Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Death

The general word to represent dying is Moth (מות , Ass. mutu); other words, however, are occasionally used. Thus Naphal (נפל , Ass. napalu), to fall, occurs in Genesis 25:18, 'He died (or fell) in the presence of (or before) all his brethren.' Shadad (שׁדד , Ass. sadadu), to destroy, is found in Judges 5:27, 'There he fell down dead' (i.e. destroyed). Gava (גוע ), to breathe out or expire (ἐκπνέω), is used in Genesis 6:17, 'Everything that is in the earth shall die;' 7:21; Numbers 20:3, 'Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord;' verse 29; Job 27:5; Job 29:18; Job 36:12; Psalms 88:15; Psalms 104:29; Zechariah 13:8. this word is only used with reference to the death of our Lord in the N.T.; see Mark 15:37; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:46.

Nivlah (נבלה ), a carcase, is used in Leviticus 7:24, 'The fat of the beast that dieth (of itself),' lit. 'the fat of a carcase.' So also in Leviticus 17:15; Leviticus 22:8; Deuteronomy 14:8; Deuteronomy 14:21; Psalms 79:2; Isaiah 26:19, 'Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise;' Jeremiah 26:23; Jeremiah 34:20; Jeremiah 36:30; Ezekiel 4:14; Ezekiel 44:31. Another word, signifying carcase (פגר , Ass. pagru), is used in 2 Chronicles 20:24-25; Jeremiah 31:40; Jeremiah 33:5; Jeremiah 41:9.

Rephaim (רפאים ), Ass. rapu, 'to be weak'), which in other places is rendered giants, is used of the dead in Job 26:5, 'Dead (things) are formed from under the waters, with the inhabitants thereof;' Psalms 88:10, 'Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee ?' Proverbs 2:18, ' for her house inclineth unto death (מות ), and her paths unto the dead.' See also Proverbs 9:18; Proverbs 21:16; Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 26:19.

The Hebrew reduplicated form, 'Dying thou shalt die,' or 'Thou shalt surely die,' is found several times in the O.T., and is quoted in the N.T in Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10. It has sometimes been supposed that this expression, being so very emphatic, refers to something more than death, and implies the judgment that follows; but this cannot fairly be inferred from the form in question.

Use of the Word Death in the NT

The word θάνατος (death) answers in the LXX both to moth and to dever (דבר ), pestilence. It has a spiritual signification in the N.T., which calls for a short discussion.

Our Lord said to his disciples (Matthew 16:28), 'There are some standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the son of Man coming in his kingdom.' The words are given in another form by St. Mark (9:1), 'There are some who shall not taste of death until they see the kingdom of God come with power.' See also Luke 9:27.

The object of this passage was to prepare the minds of the disciples for the gr and truth that death, which had been hitherto the terr or of the world, was to lose its taste or sting in the case of those who united themselves to the Lord by faith. Christ Himself was to die, He was to suffer the pairs of death, his soul was to be exceeding sorrowful even unto death, but by death He was to over-come him who had the power of death, and to deliver them who through fear of death had been all their lives subject to bondage. He thus introduced a now view of life and death, telling his disciples that he who would save his life by denying the Lord, should love it, whilst he who was willing to lose his life for the Lord's sake, the same should save it. The Lord would be ashamed of the one on the Great Day, but would confess the other.

The entrance into a new life which takes place through faith in Christ involves death in another sense. It is a cutting off of human nature from its old modes and principles of existence - in other words, it is death to sin. Just as in physical dissolution the body ceases to feel, the heart to bent, the bands to work, and the feet to walk, so in this mystical death the body and all its members are to be no longer servants to sin; the same breach or gulf is to be made between the Christian and sin as there is between a dead man and the outer world in which he used to live and move and have his being. this death is related to the crucifixion of Christ, who 'died to sin.' The believer is baptized into Christ's death, he dies with Christ, is made conformable to his death, is crucified with Christ (Romans 6:5; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Galatians 2:19-20; Colossians 2:20; Colossians 3:3) in 1 Peter 2:24, the word rendered dead in the A. V. and R. V., and which only occurs here, signifies severance (ἀπογίγνομαι).

The second death is mentioned only in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8). this is a condition of things which follows after the resurrection. Those that overcome and are faithful unto death shall not suffer injury from it. Those that have part in the first resurrection shall not be subjected to its power. It is thus described in Revelation 20:14-15, 'Death and Hades (i.e. perhaps, those evil spirits that have the power of death and Hades) were cast into the lake of fire, this (i.e. the being cast into the lake of fire) is the second death;' 'Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was east into this lake.' Again, we read (Revelation 21:8) that, whilst he who overcometh shall inherit all things, he who does not overcome, but gives way to instability, unbelief, idolatrous abominations, murder, fornication, witchcraft, idolatry, and lies, shall have his part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.