Sacrifice (the act or the victim, literally or figuratively)
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θυσία is Hebrews' word for what Christ did — and what the OT sacrificial system was reaching toward. The argument of Heb 9-10 turns on a single contrast: every priest 'stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins' (10:11); but 'when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God' (10:12).
Reader summary
Full entry for θυσία (G2378) · Open the biblical lexicon
θυσία is Hebrews' word for what Christ did — and what the OT sacrificial system was reaching toward. The argument of Heb 9-10 turns on a single contrast: every priest 'stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins' (10:11); but 'when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat.
The BSB source-word alignment has 28 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sacrifices (14), sacrifice (9), [a] sacrifice (1), [the] sacrifice (1), a sacrifice (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 9:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (15), Acts (2), Luke (2), Matthew (2).
θυσία is Hebrews' word for what Christ did — and what the OT sacrificial system was reaching toward. The argument of Heb 9-10 turns on a single contrast: every priest 'stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins' (10:11); but 'when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God' (10:12).
The sitting is the sign that the work is finished. No OT priest ever sat down — there was always another θυσία to offer, another year's Yom Kippur, another morning burnt offering. Christ's θυσία is permanent, singular, sufficient. The NT's metaphorical uses (Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15-16; Phil 4:18; 1 Pet 2:5) are not a weakening of the word but its extension: because the one sacrifice has been offered, those who are united to Christ now offer their whole lives as a 'living sacrifice' — the shape of Christian existence is sacrificial because it is shaped by and participates in His.
The local NT index currently counts about 28 uses of this sacrifice noun. Hebrews gives the densest theological treatment of sacrificial language in the NT. Paul uses it metaphorically in Rom 12:1, Eph 5:2, Phil 2:17, and Phil 4:18. 1 Pet 2:5 extends it to the corporate priesthood of believers.
But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.
One central NT use of this sacrifice noun. The contrast with v.11 (every OT priest stands and offers repeatedly) makes the sitting theologically weighty: Christ's θυσία is non-repeatable because it is sufficient. 'For all time' (εἰς τὸ διηνεκές) modifies both the sacrifice and the sitting — the one offering has permanent, unrepeatable efficacy.
And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
Paul names Christ's self-giving with both προσφορά (offering) and θυσία — the two terms together cover a broad OT offering range. 'Fragrant offering' (ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας) is the LXX's phrase for sacrifices acceptable to God throughout Leviticus. Christ's death is the fulfillment of the Levitical fragrant-offering pattern.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
The metaphorical extension: θυσία ζῶσα (living sacrifice). The OT animal was killed to become a sacrifice; the NT believer lives as one. The paradox is deliberate — the sacrifice that is living is the one that gives itself continually rather than once. Paul anchors this in 'the mercies of God' (the preceding 11 chapters of Romans): the θυσία of Christ precedes and grounds every responsive θυσία of the believer.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.
Quoting Ps 40:6 LXX, Hebrews reads the Psalmist's voice as Christ speaking at the incarnation. 'A body have you prepared for me' replaces the LXX's 'ears you have dug for me' — the author reads the body as the instrument of the one θυσία. The incarnation is framed as the preparation of the sacrifice.
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus quotes Hos 6:6 LXX (ἔλεον θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν) in response to Pharisaic criticism. The critique is not of the sacrificial system but of its divorce from mercy. Jesus does not abolish θυσία — He fulfills it; but He uses the prophetic critique to expose the Pharisees' inversion of priorities.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
θυσία αἰνέσεως — the sacrifice of praise — is drawn from Ps 107:22 and 116:17. The continuing sacrificial life of the Christian community is conducted 'through him' (Christ) and consists of praise and practical sharing (v.16). The priestly work of believers is defined by these θυσίαι.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. The act of offering or the victim offered; encompasses both literal Temple sacrifices and metaphorical spiritual offerings.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 29 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a sacrifice
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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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 8 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 28 lexical occurrence verses.
θυσία is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The sitting of Christ in Heb 10:12 is the pastoral heart of θυσία. The Hebrews contrast pictures the Levitical priest as standing — the work was never finished, the sacrifices were never enough, the system was by design perpetually incomplete. When Christ sat down, He declared something the history of sacrificial offerings had been unable to declare: it is finished.
The believer who understands this does not come to God wondering whether the sacrifice will be accepted. The priest has sat down. The seated priest is the gospel declared in a posture: the work is finished and God has accepted it. The resting posture of Christ is itself a proclamation requiring no supplement.
Heb.10.12
This sacrifice noun in Hebrews especially concerns animal/atoning sacrifice, not the grain offering, because the argument requires blood (Heb 9:22: 'without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins'). The metaphorical uses in Paul and 1 Peter then re-expand the word's range again, but in a new direction: not grain but life. The broad NT arc of θυσία moves from animal blood → Christ's blood → the believer's life offered in response.
The OT foundation includes Lev 1-7 and its sacrificial code → Ps 40:6-8 (the Psalmist's voice: sacrifice you did not desire... I have come to do your will) → Hos 6:6 (I desire mercy, not sacrifice) → Isa 53:10 (the Servant as a guilt offering) → NT: Eph 5:2 (Christ gave himself as a fragrant θυσία) → Heb 10:12 (the one θυσία, sat down) → Rev 5:6, 12 (the Lamb 'as though slain' receiving worship in heaven). The arc points from the OT sacrificial grammar toward Christ as the fulfillment it had long been forming.
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