What does σφάζω (spházō) mean in the Bible?
G4969 means to slay or slaughter. 12, Cain slays his brother because his own deeds are evil and his brother's are righteous.
Greek · G4969
σφάζω
To slaughter
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σφάζωG4969
Pronunciationspházō
What does σφάζω (spházō) mean in the Bible?
G4969 means to slay or slaughter. 12, Cain slays his brother because his own deeds are evil and his brother's are righteous.
Reader summary
Full entry for σφάζω (G4969) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4969?
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include had been slain (2), was slain (2), did [Cain] slay (1), murdered (1), to have been mortally wounded (1).
Where does σφάζω (spházō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 John 3:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (8), 1 John (2).
What This Word Actually Means
G4969 means to slay or slaughter. In 1John. 3. 12, Cain slays his brother because his own deeds are evil and his brother's are righteous. In Rev. 5. 6, the Lamb appears slain yet standing at the center of the throne. In Rev. 6. 9, the souls of those slain for God's word and their testimony are seen under the altar. G4969 opens teaching on hatred's lethal trajectory, Christ's self-giving victory, faithful witness under persecution, and divine judgment on violent empire.
It does not glorify martyrdom, command believers to seek death, or make every wounded ruler a counterfeit resurrection that can be identified from current events.
How the Bible Uses It
G4969 names Cain's murder, the slaughtered-yet-living Lamb, slain witnesses, mutual human violence, the beast's mortal-looking wound, and Babylon's victims. Revelation contrasts sacrificial victory with murderous imitation and empire.
- 1John.3.12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
Cain slays Abel because evil deeds hate righteous ones, illustrating the opposite of brotherly love.
- Rev.5.6
Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
The slain Lamb stands alive at the throne, joining sacrificial death, resurrection victory, and royal authority.
- Rev.6.9
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
Slain witnesses appear beneath the altar and appeal to God for truthful and just judgment.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Ithad been slain2×Revelation 6:9, Revelation 18:24
was slain2×Revelation 5:12, Revelation 13:8
did [Cain] slay1×1 John 3:12
murdered1×1 John 3:12
to have been mortally wounded1×Revelation 13:3
to have been slain1×Revelation 5:6
to make [men] slay1×Revelation 6:4
You were slain1×Revelation 5:9
Show sample aligned rows
1 John 3:12ἔσφαξενtomurderedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1 John 3:12ἔσφαξενtodid [Cain] slayVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularRevelation 5:6ἐσφαγμένονtoto have been slainVerb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter SingularRevelation 5:9ἐσφάγηςtoYou were slainVerb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 2nd Person SingularRevelation 5:12ἐσφαγμένονtowas slainVerb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter SingularRevelation 6:4σφάξουσινtoto make [men] slayVerb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person PluralRevelation 6:9ἐσφαγμένωνtohad been slainVerb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine PluralRevelation 13:3ἐσφαγμένηνtoto have been mortally woundedVerb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Feminine SingularRevelation 13:8ἐσφαγμένουtowas slainVerb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Neuter SingularRevelation 18:24ἐσφαγμένωνtohad been slainVerb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row1 John 3:12
Aligned rows10
Books represented2
1 John2Revelation8
Source forms
ἐσφαγμένον2xesphagmenonRevelation 5:6, Revelation 5:12
ἐσφαγμένων2xesphagmenōnRevelation 6:9, Revelation 18:24
ἔσφαξεν2xesphaxen1 John 3:12
ἐσφάγης1xesphagēsRevelation 5:9
ἐσφαγμένην1xesphagmenēnRevelation 13:3
ἐσφαγμένου1xesphagmenouRevelation 13:8
σφάξουσιν1xsphaxousinRevelation 6:4
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular2x1 John 3:12
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural2xRevelation 6:9, Revelation 18:24
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter Singular2xRevelation 5:6, Revelation 5:12
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 2nd Person Singular1xRevelation 5:9
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural1xRevelation 6:4
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Feminine Singular1xRevelation 13:3
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Neuter Singular1xRevelation 13:8
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not encourage persecuted or distressed people to seek death, refuse safety, or remain in preventable danger to prove faithfulness.
- Do not use Revelation's slaughter language to celebrate enemies' deaths or identify current people through speculative prophecy charts.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G4969 always denotes sacrifice or that every victim is a Christian martyr.
- Do not claim that following the slain Lamb authorizes believers to slaughter opponents in His name.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Violent slaughter, especially of sacrificial victims; NT usage emphasizes martyrdom and eschatological violence.
Strong'sG4969
Lexical occurrences10 versesGreek text appearances10 timesWord forms2 forms10 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkJeremiah 51:38-40Source Gloss
to slaughter
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Violent slaughter, especially of sacrificial victims; NT usage emphasizes martyrdom and eschatological violence.
to slay, slaughter (esp. of victims for sacrifice): ἀρνίον, Rev.5:6, 12 13:8; of persons, 1Jn.3:12, Rev.5:9 6:4, 9 18:24; ἐσφαγμένη εἰς θάνατον (RV, smitten unto death), Rev.13:3 (cf. κατα-σφάζω).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
1 John 3:12Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔσφαξεesfaxen
I slay
Read verse1 John 3:12Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔσφαξενesfaxen
I slay
Read verseRevelation 5:6Verb Perfect Passive Participle Accusative Singular Neuter
ἐσφαγμένον,esfagmenon
I slay
Read verseRevelation 5:9Verb Second Person Singular Second Aorist Passive Indicative
ἐσφάγης,esfaghv
I slay
Read verseRevelation 5:12Verb Perfect Passive Participle Nominative Singular Neuter
ἐσφαγμένονesfagmenon
I slay
Read verseRevelation 6:4Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
σφάξωσι·sfaxwsin
I slay
Read verseRevelation 6:9Verb Perfect Passive Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
ἐσφαγμένωνesfagmenwn
I slay
Read verseRevelation 13:3Verb Perfect Passive Participle Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐσφαγμένηνesfagmenhn
I slay
Read verseRevelation 13:8Verb Perfect Passive Participle Genitive Singular Neuter
ἐσφαγμένουesfagmenou
I slay
Read verseRevelation 18:24Verb Perfect Passive Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
ἐσφαγμένωνesfagmenwn
I slay
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups2Aligned forms10TensesAorist, Perfect, FutureVoicesActive, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality4×
Aorist Active1 John 3:122×
Aorist PassiveRev 5:91×
Future ActiveRev 6:41×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality6×
Perfect PassiveRev 5:6 · Rev 5:12 · Rev 6:9 · Rev 18:24 · Rev 13:3 · Rev 13:86×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 10 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
perfect6aorist3future1
Voice
passive7active3
Mood
participle6indicative4
NT Occurrences
1 John 3:12ἔσφαξενaorist active indicativecompleted1 John 3:12ἔσφαξενaorist active indicativecompletedRevelation 5:12ἐσφαγμένονperfect passive participleparticipleRevelation 5:6ἐσφαγμένονperfect passive participleparticipleRevelation 5:9ἐσφάγηςaorist passive indicativecompletedRevelation 6:4σφάξουσινfuture active indicativeprospectiveRevelation 6:9ἐσφαγμένωνperfect passive participleparticipleRevelation 13:3ἐσφαγμένηνperfect passive participleparticipleRevelation 13:8ἐσφαγμένουperfect passive participleparticipleRevelation 18:24ἐσφαγμένωνperfect passive participleparticiple
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)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
to slaughter animals together, collective killing of livestock
Showing 1 selected witness from 10 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
σφάζω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G4969 exposes two radically different relations between death and power. Cain slays his brother because righteousness threatens evil, and John treats that act as the mature fruit of hatred. Revelation shows the same murderous pattern spreading through war, persecution, and Babylon's commerce. At the center, however, stands the Lamb who was slain. His wounds are not evidence of defeat; He lives, receives worship, opens history, and purchases a multinational people for God.
The witnesses slain for their testimony are neither forgotten nor told that their deaths were harmless. They appeal for judgment and receive God's recognition while awaiting completion. Faithful application confronts hatred before it becomes harm, supports threatened witnesses, and rejects the pursuit of martyr status. The church follows the Lamb through truthful testimony and patient endurance, not through reproducing the slaughtering power He judges.
Anchor passage
Rev.5.6
Doctrinal connections
- G4969: Cain's murder reveals how hatred of a brother contradicts the life and love given in Christ.
- G4969: the Lamb is slain yet standing, so resurrection transforms but does not erase His sacrificial wounds.
- G4969: the Lamb's blood purchases people from every nation rather than licensing domination by one nation.
- G4969: slain witnesses remain seen, heard, and remembered before God's throne.
- G4969: Babylon is judged for accumulated bloodshed hidden beneath wealth, influence, and spiritual seduction.
- G4969: the church conquers through the Lamb and faithful testimony, not by imitating murderous empire.
G4969 is a Greek verb for slaughtering or slaying, often with sacrificial overtones but also used for murder and mass violence. Revelation's participles can describe a past slaughter whose visible result remains significant.
From Old to New Testament
Abel's blood, Passover, sacrificial lambs, and suffering-servant imagery converge in the New Testament's presentation of Christ, while Revelation contrasts His faithful death and risen life with Cain-like violence, persecuting powers, and imperial bloodshed.