What does θνήσκω (thnḗskō) mean in the Bible?
θνήσκω (thnēskō) means to die and appears in forms that can describe someone who is dead. The word is plain mortality language before it becomes part of a theological contrast.
Greek · G2348
θνήσκω
To die (literally or figuratively)
Reading a lexicon entry
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θνήσκω G2348
Pronunciation thnḗskō
What does θνήσκω (thnḗskō) mean in the Bible?
θνήσκω (thnēskō) means to die and appears in forms that can describe someone who is dead. The word is plain mortality language before it becomes part of a theological contrast.
Reader summary
Full entry for θνήσκω (G2348) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2348?
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include is dead (2), [Jesus] was already dead (1), [who] had died (1), a dead man (1), are now dead (1).
Where does θνήσκω (thnḗskō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), John (2), Luke (2), 1 Timothy (1).
What This Word Actually Means
θνήσκω (thnēskō) means to die and appears in forms that can describe someone who is dead. The word is plain mortality language before it becomes part of a theological contrast. Luke 7 presents a widow's only son being carried out dead, making the loss social and personal as well as physical. Mark 15 records Pilate verifying that Jesus is already dead, a detail that anchors the burial narrative in the reality of the crucifixion.
John 11 identifies Lazarus as the man who had been dead and then walks out at Jesus' command. First Timothy 5 uses the language figuratively for a self-indulgent widow who is dead even while living. The verb therefore can describe physical death or, where context marks it, a spiritually deathlike condition. It should name death honestly without making every occurrence carry the whole doctrine of resurrection.
How the Bible Uses It
θνήσκω names real physical death in resurrection and passion narratives and can be extended figuratively to a life spiritually deadened by self-indulgence. Context marks the movement.
- Luke.7.12
As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.
The death is concrete and devastating: the widow has lost her only son and faces renewed vulnerability before Jesus acts with compassion.
- Mark.15.44
Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.
Official verification underscores the reality of Jesus' death before Joseph receives the body for burial.
- John.11.44
The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
John identifies Lazarus by his prior state as the life-giving sign reaches its visible result. The man who was dead obeys Jesus' call and emerges.
- 1Tim.5.6
But she who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still alive.
The physical-death word is used figuratively to expose a life consumed by self-indulgence despite bodily existence.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It is dead 2× Luke 8:49, 1 Timothy 5:6
[Jesus] was already dead 1× Mark 15:44
[who] had died 1× Acts 25:19
a dead man 1× Luke 7:12
are now dead 1× Matthew 2:20
dead 1× John 19:33
had been dead 1× John 11:44
was dead 1× Acts 14:19
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 2:20 τεθνήκασιν to are now dead Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Mark 15:44 τέθνηκεν to [Jesus] was already dead Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 7:12 τεθνηκὼς to a dead man Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Luke 8:49 Τέθνηκεν to is dead Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular John 11:44 τεθνηκὼς to had been dead Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular John 19:33 τεθνηκότα to dead Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Singular Acts 14:19 τεθνηκέναι to was dead Verb - Perfect Infinitive Active Acts 25:19 τεθνηκότος to [who] had died Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Singular 1 Timothy 5:6 τέθνηκεν to is dead Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 2:20
Aligned rows 9
Books represented 6
Matthew 1 Mark 1 Luke 2 John 2 Acts 2 1 Timothy 1
Source forms
τέθνηκεν 2x tethnēken Mark 15:44, 1 Timothy 5:6
τεθνηκὼς 2x tethnēkōs Luke 7:12, John 11:44
τεθνήκασιν 1x tethnēkasin Matthew 2:20
Τέθνηκεν 1x Tethnēken Luke 8:49
τεθνηκέναι 1x tethnēkenai Acts 14:19
τεθνηκότα 1x tethnēkota John 19:33
τεθνηκότος 1x tethnēkotos Acts 25:19
Parsing patterns
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 3x Mark 15:44, Luke 8:49, 1 Timothy 5:6
Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 2x Luke 7:12, John 11:44
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Matthew 2:20
Verb - Perfect Infinitive Active 1x Acts 14:19
Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x John 19:33
Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Singular 1x Acts 25:19
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Name physical death honestly and allow grief its full weight before moving to resurrection hope.
- Use figurative death language only where the text does, and do not turn it into a casual label for struggling people.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that θνήσκω itself proves the full doctrine of resurrection in every occurrence.
- Do not claim that a figurative use means physical death is unreal, unimportant, or merely symbolic.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Refers to physical death or, metaphorically, spiritual deadness; the state of being dead rather than dying process
Strong's G2348
Lexical occurrences 0 verses Greek text appearances 13 times Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 7:12 Source Gloss
to die (literally or figuratively)
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Refers to physical death or, metaphorically, spiritual deadness; the state of being dead rather than dying process
to die; pf. (M, Pr., 114), to be dead: Mat.2:20, Mrk.15:44, Luk.7:12 8:49, Jhn.11:44 19:33, Act.14:19 25:19; metaphorically, of spiritual death, 1Ti.5:6 (cf. ἀπο-, συν-απο-θνήσκω).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 2:20 Verb Third Person Plural Perfect Active Indicative
τεθνήκασι teqnhkasin
I am dying, am dead
Read verse Mark 15:44 Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Active Indicative
τέθνηκε· teqnhken
I am dying, am dead
Read verse Luke 7:12 Verb Perfect Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
τεθνηκώς, teqnhkwv
I am dying, am dead
Read verse Luke 8:49 Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Active Indicative
Τέθνηκεν teqnhken
I am dying, am dead
Read verse John 11:21 Verb Third Person Singular Pluperfect Active Indicative
ἐτεθνήκει. eteqnhkei
I am dying, am dead
Read verse John 11:39 Verb Perfect Active Participle Genitive Singular Masculine
τεθνηκότος teqnhkotov
I am dying, am dead
Read verse John 11:41 Verb Perfect Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
τεθνηκὼς teqnhkwv
I am dying, am dead
Read verse John 11:44 Verb Perfect Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
τεθνηκώς, teqnhkwv
I am dying, am dead
Read verse John 12:1 Verb Perfect Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
τεθνηκώς, teqnhkwv
I am dying, am dead
Read verse John 19:33 Verb Perfect Active Participle Accusative Singular Masculine
τεθνηκότα, teqnhkota
I am dying, am dead
Read verse Acts 14:19 Verb Second Perfect Active Infinitive
τεθνάναι. teqnanai
I am dying, am dead
Read verse Acts 25:19 Verb Perfect Active Participle Genitive Singular Masculine
τεθνηκότος, teqnhkotov
I am dying, am dead
Read verse 1 Timothy 5:6 Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Active Indicative
τέθνηκε. teqnhken
I am dying, am dead
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 9 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
perfect 9
Voice
active 9
Mood
indicative 4 participle 4 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 2:20 τεθνήκασιν perfect active indicative resultant Mark 15:44 τέθνηκεν perfect active indicative resultant Luke 7:12 τεθνηκὼς perfect active participle participle Luke 8:49 Τέθνηκεν perfect active indicative resultant John 11:44 τεθνηκὼς perfect active participle participle John 19:33 τεθνηκότα perfect active participle participle Acts 14:19 τεθνηκέναι perfect active infinitive infinitive Acts 25:19 τεθνηκότος perfect active participle participle 1 Timothy 5:6 τέθνηκεν perfect active indicative resultant
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Sampled Scripture Occurrences
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
literal physical death of a young man being carried out for burial
literal physical death, Pilate verifying Jesus had actually died on the cross
literal physical death of Lazarus before his resurrection by Jesus
figurative spiritual death while living in self-indulgent pleasure
For the Preacher and Teacher
θνήσκω helps the church speak truthfully at both the grave and the place of moral warning. Luke 7 makes death personal by presenting a widow whose only son is being carried out. Jesus' compassion meets a loss that is not minimized by the miracle that follows. Mark 15 includes Pilate's surprise and the centurion's confirmation, grounding Jesus' burial in actual death rather than appearance or metaphor.
John 11 then names Lazarus as the man who had been dead when he comes out of the tomb, so the sign displays Jesus' authority over the condition the word plainly names. First Timothy 5 extends the language figuratively to a widow living for pleasure. The extension works because physical death supplies the image of spiritual barrenness. Christian hope does not deny mortality, and moral exhortation should not confuse a figurative use with a medical or final judgment on a person.
Anchor passage
John.11.38-44
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 7:11-17 - Jesus has compassion on a widow and raises her only son
- Mark 15:42-47 - Jesus' death is verified before His burial
- John 11:17-44 - the resurrection and the life calls a dead man from the tomb
- 1 Timothy 5:3-16 - church care and faithful life are contrasted with self-indulgence
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 - Christ's resurrection answers death as the last enemy
The verb's forms can be translated die, be dead, or have died. Physical death is the normal sense, while a figurative use must be signaled by context, as in 1 Timothy 5:6. The word itself does not distinguish temporary death before resurrection from final death.
From Old to New Testament
Death enters the biblical story as judgment and remains an enemy no human power can master, while the prophets also use deathlike language for covenant ruin. The Gospels present Jesus meeting physical death with compassion and authority, and the resurrection announces His victory. Each passage must still determine whether the word is literal or figurative.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain