apokteinō · kill

What it means

apokteinō (ἀποκτείνω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “kill”.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To take someone's life, by violence or by sentence.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To kill, take life. It is formed with ἀπό, which strengthens the verb. In the passive, to be killed. The Gospels use it above all for those who sought to kill Jesus and in his own announcements of his death; also for the fate of the prophets and of the witnesses in Revelation.

• Seeking to kill Jesus John 5:18John 7:1
• Killing the prophets Matthew 23:37Luke 11:47
• Those who kill the body Luke 12:4Matthew 10:28
• The announcement of his death: “they will kill him” Mark 9:31Mark 10:34
• Figurative sense: “the letter kills” 2 Corinthians 3:6

How we translate it

“Kill” 36 times, “killed” 23, “be killed” 8, “kills” 4; once “put to death”. No synonyms such as murder or execute are used, so that the reader recognizes the same Greek word in every passage, also in the figurative sense of 2 Corinthians 3:6.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• kill ×36
• killed ×23
• be killed ×8
• kills ×4
• killing ×2
• put to death ×1

Where it appears

• Matthew×13
• Mark×11
• Luke×12
• John×12
• Acts×6
• Romans×2
• 2 Corinthians×1
• Ephesians×1
• 1 Thessalonians×1
• Revelation×15

• Matthew 10:28

  And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

• Matthew 14:5

  And though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they held him to be a prophet.

• Matthew 16:21

  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go away to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

• Matthew 17:23

  and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were deeply grieved.

• Matthew 21:35

  And the tenant farmers took his slaves and one they beat, another they killed, another they stoned.

• Matthew 21:38

  But the tenant farmers, seeing the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’

• Matthew 21:39

  And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

• Matthew 22:6

  and the rest, seizing his slaves, treated them shamefully and killed them.

• Matthew 23:34

  Because of this, look, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,

• Matthew 23:37

  Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing!

• Matthew 24:9

  Then they will hand you over to affliction and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name.

• Matthew 26:4

  and they plotted together to seize Jesus by deceit and kill him.

• Mark 3:4

  And he says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.

• Mark 6:19

  And Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him, and she could not;

• Mark 8:31

  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise.

• Mark 9:31

  for he was teaching his disciples and saying to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he has been killed, after three days he will rise.”

• Mark 10:34

  and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise.”

• Mark 12:5

  And he sent another, and that one they killed; and many others, some beating and some killing.

• Mark 12:7

  But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

• Mark 12:8

  And they took him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

• Mark 14:1

  Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was after two days. And the high priests and the scribes were seeking how they might seize him by deceit and kill him;

• Luke 9:22

  saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

• Luke 11:47

  Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

• Luke 11:48

  So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your fathers, because they on the one hand killed them, and you build their tombs.

• Luke 11:49

  Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’

• Luke 12:4

  And I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that cannot do anything more.

• Luke 12:5

  But I will show you whom to fear: fear the one who, after killing, has authority to throw you into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, fear him.

• Luke 13:4

  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were debtors more than all the people who live in Jerusalem?

• Luke 13:31

  In that very hour some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out and go from here, because Herod wants to kill you.”

• Luke 13:34

  Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children the way a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

• Luke 18:33

  and after flogging him, they will kill him; and on the third day he will rise.”

• Luke 20:14

  But when the tenants saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him, so that the inheritance may become ours.’

• Luke 20:15

  And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the master of the vineyard do to them?

• John 5:18

  For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

• John 7:1

  And after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

• John 7:19

  Did not Moses give you the law? And none of you keeps the law. Why are you seeking to kill me?”

• John 7:20

  The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

• John 7:25

  So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the one they are seeking to kill?

• John 8:22

  So the Jews were saying, “Surely he will not kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

• John 8:37

  I know that you are the offspring of Abraham; but you are seeking to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.

And 34 more times.