What does ἀνθρωποκτόνος (anthrōpoktónos) mean in the Bible?
ἀνθρωποκτόνος is a compound word joining anthropos (human being) and a killing root, naming one who takes human life: a murderer, a killer of people. " The word does double duty in context.
Greek · G443
ἀνθρωποκτόνος
A manslayer
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ἀνθρωποκτόνος G443
Pronunciation anthrōpoktónos
What does ἀνθρωποκτόνος (anthrōpoktónos) mean in the Bible?
ἀνθρωποκτόνος is a compound word joining anthropos (human being) and a killing root, naming one who takes human life: a murderer, a killer of people. " The word does double duty in context.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀνθρωποκτόνος (G443) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G443?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a murderer (2), murderer (1).
Where does ἀνθρωποκτόνος (anthrōpoktónos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 8:44. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 John (2), John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
ἀνθρωποκτόνος is a compound word joining anthropos (human being) and a killing root, naming one who takes human life: a murderer, a killer of people. John 8:44 is the word's key New Testament use, and Jesus applies it to the devil in one of the most severe indictments he gives any hearer in this Gospel: "He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him."
The word does double duty in context. It names a historical claim, tracing murder to the serpent's assault on the first humans and, through it, death's entry into the world, and it names the devil's present character, still active in the hostility of the religious leaders who now seek Jesus' life. Jesus does not call his opponents murderers in this verse; he names their father.
The word is severe and specific: it belongs to the devil, and its use here does not license loose application to every liar or every sinner. Teachers must keep the term anchored to its single, deliberate use.
How the Bible Uses It
John 8:44 is the Gospel's sharpest character statement about the devil, and ἀνθρωποκτόνος anchors it. Jesus is not trading insults with the religious leaders in front of him; he is diagnosing the spiritual parentage behind their hostility. Scripture traces murder to the serpent's deception in Eden and the first bloodshed that follows it (Gen 3-4), and John 8:44 names the devil as the source of that pattern, still opposing truth and life in the world Jesus has come to save.
- John.8.44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44 records Jesus' identification of the devil as 'a murderer from the beginning,' the New Testament's defining use of ἀνθρωποκτόνος.
- John.8.59
At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
The charge sits inside John 8's escalating conflict between Jesus and religious leaders who, by the chapter's end, pick up stones to kill him, showing the murderous pattern the word names still at work.
- 1John.3.15
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.
1 John 3:15 extends the same root idea, warning that 'anyone who hates his brother is a murderer,' tracing the devil's murderous character into ordinary hatred within the church.
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 a murderer 2× John 8:44, 1 John 3:15
murderer 1× 1 John 3:15
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 8:44
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 2
John 1 1 John 2
Source forms
ἀνθρωποκτόνος 3x anthrōpoktonos John 8:44, 1 John 3:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 3x John 8:44, 1 John 3:15
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Keep the accusation anchored to the devil named in John 8:44; do not repurpose it as a blanket verdict on people who disagree with the gospel.
- Teach the word alongside 1 John 3:15's warning about hatred, so the church hears a caution for itself, not only a description of outside opponents.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not apply 'murderer from the beginning' directly to Jesus' individual human opponents in John 8; the term names the devil, not every person who resists Jesus.
- Do not use this verse to claim all human murder is directly demonic possession; John 8:44 describes the devil's character and influence, not a mechanism for every human killing.
Passage contextCanonical paralleltheological_synthesis
Evidence Summary
Greek word. One who actively kills humans; emphasizes the perpetrator's violent action rather than guilt or legal status.
Strong's G443
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 1 form 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
a manslayer
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
One who actively kills humans; emphasizes the perpetrator's violent action rather than guilt or legal status.
(κτείνω, to kill) a murderer, manslayer (Eur.; see MM, VGT, see word): Jhn.8:44, 1Jn.3:16.
Synonymsφονεύς, ἀνδροφόνος (see Tr., Syn, § 83)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 8:44 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀνθρωποκτόνος anqrwpoktonov
a murderer
Read verse 1 John 3:15 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀνθρωποκτόνος anqrwpoktonov
a murderer
Read verse 1 John 3:15 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀνθρωποκτόνος anqrwpoktonov
a murderer
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 1 Aligned forms 3 Case pattern Nominative (3) Number pattern Singular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine John 8:44 · 1 John 3:15 3×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
1-john Murderer anthrōpoktónos
one who takes human life
Showing 1 selected witness from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀνθρωποκτόνος is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Expands the seriousness of hatred, linking it to spiritual death.
For the Preacher and Teacher
John 8:44 is the Gospel's sharpest character statement about the devil, and ἀνθρωποκτόνος anchors it. Jesus is not trading insults with the religious leaders in front of him; he is diagnosing the spiritual parentage behind their hostility. The devil murders and lies together, because truth and life stand or fall together in John's Gospel. The same leaders who claim Abraham as father will, within the same chapter, take up stones against the one who is 'the way, the truth, and the life.'
Preachers can use this word to show that opposition to Jesus in John is never merely intellectual disagreement; it is aligned, whether the opponent recognizes it or not, with a murderous, lie-native character the Gospel traces back to the beginning. This word opens a teaching doorway on the character behind hostility to Jesus: John 8:44 traces the devil's opposition to truth all the way back to a murderous 'beginning,' showing that resistance to Jesus in this Gospel is never spiritually neutral.
It gives preachers a way to name the seriousness of persistent unbelief without reducing every doubter to the devil's agent. It corrects any reading that treats John 8:44 as a general slur against Jesus' opponents rather than as a specific, deliberate statement about the devil's character and history. Frame ἀνθρωποκτόνος as Jesus' single, weighty diagnosis of the devil's nature, not as a repeatable label for any individual sinner.
Anchor passage
John.8.44
Doctrinal connections
- John.8.44 - primary John anchor for murderer, killer of a human being.
- John.8.59 - local narrative or book-level context that supports the companion's claim.
- 1John.3.15 - canonical parallel or background that keeps the entry's theological claim bounded.
- Gospel of John - book context that keeps this entry anchored in John's witness to Jesus.
Frame ἀνθρωποκτόνος as Jesus' single, weighty diagnosis of the devil's nature, not as a repeatable label for any individual sinner. Linguistically, ἀνθρωποκτόνος should be allowed to name murderer, killer of a human being without carrying claims the cited passages do not make.
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