To kill outright; figuratively, to destroy
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Apokteino means to kill, put to death, or cause death. New Testament writers use it for the human killing of Jesus, the authorities' settled plan to execute Him, His foretold rejection and death, and the cross's paradoxical destruction of hostility.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀποκτείνω (G615) · Open the biblical lexicon
Apokteino means to kill, put to death, or cause death. New Testament writers use it for the human killing of Jesus, the authorities' settled plan to execute Him, His foretold rejection and death, and the cross's paradoxical destruction of hostility.
The BSB source-word alignment has 74 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to kill (12), kill (10), killed (6), kills (4), let us kill (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (15), Matthew (13), John (12), Luke (12).
Apokteino means to kill, put to death, or cause death. New Testament writers use it for the human killing of Jesus, the authorities' settled plan to execute Him, His foretold rejection and death, and the cross's paradoxical destruction of hostility. The verb names lethal action plainly and should not be softened into generic opposition. Yet responsibility must be stated with each passage's actors and redemptive frame.
Acts addresses Jerusalem hearers while proclaiming God's resurrection; it does not authorize collective blame against Jewish people. First Thessalonians' polemic likewise cannot sustain antisemitism. The gospel exposes murderous human sin across rulers and peoples, announces Christ's willing self-giving and victory, and forms communities committed to protecting life, pursuing justice, and refusing hatred.
Apokteino names killing. Its selected witnesses trace the execution of Jesus through human plans and actions while proclaiming that God raised the Author of life and that Christ's cross kills hostility.
You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of this fact.
Acts 3:15 says the hearers killed the Author or Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead. Peter's accusation aims toward repentance and restoration, not ethnic hatred.
And reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.
Ephesians 2:16 says Christ reconciles Jew and Gentile to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. The verb is metaphorically applied to hostility's decisive end.
So from that day on they plotted to kill Him.
John 11:53 says the council from that day planned together to kill Jesus after Caiaphas's unwitting prophecy. Institutional calculation turns toward execution.
“The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Luke 9:22 records Jesus' announcement that the Son of Man must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and on the third day be raised. Death belongs within the foretold saving path.
Who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
First Thessalonians 2:15 speaks polemically of those who killed the Lord Jesus and prophets and persecuted the apostles. It must be bounded to responsible actors and not universalized against Jews.
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. To kill with finality; perfective aspect emphasizes complete destruction rather than mere wounding or attempt.
To kill with finality; perfective aspect emphasizes complete destruction rather than mere wounding or attempt.
(also in late forms -κτέννω, Mat.10:28, a1., LTTr., -κτεννύω, Mrk.12:5, WH), [in LXX for הָרַג, מוּת ;] to kill: Mat.14:5, al.; before instr. ἐν (which see), Eph.2:16, Rev.2:23, al. Metaphorical: Rom.7:11; τ. ἔχθραν, Eph.2:16; τὸ γράμμα ἀποκτείνει 2Co.3:6 (on the perfective force of this verb, see M, Pr., 114)
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 75 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
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Read verseI put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
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Read verseI put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
Read verseI put to death, kill
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 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 71 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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 passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 74 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀποκτείνω 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.
Apokteino forces readers to face the lethal reality of Jesus' rejection. A council calculates His death, the Son foretells that He will be killed, and Peter tells implicated hearers they killed the Author of life. Yet God raises Him, opening repentance rather than authorizing vengeance. Ephesians uses the same verb for what the cross does to hostility, showing Christ's death creating one reconciled people rather than sustaining ethnic enmity.
Churches must reject the long history of using passion texts or 1 Thessalonians against Jewish people. Responsibility belongs to specified actors, while the wider canon implicates sinful humanity and proclaims Christ's willing saving purpose. Faithful teaching protects life, names institutional violence, resists dehumanization, and announces resurrection and peace.
Acts.3.15
Apokteino combines apo with kteino, to kill. It normally denotes putting to death, while metaphorical use remains possible when the object, as in hostility, is non-personal.
Cain's murder, prophetic persecution, sacrificial imagery, and the suffering servant prepare categories of violence, guilt, substitution, and God's vindication without collapsing them.