TR: saraph → katakaio (Burning / Total Consumption)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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שָׂרַף (saraph) → κατακαίω (katakaio) → κατακαίω (katakaio)
H8313, 107x in OT LXX co-occ: 63x 12x in NT
"burn, set on fire" PMI score: 30.67 "burn down, consume"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H8313 | שָׂרַף (saraph) | 107 | burn, set on fire — total physical destruction by fire |
| H8314 | שָׂרָף (saraph) | 7 | seraph, fiery serpent (cognate noun — "burning one") |
| H8316 | שְׂרֵפָה (serephah) | 13 | burning, cremation (cognate noun) |
Key OT passages: - Lev 4:12 — "the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp... and burn him on the wood with fire" (sin offering disposal) - Lev 16:27 — "they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung" (Day of Atonement sin offerings) - Num 19:5 — "one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn" (red heifer) - Deut 7:5 — "burn their graven images with fire" (idol destruction)
See: H8313-saraph.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occ | PMI Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| saraph (H8313) | κατακαίω (G2618) | 63 | 30.67 | Primary — maps the majority of saraph occurrences |
| saraph (H8313) | ἐμπρήθω (G1714) | 11 | 18.16 | Secondary — "set on fire" |
| saraph (H8313) | καίω (G2545) | 10 | 12.23 | Simple "burn" |
Reverse bridge (what other Hebrew words also map to κατακαίω):
| Hebrew Source | Strong's | Co-occ | PMI Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂרַף (saraph) | H8313 | 63 | 30.67 |
| אֵשׁ (esh) | H784 | 53 | 21.63 |
| דָּקַק (daqaq) | H1854 | 5 | 12.27 |
| בָּעַר (baar) | H1197 | 8 | 10.26 |
H8313 saraph is the dominant Hebrew source for katakaio, confirming a strong one-to-one bridge. H784 esh ("fire") is the noun complement in "burn with fire" constructions.
Semantic alignment: The LXX translators chose κατα- (down/completely) + καίω (burn) to render saraph — the compound captures the totality of burning that saraph conveys. This is not merely ignition (καίω) but consumption to destruction.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G2618 | κατακαίω (katakaio) | 12 | burn down, consume by fire |
| G2545 | καίω (kaio) | 12 | burn, light, kindle |
| G4442 | πῦρ (pyr) | 73 | fire |
Key NT passages: - Heb 13:11 — "the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp" — direct echo of Lev 4:12, 16:27 - Mat 13:30 — "Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them" (eschatological judgment parable) - Mat 13:40 — "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world" - 1Co 3:15 — "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss" (testing by fire) - Rev 17:16 — "shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire" (judgment on Babylon) - Rev 18:8 — "she shall be utterly burned with fire" (destruction of Babylon)
Library: TODO(need G2618 study)
Direct OT→NT Connections¶
| NT Verse | Echoes OT | Shared Word | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heb 13:11 | Lev 4:12; 16:27 | saraph → katakaio | Explicit reference to Levitical sin-offering burning "outside the camp"; same verb through LXX |
| Acts 19:19 | Deut 7:5, 25 | saraph → katakaio | Burning magic books echoes OT pattern of destroying pagan cult objects |
| Rev 18:8 | Jer 34:2, 22 | saraph → katakaio | Babylon "burned with fire" echoes Jeremiah's prophecy of Jerusalem's burning |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - The verb consistently describes total destruction by fire — complete consumption, not partial scorching - The "outside the camp" burning of sin offerings carries directly from Lev 4/16 into Heb 13:11 - Judgment-by-fire imagery (cities, nations) spans from Joshua/Jeremiah into Revelation
What shifts: - OT uses are predominantly literal (physical burning of objects, animals, cities); NT adds eschatological/metaphorical layers (tares at harvest, works tested by fire, end-time destruction) - The ritual-disposal sense (Leviticus) narrows in the NT to a single explicit reference (Heb 13:11), but that reference is theologically pivotal — connecting Jesus' suffering "outside the gate" to the OT saraph pattern
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-05-03