What does θάνατος (thánatos) mean in the Bible?
G2288 is the ordinary New Testament noun for death. Across fifteen books, the exact local evidence records 120 forms distributed through 106 verses.
Greek · G2288
θάνατος
(Properly, an adjective used as a noun) death (literally or figuratively)
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θάνατος G2288
Pronunciation thánatos
What does θάνατος (thánatos) mean in the Bible?
G2288 is the ordinary New Testament noun for death. Across fifteen books, the exact local evidence records 120 forms distributed through 106 verses.
Reader summary
Full entry for θάνατος (G2288) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2288?
The BSB source-word alignment has 120 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include death (75), of death (17), . . . (4), [is] death (3), for a death sentence (2).
Where does θάνατος (thánatos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (22), Revelation (19), Hebrews (10), 2 Corinthians (9).
What This Word Actually Means
G2288 is the ordinary New Testament noun for death. Across fifteen books, the exact local evidence records 120 forms distributed through 106 verses. It names threatened or completed bodily death, Christ's death, death as the result and reigning power associated with sin, a condition from which believers pass into life, the personified enemy defeated through resurrection, and Revelation's second death.
These uses belong to their sentences and should not be flattened into one formula. Romans 6:23 contrasts death as sin's wage with eternal life as God's gift. Hebrews 2:14 speaks of Christ sharing human mortality and acting through His death. John 5:24 describes a present passage from death to life, while Revelation distinguishes ordinary death, personified Death, and the second death.
The noun is serious, but every doctrinal claim must be governed by the passage that makes it.
How the Bible Uses It
G2288 ranges from bodily death and mortal peril to Christ's death, death connected with sin, death personified as an enemy, and Revelation's second death. Context identifies the referent and theological claim.
- Rom.6.23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The verse contrasts an earned wage with God's gift without implying that every occurrence of the noun carries the full contrast.
- 1Co.15.26
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Death is personified as the final enemy within the chapter's resurrection sequence.
- Heb.2.14
Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
The Incarnation and Christ's death belong to the stated purpose of defeating the devil's death-related power.
- Jhn.5.24
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
The verse describes a present transition connected with hearing, believing, eternal life, and judgment.
- Rev.21.4
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
The promise joins death's removal to the passing of mourning, crying, and pain in the new creation.
Passage context
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 death 75× Matthew 10:21, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 20:18, Mark 9:1
of death 17× Matthew 4:16, Matthew 26:38, Mark 14:64, Luke 1:79
. . . 4× 2 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 2:16, 1 John 5:16, Revelation 13:3
[is] death 3× Romans 6:21, Romans 6:23, Romans 8:6
for a death sentence 2× Acts 13:28, Acts 28:18
mortal 2× Revelation 13:3, Revelation 13:12
O Death 2× 1 Corinthians 15:55
vvv 2× Matthew 15:4, Mark 7:10
[the kind of] death 1× John 21:19
[the] death 1× Hebrews 9:16
[was] Death 1× Revelation 6:8
danger of death 1× 2 Corinthians 11:23
dead 1× Revelation 2:23
died 1× Philippians 2:30
for death 1× Romans 7:5
now that He has died 1× Hebrews 9:15
of death [is] 1× 1 Corinthians 15:56
plague 1× Revelation 6:8
to death 1× Mark 10:33
to die 1× Matthew 26:66
unto death 1× Philippians 2:27
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 4:16 θανάτου to of death Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 10:21 θάνατον to death Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Matthew 15:4 θανάτῳ to vvv Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Matthew 16:28 θανάτου to death Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 20:18 θανάτῳ* to death Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Matthew 26:38 θανάτου to of death Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 26:66 θανάτου to to die Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Mark 7:10 θανάτῳ to vvv Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Mark 9:1 θανάτου to death Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Mark 10:33 θανάτῳ to to death Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 4:16
Aligned rows 120
Books represented 15
Matthew 7 Mark 6 Luke 7 John 8 Acts 8 Romans 22 1 Corinthians 8 2 Corinthians 9 Philippians 6 Colossians 1 2 Timothy 1 Hebrews 10 James 2 1 John 6 Revelation 19
Source forms
θανάτου 53x thanatou Matthew 4:16, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 26:38, Matthew 26:66
θάνατον 25x thanaton Matthew 10:21, Mark 13:12, Luke 2:26, Luke 22:33
θάνατος 23x thanatos Romans 5:12, Romans 5:14, Romans 5:17, Romans 6:9
θανάτῳ 14x thanatō Matthew 15:4, Mark 7:10, Mark 10:33, John 12:33
θάνατε 2x thanate 1 Corinthians 15:55
θανάτοις 1x thanatois 2 Corinthians 11:23
Θάνατος 1x Thanatos Revelation 6:8
θανάτῳ* 1x thanatō Matthew 20:18
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 53x Matthew 4:16, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 26:38, Matthew 26:66
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 25x Matthew 10:21, Mark 13:12, Luke 2:26, Luke 22:33
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 24x Romans 5:12, Romans 5:14, Romans 5:17, Romans 6:9
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 15x Matthew 15:4, Matthew 20:18, Mark 7:10, Mark 10:33
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 15:55
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural 1x 2 Corinthians 11:23
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let each passage identify whether death is bodily, figurative, personified, connected with sin, or named in final judgment.
- Speak resurrection hope without treating grief as unbelief.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim every G2288 occurrence means spiritual separation from God.
- Do not claim physical death and Revelation's second death are interchangeable.
- Do not claim the noun alone supplies a complete doctrine of death.
- Do not claim Christian hope makes death painless or grief unnecessary.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Physical death contrasts with spiritual/eternal death; personified as a power opposing divine life
Strong's G2288
Lexical occurrences 120 verses Greek text appearances 119 times 16 shown below Word forms 6 forms 120 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 John 3:11-18 Source Gloss
(properly, an adjective used as a noun) death (literally or figuratively)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 119 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 4:16 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου, qanatou
death
Read verse Matthew 10:21 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θάνατον, qanaton
death
Read verse Matthew 15:4 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
θανάτῳ qanatw
death
Read verse Matthew 16:28 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου, qanatou
death
Read verse Matthew 20:18 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
θανάτῳ, qanatw
death
Read verse Matthew 26:38 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου· qanatou
death
Read verse Matthew 26:66 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου qanatou
death
Read verse Mark 7:10 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
θανάτῳ qanatw
death
Read verse Mark 9:1 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου, qanatou
death
Read verse Mark 10:33 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
θανάτῳ, qanatw
death
Read verse Mark 13:12 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θάνατον, qanaton
death
Read verse Mark 14:34 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου· qanatou
death
Read verse Mark 14:64 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου. qanatou
death
Read verse Luke 1:79 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου qanatou
death
Read verse Luke 2:26 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θάνατον qanaton
death
Read verse Luke 9:27 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θανάτου, qanatou
death
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 6 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.
Form patterns 6 Aligned forms 120 Case pattern Genitive (53) Number pattern Singular (119)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Rom 5:12 · Rom 5:14 · Rom 5:17 · Rom 6:9 · Rom 6:21 · Rom 6:23 · Rom 7:13 · Rom 8:6 · Rom 8:38 · 1 Cor 3:22 · 1 Cor 15:21 · 1 Cor 15:26 · 1 Cor 15:54 · 2 Cor 4:12 · Rev 6:8 · Rev 9:6 24×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 4:16 · Matt 16:28 · Matt 26:38 · Matt 26:66 · Mark 9:1 · Mark 14:34 · Mark 14:64 · Luke 1:79 · Luke 9:27 · Luke 23:15 · Luke 23:22 · Luke 24:20 · John 5:24 · John 8:52 · John 11:13 · Acts 2:24 53×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Matt 15:4 · Matt 20:18 · Mark 7:10 · Mark 10:33 · John 12:33 · John 18:32 · John 21:19 · Rom 5:21 · Rom 7:5 · Phil 2:27 · Phil 3:10 · Heb 7:23 · 1 John 3:14 · Rev 2:23 · Rev 6:8 15×
Dative · Plural · Masculine 2 Cor 11:23 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 10:21 · Mark 13:12 · Luke 2:26 · Luke 22:33 · John 8:51 · John 11:4 · Rom 6:3 · Rom 6:4 · Rom 6:16 · Rom 7:10 · Rom 7:13 · 1 Cor 11:26 · 2 Cor 2:16 · 2 Cor 4:11 · 2 Cor 7:10 · 2 Tim 1:10 25×
Vocative · Singular · Masculine 1 Cor 15:55 2×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Spiritual separation from God.
Spiritual death or decisive judgment.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 120 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
θάνατος is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Hatred reveals continued residence in spiritual death. 1 John 3:11-18
Distinguishing types of sin underscores the gravity of persistent rebellion. 1 John 5:13-17
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
G2288 lets Scripture speak plainly about mortality without making every death text identical. A funeral passage, a warning about sin, a statement about Christ's death, and Revelation's second death do not answer the same question. Yet the canon also supplies a coherent hope: death enters Paul's account of sin's reign, Christ truly undergoes death, resurrection exposes death as an enemy with a promised end, and the new creation contains no death.
Teachers should preserve both clarity and restraint. Death should not be romanticized as harmless, but grief should not be corrected with slogans. John 5:24 must remain connected to faith and judgment; Romans 6:23 to wage and gift; Hebrews 2 to Christ's shared humanity; and Revelation to final judgment and renewal. The passage provides the claim, while the lexical companion shows how the noun moves through those claims.
Anchor passage
Rom.6.23
Doctrinal connections
- Rom.5.12-21 - Paul relates sin, death, Adam, Christ, grace, and life.
- Rom.6.23 - death as sin's wage is contrasted with God's gift of eternal life.
- 1Co.15.21-26 - resurrection places death among the enemies subjected to Christ.
- 1Co.15.54-57 - death's defeat is proclaimed within the resurrection hope.
- Heb.2.14-15 - Christ shares humanity and acts through death against death-related bondage.
- Jhn.5.24 - believing hearers pass from death to life and escape judgment.
- Rev.20.14 - Death, Hades, and the second death retain a final-judgment setting.
- Rev.21.4 - death is absent from the renewed creation.
The 120 noun forms occupy six morphology patterns, mostly singular genitive, nominative, dative, and accusative forms. One plural dative appears in 2 Corinthians 11:23, where the local translation speaks of repeated danger of death.
From Old to New Testament
New Testament authors cite or echo Old Testament death texts within specific arguments, especially in resurrection and new-creation passages. Those explicit connections should govern teaching more than a generalized account imposed on the noun.
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