What does θνητός (thnētós) mean in the Bible?
G2349 describes what is mortal or subject to death. Its six forms occur in six verses across Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians.
Greek · G2349
θνητός
Liable to die
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θνητός G2349
Pronunciation thnētós
What does θνητός (thnētós) mean in the Bible?
G2349 describes what is mortal or subject to death. Its six forms occur in six verses across Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians.
Reader summary
Full entry for θνητός (G2349) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2349?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include mortal (5), mortality (1).
Where does θνητός (thnētós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 6:12. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (2), 2 Corinthians (2), Romans (2).
What This Word Actually Means
G2349 describes what is mortal or subject to death. Its six forms occur in six verses across Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians. Romans 6:12 calls the body mortal while commanding believers not to let sin reign in it. Romans 8:11 ties the indwelling Spirit to God's future enlivening of believers' death-bound bodies. First Corinthians 15 twice contrasts the mortal with immortality in the resurrection argument.
Second Corinthians 4 speaks of Jesus' life being revealed in a mortal body amid exposure to death, while 5:4 expresses the hope that mortality will be swallowed up by life. Mortality therefore names the body's present vulnerability without making the body worthless. Paul's hope is not escape from embodied existence but life given by God and resurrection transformation.
How the Bible Uses It
G2349 names the body's present subjection to death and appears in commands about sin, promises of Spirit-given life, ministry under mortal pressure, and resurrection transformation.
- Rom.6.12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.
Mortality does not remove moral agency or make bodily existence synonymous with sin.
- Rom.8.11
And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
The promise directs hope toward God's resurrection power and the Spirit's presence.
- 1Co.15.53
For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
The clothing image describes required resurrection transformation.
- 1Co.15.54
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
Transformation leads into the scriptural proclamation of death's defeat.
- 2Co.4.11
For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal body.
Mortal vulnerability and the revealed life of Jesus appear together in Paul's ministry account.
- 2Co.5.4
For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.
Paul's stated desire is clothing and life, not disembodied escape.
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 mortal 5× Romans 6:12, Romans 8:11, 1 Corinthians 15:53, 1 Corinthians 15:54
mortality 1× 2 Corinthians 5:4
Show sample aligned rows
Romans 6:12 θνητῷ to mortal Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular Romans 8:11 θνητὰ to mortal Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural 1 Corinthians 15:53 θνητὸν to mortal Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular 1 Corinthians 15:54 θνητὸν to mortal Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular 2 Corinthians 4:11 θνητῇ to mortal Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 5:4 θνητὸν to mortality Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Romans 6:12
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 3
Romans 2 1 Corinthians 2 2 Corinthians 2
Source forms
θνητὸν 3x thnēton 1 Corinthians 15:53, 1 Corinthians 15:54, 2 Corinthians 5:4
θνητὰ 1x thnēta Romans 8:11
θνητῇ 1x thnētē 2 Corinthians 4:11
θνητῷ 1x thnētō Romans 6:12
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 15:54, 2 Corinthians 5:4
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural 1x Romans 8:11
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 15:53
Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular 1x 2 Corinthians 4:11
Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular 1x Romans 6:12
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Honor present bodily limits while grounding hope in resurrection rather than denial.
- Treat the mortal body as a place of obedience, care, Spirit-given hope, and future transformation.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim mortality makes the body evil.
- Do not claim believers should already possess immortal bodies.
- Do not claim groaning or medical need proves weak faith.
- Do not claim Christian hope seeks permanent escape from embodiment.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Emphasizes human subjection to death as fundamental condition, not mere possibility of dying.
Strong's G2349
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 5 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
liable to die
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Emphasizes human subjection to death as fundamental condition, not mere possibility of dying.
(θνήσκω), [in LXX: Pro.3:13 20:24 (אָדָם), Job.30:23 (חַי), Isa.51:12 (מוּת), Wis.9:14 15:17, 2Ma.9:12, 3Ma.3:29 * ;] subject to death, mortal: Rom.6:12 8:11, 1Co.15:53-54, 2Co.4:11 5:4.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 6:12 Adjective Dative Singular Neuter
θνητῷ qnhtw
mortal
Read verse Romans 8:11 Adjective Accusative Plural Neuter
θνητὰ qnhta
mortal
Read verse 1 Corinthians 15:53 Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
θνητὸν qnhton
mortal
Read verse 1 Corinthians 15:54 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
θνητὸν qnhton
mortal
Read verse 2 Corinthians 4:11 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
θνητῇ qnhth
mortal
Read verse 2 Corinthians 5:4 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
θνητὸν qnhton
mortal
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 5 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 5 Aligned forms 6 Case pattern Accusative (2) Number pattern Singular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Neuter 1 Cor 15:54 · 2 Cor 5:4 2×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Rom 6:12 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine 2 Cor 4:11 1×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Rom 8:11 1×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter 1 Cor 15:53 1×
Word Origins
θνητός is built from this root:
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
G2349 gives Christian hope an embodied direction. The mortal body can be tempted and must not become sin's instrument, but it is not evil or irrelevant. The Spirit dwells in believers, God promises life for mortal bodies, and resurrection clothes the mortal with immortality. Paul can therefore acknowledge groaning, burden, weakness, and exposure to death without despising the body or pretending vulnerability is absent.
Second Corinthians 5 is especially protective: Paul does not say he wants mere unclothing; he wants mortality swallowed by life. Faithful teaching can honor medical care, grief, disability, aging, and bodily limits while refusing to make them ultimate. The answer to mortality is not shame, denial, or a spirituality detached from creation. It is obedient life now and resurrection transformation through God's power.
Anchor passage
1Co.15.53
Doctrinal connections
- Rom.6.12-14 - grace and obedience govern conduct in the mortal body.
- Rom.8.11 - the indwelling Spirit and Jesus' resurrection ground promised life for mortal bodies.
- 1Co.15.42-54 - resurrection transforms the perishable and mortal.
- 1Co.15.54-57 - mortality's transformation belongs to death's defeat and thanksgiving to God.
- 2Co.4.7-12 - mortal ministry displays power from God and the life of Jesus.
- 2Co.5.1-5 - groaning and clothing lead to mortality swallowed by life.
The six adjective forms occupy five morphology patterns and modify or substantivally name the mortal body, mortal bodies, the mortal, mortal flesh, and mortality. First Corinthians uses neuter singular forms for “the mortal.”
From Old to New Testament
Paul explicitly introduces a scriptural saying when describing death swallowed in victory. That resurrection context should govern wider connections about mortality more than a generalized contrast between body and spirit.
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