death.
John 12:10But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also,
John 16:2They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
John 18:31Pilate therefore said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is illegal for us to put anyone to death,”
Acts 3:15and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.
Acts 7:52Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
Acts 21:31As they were trying to kill him, news came up to the commanding officer of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.