ἀποκεφᾰλ-ίζω G0607
to behead; to execute by cutting off the head
A grimly specific verb meaning to cut off someone's head, used in the NT exclusively for the execution of John the Baptist. All four occurrences cluster around the same event narrated across the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 14:10; Mark 6:16, 27; Luke 9:9). Herod's guilty conscience surfaces in Mark 6:16 and Luke 9:9 when he says 'John, whom I beheaded.' Spanish uses both 'decapitó' and 'degolló' (throat-cutting), revealing how translators distinguish clinical decapitation from butchery.
Senses
1. sense 1 — To execute by decapitation, cutting off the head. Every NT instance refers to Herod Antipas's execution of John the Baptist: the act itself (Matt 14:10; Mark 6:27) and Herod's haunted retrospective confession (Mark 6:16; Luke 9:9). The aorist forms emphasize the completed, irreversible act. Spanish 'decapitó' follows the Latin clinical term while 'degolló' (to cut the throat) adds visceral brutality. French 'décapiter' and German transliterations of the Greek form confirm the narrow, unambiguous semantic range of this verb. 4×
AR["قَطَعَ رَأْسَهُ", "قَطَعَ-رَأْسَ", "قَطَعْتُ رَأْسَهُ", "قَطَعْتُ-رَأْسَهُ"]·ben["শিরশ্ছেদ-করল", "শিরশ্ছেদ-করলেন", "শিরশ্ছেদ-করেছি", "শিরশ্ছেদ-করেছিলাম"]·DE["ἀπεκεφάλισα", "ἀπεκεφάλισεν"]·EN["beheaded", "he-beheaded"]·FR["décapiter"]·heb["עָרַף", "עָרַפְתִּי"]·HI["सिर", "सिर-कटवाया", "सिर-कत"]·ID["memenggal", "telah-memenggal"]·IT["apekephalisa", "apekephalisen"]·jav["nigas-jangganipun", "nugel-mustaka", "nugel-sirah", "sampun-kula-tigas-jangganipun,"]·KO["목-베었는데", "목-베었다", "목-베었다,"]·PT["decapitei", "decapitou"]·RU["обезглавил"]·ES["decapité", "decapitó", "degolló"]·SW["akamkata-kichwa", "alimkata-kichwa", "nilimkata-kichwa", "niliyemkata-kichwa"]·TR["başını-kesti", "başını-kestim,", "başını-kestirdim"]·urd["سر-قلم-کیا", "سر-کاٹ-دیا", "سر-کاٹا"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἀποκεφᾰλ-ίζω, behead, LXX+2nd c.AD+; of a fish, Dorioap.Refs 2nd c.AD+:—passive, Refs 1st c.BC+