Baptism (technically or figuratively)
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Βάπτισμα (baptisma) means baptism, an act of immersion or washing with covenantal and public significance defined by the administering ministry and message. John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling Israel to confess sin and prepare for the coming Messiah; mere arrival at the water cannot shield unrepentant leaders from wrath.
Reader summary
Full entry for βάπτισμα (G908) · Open the biblical lexicon
Βάπτισμα (baptisma) means baptism, an act of immersion or washing with covenantal and public significance defined by the administering ministry and message. John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling Israel to confess sin and prepare for the coming Messiah; mere arrival at the water cannot shield unrepentant leaders from.
The BSB source-word alignment has 19 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include baptism (12), a baptism (4), . . . (1), [a] baptism (1), [the] baptism (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), Luke (4), Mark (4), Matthew (2).
Βάπτισμα (baptisma) means baptism, an act of immersion or washing with covenantal and public significance defined by the administering ministry and message. John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, calling Israel to confess sin and prepare for the coming Messiah; mere arrival at the water cannot shield unrepentant leaders from wrath.
In Acts, John's baptism marks the beginning point for selecting a resurrection witness because it opens Jesus' public ministry. Romans describes believers buried with Christ through baptism into death so that, as Christ was raised, they walk in newness of life. The noun does not make water an automatic agent of regeneration or reduce baptism to a private symbol detached from repentance, faith, church confession, and union with Christ.
Each context must distinguish John's preparatory baptism from Christian baptism.
Βάπτισμα names baptism as a public washing or immersion. John administers a repentance baptism preparing for Jesus, apostolic witness begins from that ministry, and Christian baptism portrays burial and resurrection with Christ into new life.
But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Pharisees and Sadducees come to John's baptism, but his warning demands fruit consistent with repentance rather than confidence in ancestry or ritual attendance.
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark introduces John preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness, preparing the Lord's way and directing hearers toward the stronger One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
Luke likewise locates John's baptism throughout the Jordan region within Isaiah's promise that all flesh will see God's salvation.
Beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
A replacement apostle must have accompanied the disciples from John's baptism through Jesus' ascension, so baptism marks the opening of the public story the witness must know.
We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.
Believers are buried with Christ through baptism into death so that His resurrection establishes a new walk, making the ordinance a gospel-shaped confession of union with Him.
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. Emphasizes the completed state or result of immersion rather than the act itself; marks entry into covenant community.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 22 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
the rite or ceremony of baptism
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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 3 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 7 selected witnesses from 19 lexical occurrence verses.
βάπτισμα is built from this root:
Refers to Christ’s overwhelming suffering at the cross. 1 Peter 3:13-22
Distinguishes preparatory baptism from Christian identification in Christ. Acts 19:1-7
Clarifies that salvation rests in Christ’s resurrection, which baptism publicly signifies. Luke 12:49–53
Baptism visibly places a person under a proclaimed message. John's baptism calls Israel to repentance and prepares for the coming Lord, but the water cannot substitute for fruit or humble trust. Its historical importance is so great that Acts uses John's ministry as the starting boundary for an apostolic resurrection witness. Romans speaks from the other side of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Christian baptism identifies believers with Christ's burial and risen life and therefore summons them away from continued slavery to sin. The ordinance does not create faith by mechanical action, nor is it an empty illustration that obedience may safely postpone. Churches should proclaim the gospel clearly, baptize professing disciples by immersion, receive the ordinance as Christ's commanded public sign, and teach baptized people to walk in the newness it portrays.
Matt.3.7
Βάπτισμα is a noun for baptism or immersion, related to the verb βαπτίζω. Genitives and prepositional phrases specify administrator, message, or relation. Context distinguishes John's baptism, Christian baptism, and figurative uses elsewhere.
Cleansing rites prepare the scriptural background, John administers a repentance baptism, Jesus commands disciple baptism, and apostolic teaching joins the ordinance to faith, union with Christ, and new life.
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