What does θύω (thýō) mean in the Bible?
G2380 means to sacrifice, slaughter, or kill. Fourteen forms occur in thirteen verses across six books.
Greek · G2380
θύω
To sacrifice
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θύω G2380
Pronunciation thýō
What does θύω (thýō) mean in the Bible?
G2380 means to sacrifice, slaughter, or kill. Fourteen forms occur in thirteen verses across six books.
Reader summary
Full entry for θύω (G2380) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2380?
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include kill (3), [and] kill [it] (1), are offered (1), be sacrificed (1), has been sacrificed (1).
Where does θύω (thýō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 22:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (4), Luke (4), 1 Corinthians (3), John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2380 means to sacrifice, slaughter, or kill. Fourteen forms occur in thirteen verses across six books. Peter's vision uses the command to kill and eat. Acts 14 describes an attempted pagan sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. Gospel meal scenes use the verb for slaughtered animals, including the Passover lamb and the fattened calf. Paul uses it for Christ our Passover being sacrificed and for sacrifices offered in pagan worship.
John 10:10 uses the verb for the thief's destructive purpose to steal, kill, and destroy. The action therefore does not carry a holy or saving meaning by itself. The actor, object, recipient, and passage determine whether it describes ordinary slaughter, faithful ritual, idolatry, violence, or Christ's sacrificial death.
How the Bible Uses It
G2380 ranges across slaughter, Passover preparation, pagan sacrifice, Christ's Passover death, and murderous destruction. Context supplies the moral and theological force.
- Act.10.13
Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
The command concerns animals in Peter's vision and must be read with the interpretation that follows.
- Act.14.13
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.
The attempted offering is idolatrous, and the apostles reject it.
- 1Co.5.7
Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Christ's Passover sacrifice grounds the community's call to remove corrupting leaven.
- 1Co.10.20
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.
Sacrificial activity can involve forbidden allegiance and participation.
- Jhn.10.10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
Here the verb describes destructive killing rather than ritual sacrifice.
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 kill 3× John 10:10, Acts 10:13, Acts 11:7
[and] kill [it] 1× Luke 15:23
are offered 1× 1 Corinthians 10:20
be sacrificed 1× Luke 22:7
has been sacrificed 1× 1 Corinthians 5:7
has killed 1× Luke 15:27
have been killed 1× Matthew 22:4
sacrifices 1× 1 Corinthians 10:20
sacrificing 1× Acts 14:18
to offer a sacrifice 1× Acts 14:13
was to be sacrificed 1× Mark 14:12
you kill 1× Luke 15:30
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 22:4 τεθυμένα to have been killed Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Neuter Plural Mark 14:12 ἔθυον to was to be sacrificed Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Luke 15:23 θύσατε to [and] kill [it] Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural Luke 15:27 ἔθυσεν to has killed Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 15:30 ἔθυσας to you kill Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular Luke 22:7 θύεσθαι to be sacrificed Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive John 10:10 θύσῃ to kill Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular Acts 10:13 θῦσον to kill Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular Acts 11:7 θῦσον to kill Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular Acts 14:13 θύειν to to offer a sacrifice Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 22:4
Aligned rows 14
Books represented 6
Matthew 1 Mark 1 Luke 4 John 1 Acts 4 1 Corinthians 3
Source forms
θύειν 2x thyein Acts 14:13, Acts 14:18
θύουσιν 2x thyousin 1 Corinthians 10:20
θῦσον 2x thyson Acts 10:13, Acts 11:7
ἔθυον 1x ethyon Mark 14:12
ἔθυσας 1x ethysas Luke 15:30
ἔθυσεν 1x ethysen Luke 15:27
ἐτύθη 1x etythē 1 Corinthians 5:7
θύεσθαι 1x thyesthai Luke 22:7
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular 2x Acts 10:13, Acts 11:7
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x 1 Corinthians 10:20
Verb - Present Infinitive Active 2x Acts 14:13, Acts 14:18
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural 1x Luke 15:23
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x Luke 15:30
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 15:27
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 5:7
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x John 10:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask who kills or sacrifices, what is acted upon, and what allegiance the passage expresses.
- Teach Christ's Passover sacrifice as the ground of cleansing, not as permission for coercive sacrifice by others.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim G2380 always describes saving sacrifice.
- Do not claim ritual intensity makes an offering acceptable to God.
- Do not claim Christian obedience functions as another Passover sacrifice.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Sacrificial slaying: killing an animal victim to offer to deity, not mere bloodless offering.
Strong's G2380
Lexical occurrences 14 verses Greek text appearances 14 times Word forms 5 forms 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Source Gloss
to sacrifice
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Sacrificial slaying: killing an animal victim to offer to deity, not mere bloodless offering.
as in c1.;
1to offer first fruits to a god.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
14 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 22:4 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Nominative Plural Neuter
τεθυμένα, tequmena
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Mark 14:12 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἔθυον, equon
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Luke 15:23 Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Active Imperative
θύσατε, qusate
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Luke 15:27 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔθυσεν equsen
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Luke 15:30 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔθυσας equsav
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Luke 22:7 Verb Present Passive Infinitive
θύεσθαι quesqai
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse John 10:10 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Subjunctive
θύσῃ qush
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Acts 10:13 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Imperative
θῦσον quson
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Acts 11:7 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Imperative
θῦσον quson
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Acts 14:13 Verb Present Active Infinitive
θύειν. quein
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse Acts 14:18 Verb Present Active Infinitive
θύειν quein
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse 1 Corinthians 5:7 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
ἐθύθη equqh
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse 1 Corinthians 10:20 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
θύει quei
I sacrifice, kill
Read verse 1 Corinthians 10:20 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
θύει, quei
I sacrifice, 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.
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 groups 5 Aligned forms 14 Tenses Aorist, Present, Perfect, Imperfect Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Imperative command or strong request 3×
Aorist Active Acts 10:13 · Acts 11:7 · Luke 15:23 3×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 3×
Present Active Acts 14:13 · Acts 14:18 2×
Present Passive Luke 22:7 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 6×
Present Active 1 Cor 10:20 2×
Aorist Active Luke 15:27 · Luke 15:30 2×
Imperfect Active Mark 14:12 1×
Aorist Passive 1 Cor 5:7 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Perfect Passive Matt 22:4 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Active John 10:10 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 12 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 5 present 5 imperfect 1 perfect 1
Voice
active 9 passive 3
Mood
indicative 6 infinitive 3 subjunctive 1 imperative 1 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 22:4 τεθυμένα perfect passive participle participle Mark 14:12 ἔθυον imperfect active indicative background Luke 15:23 θύσατε aorist active imperative imperative Luke 15:27 ἔθυσεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 15:30 ἔθυσας aorist active indicative completed Luke 22:7 θύεσθαι present passive infinitive infinitive John 10:10 θύσῃ aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Acts 14:13 θύειν present active infinitive infinitive Acts 14:18 θύειν present active infinitive infinitive 1 Corinthians 5:7 ἐτύθη aorist passive indicative completed 1 Corinthians 10:20 θύουσιν present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 10:20 θύουσιν present active indicative ongoing
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 Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Christ as Passover lamb slain, metaphorical offering for redemption
Unable to provide sense, as passage reference appears mismatched to term occurrence
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
θύω 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
G2380 warns against treating sacrificial vocabulary as automatically holy. The priest of Zeus can attempt a sacrifice, pagan worshipers can sacrifice to demons, a household can slaughter an animal for a meal, a thief can kill, and Paul can proclaim that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. The same verb names actions whose meanings differ sharply because their actors, objects, recipients, and purposes differ.
Faithful teaching should therefore resist word-level shortcuts. In 1 Corinthians 5, Christ's Passover death grounds the church's cleansing from corrupting leaven; believers do not repeat His offering. In Acts 14, zeal and ceremony do not turn idolatry into worship. In John 10, killing belongs to the thief's destructive purpose. Context does the moral and theological work that a bare gloss cannot do.
Anchor passage
1Co.5.7
Doctrinal connections
- Act.10.13-16 - the kill-and-eat command belongs to Peter's vision and its interpretation.
- Act.14.13-18 - the apostles reject sacrifice offered to them.
- 1Co.5.6-8 - Christ's Passover sacrifice grounds the removal of old leaven.
- 1Co.10.18-22 - sacrifice can express forbidden participation and allegiance.
- Luk.22.7 - Passover preparation frames Jesus' final meal.
- Jhn.10.10 - the thief's killing purpose contrasts with Jesus' gift of life.
Fourteen verbs occupy eleven morphology patterns, including imperatives, infinitives, indicatives, participles, and a subjunctive. The varied forms reflect commands, reported actions, completed sacrifice, customary activity, and contemplated action rather than one uniform discourse function.
From Old to New Testament
Passover and Israel's sacrificial worship provide essential background for the Gospel meal scenes and Paul's statement that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Biblical warnings against idolatry govern Acts 14 and 1 Corinthians 10, while John 10 places destructive killing against Jesus' gift of life.
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