Sense: to be put to death
v. — to be executed or put to death.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death [θανατόω] in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
1 Peter 3:18 (NRSV)
In the Bible, how is being put to death different than simply being killed? In other words, why should “putting to death/being put to death” and “killing/being killed” be two separate senses? When we look at the Bible Sense Lexicon entry for “to be put to death,” we see that it has two hierarchy relationships. One relationship is to “to be killed” and one is to “to be punished.” When we look at the concordance entries for “to be put to death” in the BSL, we find that the original-language words associated with “be put to death” are often used in the context of punishment. This is clear in places like the legal codes in the Hebrew Bible. For today’s example verse, the Bible Sense Lexicon suggests that we keep in mind the concept of punishment as we consider Christ being “put to death.” Perhaps this is also suggested by the translations that render θανατόω as “be put to death” in this verse, rather than simply as “be killed.”
What is the Bible Sense Lexicon?
Sense of the Day is based on content from Logos’ Bible Sense Lexicon, which organizes biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words by meaning based on a variety of semantic relationships. Sense of the Day provides examples of senses in context, along with insight into their application for theology and interpretation.
The Bible Sense Lexicon is a Logos dataset available in Logos 5 Gold and higher base packages. If you’re enrolled in the Logos Academic Discount Program, you can also find the Bible Sense Lexicon in the Biblical Languages base package. Take your studies even further by exploring semantic domains, engaging the biblical text like never before.
Learn more about the Bible Sense Lexicon.