G615 — ἀποκτείνω (apokteinō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G615
Original: ἀποκτείνω
Transliteration: apokteinō
Pronunciation: ap-ok-tī'-nō
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Compound of ἀπό (apo, G575, "from, away from") + κτείνω (kteinō, "to slay"); the prepositional prefix intensifies, yielding "to kill outright, to put to death"
Occurrences: 83 tokens in 71 unique NT verses (10 books)
First Occurrence: Matt 10:28 — "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From ἀπό (apo) and κτείνω (kteinō, "to slay"); to kill outright; figuratively, to destroy, to abolish, to extinguish. Used of putting to death by any means — sword, stoning, execution, judicial killing, martyrdom, or divine judgment. Occasionally figurative ("the letter killeth," Rom 7:11; 2 Cor 3:6).

Morphological Distribution¶

Voice/tense profile across 50 sample parser occurrences:

Form	Count	Notes
Aorist Active Infinitive (V-AAN)	~17	"to kill" — plot, intent, desire
Aorist Active Indicative (V-AAI)	~13	"they killed" — completed action, typically plural subjects
Future Active Indicative (V-FAI)	~8	"they shall kill" — predictive, prophetic
Aorist Active Subjunctive (V-AAS)	~5	"that they might kill" — purpose/result clauses
Present Active Participle (V-PAP)	~4	"the one(s) killing" — characterizing agent
Aorist Passive Infinitive (V-APN)	~3	"to be killed" — predicted passion of Christ
Aorist Passive Participle (V-APP)	~1	"having been killed"
Aorist Passive Subjunctive (V-APS)	~1	"that they should be killed"
Present Active Subjunctive (V-PAS)	~3	"let us kill" (cohortative)

Active voice dominates (agent putting someone to death); passive occurs especially in Jesus' passion predictions and Revelation's judgment and martyrdom scenes.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - Domain 20: Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill - Subdomain 20.61 (Kill): the general semantic slot for taking life - Also domain 13 (Be, Become, Exist, Happen) — subdomain "State" — for the figurative "do away with, eliminate" sense - Glosses: to kill | to do away with | to eliminate

UBS Semantic Domains: - [020] Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill - [013] Be, Become, Exist, Happen

Other verbs in the Kill subdomain (20): ἀναιρέω (anaireō), ἀποκεφαλίζω (apokephalizō, "behead"), διαχειρίζω (diacheirizō), θανατόω (thanatoō), θύω (thyō, "slaughter/sacrifice"), κατασφάζω (katasphazō), λιθοβολέω / λιθάζω (lithoboleō / lithazō, "stone to death"), πατάσσω (patassō, "strike down"), πελεκίζω (pelekizō, "behead with an axe"), σταυρόω (stauroō, "crucify"), σφάζω (sphazō, "slaughter"), φονεύω (phoneuō, "murder"); plus nouns φονεύς, φόνος, σφαγή, ἀνδροφόνος.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
to kill / kill / killed	25	35.2%
slay / slew / slain / was slain / were slain	10	14.1%
to death / put to death / put	10	14.1%
be killed / should be killed / shall be killed	7	9.9%
killeth / killest	5	7.0%
let us kill	3	4.2%
shall kill / they shall kill / ye shall kill / will kill	6	8.5%
miscellaneous forms	5	7.0%

KJV renders G615 almost exclusively with the English kill/slay/put-to-death family. No single gloss dominates (top gloss is only ~35%) because the same verb is declined into many tense/voice/person combinations.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Verses in Book	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	14	404	3.5
John	13	879	1.5
Mark	9	678	1.3
Matthew	12	1,071	1.1
1 Thessalonians	1	89	1.1
Luke	12	1,151	1.0
Acts	6	1,007	0.6
Ephesians	1	155	0.6
Romans	2	433	0.5
2 Corinthians	1	257	0.4

Patterns: Revelation has by far the highest density (3.5 per 100 verses), driven by apocalyptic judgment scenes and martyr imagery. The Synoptic Gospels and John cluster the word around (a) Jesus' passion predictions, (b) the parable of the wicked husbandmen, (c) hostile-intent narratives, and (d) persecution predictions for disciples. The word is absent from the General Epistles (Hebrews, James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, Jude) and from the Pastorals.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Plot or Intent to Kill (especially of Jesus)¶

Matt 26:4 — "consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him"
Mark 14:1 — "chief priests and scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death"
John 5:18 — "the Jews sought the more to kill him"
John 7:1, 19, 25; 8:37, 40; 11:53; 12:10 — recurring "seek to kill"

2. Passion Predictions (passive, "must be killed")¶

Matt 16:21 — "be killed, and be raised again the third day"
Mark 8:31 — "be rejected... and be killed, and after three days rise again"
Mark 9:31 — "they shall kill him; and after that he is killed"
Luke 9:22 — "be slain, and be raised the third day"

3. Killing of Prophets / Servants (parable and history)¶

Matt 21:35, 38, 39 — husbandmen beat, kill, stone the servants and son
Matt 23:37 / Luke 13:34 — "O Jerusalem... thou that killest the prophets"
Luke 11:47–49 — "your fathers killed them... some of them they shall slay"
Acts 7:52 — "they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One"
Rom 11:3 — "Lord, they have killed thy prophets"
1 Thess 2:15 — "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets"

4. Persecution and Martyrdom of Disciples¶

Matt 10:28 / Luke 12:4 — "them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul"
Matt 24:9 — "shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations"
Mark 13 par. Matt 23:34 — "some of them ye shall kill"
John 16:2 — "whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service"
Rev 2:13 — "Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you"
Rev 6:11 — "should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled"
Rev 11:7 — "the beast... shall overcome them, and kill them"

5. Judicial or Forbidden Killing; Compulsion to Worship¶

Acts 27:42 — "soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners"
John 18:31 — "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death"
Acts 21:31; 23:12, 14 — ambush / vow to kill Paul
Rev 13:15 — "that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed" (ἀποκτανθῶσιν, aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd plural — result clause after ποιήσῃ ἵνα, "he should cause that...")

6. Lex Talionis / Reciprocal Killing¶

Rev 13:10 — "he that killeth (ἀποκτενεῖ, future active indicative) with the sword must be killed (ἀποκτανθῆναι, aorist passive infinitive) with the sword" — δεῖ + infinitive of divine necessity; the active-to-passive shift on the same lemma yokes perpetrator and victim under one verb

7. Divine Judgment and Apocalyptic Killing¶

Rev 2:23 — "I will kill her children with death"
Rev 6:8 — "power... to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts"
Rev 9:5, 15, 18, 20 — restraint and release of killing in the trumpet judgments; "the third part of men killed"
Rev 11:5 — "if any man will hurt them... he must in this manner be killed"
Rev 11:13 — "in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand"
Rev 19:21 — "the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse"

8. Figurative: to Kill / to Do Away With¶

Rom 7:11 — "sin, taking occasion by the commandment... by it slew me"
2 Cor 3:6 — "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life"
Eph 2:16 — "having slain the enmity thereby" (reconciling Jew and Gentile in one body)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἡμέρα (hēmera)	G2250	13× (18%)	"the third day he shall be raised" — linked with passion predictions
ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos)	G444	11× (15%)	"the Son of man... shall be killed"; "men... killed"
ζητέω (zēteō)	G2212	11× (15%)	"they sought to kill him" — intent formula in John
λέγω / ἔπω (legō / epō)	G3004 / G2036	17× combined	"said... let us kill" — speech-act prelude
ποιέω (poieō)	G4160	10× (14%)	"caused that... should be killed" (Rev 13:15)
προφήτης (prophētēs)	G4396	9× (13%)	"kill the prophets" — Deuteronomistic indictment formula
θεός (theos)	G2316	8× (11%)	God as aim/cause/objector to the killing
τρίτος (tritos)	G5154	8× (11%)	"the third day" — resurrection formula
ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus)	G749	6× (8%)	chief-priest plots against Jesus / Lazarus
ἀποστέλλω (apostellō)	G649	5× (7%)	"sent... and they killed him" (sent-servants motif)
γραμματεύς (grammateus)	G1122	5× (7%)	scribes paired with chief priests in killing plots
δεῖ (dei)	G1163	5× (7%)	divine necessity: "must be killed" / "must be killed with the sword"
μάχαιρα (machaira)	G3162	—	sword as instrument in Rev 13:10; 19:21

Word Family / Cognates¶

ἀπό (apo) G575 — preposition "from, away from" (intensifying prefix)
κτείνω (kteinō) — classical simplex "to slay" (not independently in NT; only in compound form here)

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py surfaced a broad overlap set within the NT killing/destruction field. The clearest lexical neighbors are: - G4969 σφάζω (sphazō) — to slaughter, slay; stronger sacrificial/butchering nuance than ἀποκτείνω. - G622 ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) — to destroy, ruin; broader destruction/perishing overlap in lethal contexts.

Additional loose semantic neighbors surfaced by the relationship tool: G1303 διατίθημι, G1968 ἐπιπίπτω, G2578 κάμπτω.

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were identified by search_relationships.py.

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 20 "Kill")¶

Word	Strong's	Total NT Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference
φονεύω (phoneuō)	G5407	~12	kill / do murder	Morally charged — murder; the word of the Decalogue prohibition (Matt 5:21)
ἀναιρέω (anaireō)	G337	~24	slay / take up	"Take away" or "do away with"; broader scope (includes adoption, "to take up")
θανατόω (thanatoō)	G2289	~11	put to death	Denominative from θάνατος — "put to death" / "cause death"; often judicial
θύω (thyō)	G2380	~14	kill / sacrifice	Sacrificial slaughter; cultic overtones
σφάζω (sphazō)	G4969	~10	slay / kill	Slaughter (sacrificial or violent); used of the Lamb in Revelation
σταυρόω (stauroō)	G4717	~46	crucify	Specific mode — crucifixion
λιθοβολέω / λιθάζω	G3036 / G3034	~9	stone	Specific mode — stoning
ἀποθνῄσκω (apothnēskō)	G599	~111	die	Intransitive "die"; cognate but not transitive "kill"

Easily Confused Words (shared KJV glosses)¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
φονεύω	G5407	"kill"	Murder specifically; Decalogue verb
ἀναιρέω	G337	"slay / kill / put to death"	Also means "take up" (Moses by Pharaoh's daughter, Acts 7:21); broader
θανατόω	G2289	"put to death / killed"	Denominative — cause the state of death; judicial
θύω	G2380	"kill / be killed"	Sacrificial; "kill and eat" (Acts 10:13)
מוּת (mûwth) H4191	OT parallel	"to kill / to death"	Hebrew general verb for dying/killing; LXX often renders with ἀποκτείνω
הָרַג (hārag) H2026	OT parallel	"kill / slay"	Hebrew "smite with deadly intent"; dominant Hebrew source of ἀποκτείνω in LXX (PMI 6.62, 106 co-occurrences)

Hebrew Source (LXX → NT)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	LXX→ἀποκτείνω Co-occ	PMI
הָרַג (hārag)	H2026	106	6.62 — primary equivalent
מוּת (mûwth, hiph.)	H4191	48	3.32
חֶרֶב (chereb, "sword")	H2719	30	3.57 — instrumental context
נָכָה (nākāh)	H5221	20	2.68
בָּחוּר (bāchûwr, "young man")	H970	6	4.26 — frequent object
חָמַל (chāmal, "spare")	H2550	5	4.17 — negated contexts ("did not spare... killed")

In the LXX, ἀποκτείνω is the dominant Greek rendering of Hebrew הָרַג ("to kill with deadly intent") and of מוּת in the hiphil ("to put to death"). The co-occurrence of חֶרֶב ("sword") reflects a standard formula "slew with the sword" that carries directly into Rev 13:10 and 19:21.