ἄσβεστος G0762
unquenchable, inextinguishable; of fire that cannot be put out, especially the fire of divine judgment
Formed from the privative alpha and sbennymi ('to quench'), asbestos describes fire that defies all attempts to extinguish it. In the Synoptic Gospels, John the Baptist warns that the Coming One will burn the chaff with 'unquenchable fire' (Matt 3:12; Luke 3:17), and Mark's Jesus twice invokes the 'unquenchable fire' of Gehenna (Mark 9:43, 45). The word carried practical force in classical Greek — Homer used it of inextinguishable flames — but in the NT it belongs entirely to eschatological warning. Spanish 'inextinguible' and French 'inextinguible' both preserve the privative structure, while English 'unquenchable' captures the relentless, unstoppable character of this fire.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Unquenchable, inextinguishable — describing fire that cannot be put out, used exclusively in the NT for the fire of divine judgment. John the Baptist's threshing-floor imagery (Matt 3:12; Luke 3:17) and Jesus' Gehenna warnings (Mark 9:43, 45) all deploy this adjective to convey the finality and inescapability of eschatological punishment. The cross-linguistic evidence is unanimous: Spanish 'inextinguible,' French 'inextinguible,' and English 'unquenchable' all render a single, consistent sense of fire beyond human power to suppress. 4×
AR["الَّتِي-لَا-تُطْفَأُ", "لَا-تُطْفَأُ"]·ben["অনির্বাণ", "না-নেভা", "নিভানহীন।"]·DE["ἀσβέστῳ", "ἄσβεστον", "ἄσβεστον>"]·EN["unquenchable"]·FR["inextinguible"]·heb["לֹא-נִכְבִית", "לֹא-תִכְבֶּה", "שֶׁאֵינָהּ-כָּבָה"]·HI["अबुझाए", "कभी-न-बुझनेवाली", "न-बुझनेवाली"]·ID["tak-terpadamkan.", "tidak-terpadamkan", "yang-tidak-terpadamkan"]·IT["asbesto", "asbeston"]·jav["ingkang-boten-sirep.", "mboten-pareng-pejah.", "mboten-saged-pejah"]·KO["꺼지지-않는"]·PT["inextinguível"]·RU["неугасимый", "неугасимым"]·ES["inextinguible"]·SW["usiozimika"]·TR["sönmeyen", "sönmez"]·urd["نہ-بجھنے-والی"]
Related Senses
H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H5178a 1. bronze/copper as metal (131×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)H6965b 4. Hifil: to establish, confirm (covenant/kingdom/word) (40×)H1197a 1. burn, be on fire (39×)H4306 1. rain, showers (38×)H1653 1. rain, precipitation (34×)G4655 1. darkness (30×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἄσβεστος, ον, also η, ον Refs 8th c.BC+:— unquenchable, inextinguishable, φλόξRefs 8th c.BC+ [same place]; not quenched, πῦρ ἄ.Refs 8th c.BC+; ἄ. πόρος ὠκεανοῦ ocean's ceaseless flow, Refs 4th c.BC+; πῦρ, of hell, NT __II as substantive, ἄσβεστος (i.e. τίτανος), ἡ, unslaked lime, Refs 3rd c.BC+ __II.2 a mineral or gem, Refs 1st c.AD+. ἀσβεστώδης· tofus, Refs