ἀναιρέω
anaireō
to kill
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἀναιρέω (anaireō) means "to kill." This verb is used 24 times in the Bible, indicating its significance in various contexts. In its most basic sense, anaireō refers to the act of taking someone's life, whether through violence, execution, or natural causes. The range of usage for anaireō is broad, encompassing both literal and figurative meanings. In some cases, it describes the physical act of killing, such as in the context of war or capital punishment. In other instances, anaireō is used metaphorically to convey the idea of spiritual death or the destruction of one's life through sin or rebellion against God. The significance of anaireō lies in its association with the themes of death, life, and the consequences of human actions. By examining the various occurrences of this word in the Bible, we can gain a deeper understanding of the importance of life, the value of human existence, and the consequences of sin and rebellion against God.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
24 total occurrences across the text
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
Luke 22:2The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people.
Luke 23:32There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death.
Acts 2:23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
Acts 5:33But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were determined to kill them.
Acts 5:36For before these days Theudas rose up, making himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves. He was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nothing.
Acts 7:21When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son.
Acts 7:28Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
Acts 7:28Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
Acts 9:23When many days were fulfilled, the Jews conspired together to kill him,
Acts 9:24but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him,
Acts 9:29preaching boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. He spoke and disputed against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him.
Acts 10:39We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
Acts 12:2He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
Acts 13:28Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed.
Acts 16:27The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
Acts 22:20When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who killed him.’
Acts 23:15Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
Acts 23:21Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.”
Acts 23:27“This man was seized by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them, when I came with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman.
Acts 25:3asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.
Acts 26:10I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
2 Thessalonians 2:8Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
Hebrews 10:9then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,