ἐκψύχω G1634
to breathe out one's soul, expire, die suddenly; emphatic term for sudden or dramatic death
The verb ἐκψύχω (ἐκ + ψύχω 'cool,' related to ψυχή 'soul/breath') means to lose consciousness, faint, or expire—with connotations of breath/soul leaving the body. Acts uses it for sudden, dramatic deaths: Ananias and Sapphira struck down for lying to the Holy Spirit, and Herod Agrippa eaten by worms in divine judgment. The word suggests not peaceful passing but abrupt, often violent cessation of life—the soul/breath suddenly extracted.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Acts 5:5 records Ananias's death: 'When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.' Verse 5:10 describes Sapphira's identical fate: 'immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.' Acts 12:23 narrates Herod's gruesome end: 'immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.' The Spanish (expiró) and French (rendre-l'âme 'render the soul') and German (ἐξέψυξεν) capture the soul-expiring sense. In each case divine judgment brings instant death—God's prerogative to remove breath/life as swiftly as he grants it. The verb's intensity suits narratives of sudden mortality under divine decree. 3×
AR["أَسْلَمَ-الرُّوحَ", "فَارَقَتْهَا-الرُوحُ", "فَارَقَتْهُ-الرُوحُ"]·ben["মারা-গেল", "মারা-গেলেন"]·DE["ἐξέψυξεν"]·EN["breathed-her-last", "he-breathed-his-last", "he-expired"]·FR["rendre-l'âme"]·heb["גָּוַע", "וַיִּגְוַע"]·HI["और", "प्राण-त्यागा"]·ID["dia-mati.", "mati"]·IT["spirare"]·jav["pejah.", "séda."]·KO["숨졌다", "죽었다"]·RU["испустил-дух", "испустил-дух.", "испустила-дух"]·ES["expiró"]·SW["akakata-roho.", "alikata-roho"]·TR["can-verdi", "öldü"]·urd["جان-بحق-ہوا", "دم-توڑ-دیا"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἐκψύχω [ῡ], future -ξω, lose consciousness, swoon, LXX+5th c.BC+; give up the ghost, expire, NT+2nd c.AD+ __II to be short of breath, gasp, Refs 4th c.BC+ __III passive, to be thoroughly cooled, chilled,Refs 1st c.AD+