3498. nekros
Lexical Summary
nekros: Dead, deceased

Original Word: νεκρός
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: nekros
Pronunciation: nek-ros'
Phonetic Spelling: (nek-ros')
KJV: dead
NASB: dead, dead man, corpse, dead men, dead men's
Word Origin: [from an apparently primary nekus "a corpse"]

1. dead
{literally or figuratively; also as noun}

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
dead.

From an apparently primary nekus (a corpse); dead (literally or figuratively; also as noun) -- dead.

HELPS Word-studies

3498 nekrós (an adjective, derived from nekys, "a corpse, a dead body") – dead; literally, "what lacks life"; dead; (figuratively) not able to respond to impulses, or perform functions ("unable, ineffective, dead, powerless," L & N, 1, 74.28); unresponsive to life-giving influences (opportunities); inoperative to the things of God.

3498 /nekrós ("corpse-like") is used as a noun in certain contexts ("the dead"), especially when accompanied by the Greek definite article. The phrase, ek nekron ("from the dead"), lacks the Greek article to give the sense "from what is of death."

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. word, the same as nekus (a dead body)
Definition
dead
NASB Translation
corpse (1), dead (122), dead man (3), dead men (1), dead men's (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3498: νεκρός

νεκρός, νεκρά, νεκρόν (akin to the Latinneco, nex (from a root signifying 'to disappear' etc.; cf. Curtius, § 93; Fick i., p. 123; Vanicek, p. 422f)), the Sept. chiefly for מֵת; dead, i. e.:

1. properly,

a. one that has breathed his last, lifeless: Matthew 28:4; Mark 9:26; Luke 7:15; Acts 5:10; Acts 20:9; Acts 28:6; Hebrews 11:35; Revelation 1:17; ἐπί νεκροῖς, if men are dead (where death has occurred (see ἐπί, Buttmann, 2 a. ε., p. 233a at the end)), Hebrews 9:17; ἐγείρειν νεκρούς, Matthew 10:8; Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22; hyperbolically and proleptically equivalent to as if already dead, sure to die, destined inevitably to die: τό σῶμα, Romans 8:10 (τό σῶμα and τό σωμάτιον φύσει νεκρόν, Epictetus diss. 3, 10, 15 and 3, 22, 41; in which sense Luther called the human body, although alive,einen alten Madensack (cf. Shakespeare's "thou worms-meat!")); said of the body of a dead man (so in Homer often; for נְבֵלָה a corpse Deuteronomy 28:26; Isaiah 26:19; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 9:22; Jeremiah 19:7): μετά τῶν νεκρῶν, among the dead, i. e. the buried, Luke 24:5; θάψαι τούς νεκρούς, Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:60; ὀστέα νεκρῶν, Matthew 23:27; of the corpse of a murdered man, αἷμα ὡς νεκροῦ, Revelation 16:3 (for הָרוּג, Ezekiel 37:9; for חָלָל,thrust through, slain, Ezekiel 9:7; Ezekiel 11:6).

b. deceased, departed, one whose soul is in Hades: Revelation 1:18; Revelation 2:8; νεκρός ἦν, was like one dead, as good as dead, Luke 15:24, 32; plural, 1 Corinthians 15:29; Revelation 14:13; ἐν Χριστῷ, dead Christians (see ἐν, I. 6 b., p. 211b), 1 Thessalonians 4:16; very often οἱ νεκροί and νεκροί (without the article; see Winers Grammar, p. 123 (117) and cf. Buttmann, 89 (78) note) are used of the assembly of the dead (see ἀνάστασις, 2 and ἐγείρω, 2): 1 Peter 4:6; Revelation 20:5, 12f; τίς ἀπό τῶν νεκρῶν, one (returning) from the dead, the world of spirits, Luke 16:30; ἐκ νεκρῶν, from the dead, occurs times too many to count (see ἀνάστασις, ἀνίστημι, ἐγεριω): ἀνάγειν τινα ἐκ νεκρῶν, Romans 10:7; Hebrews 13:20; ζωή ἐκ νεκρῶν, life springing forth from death, i. e. the return of the dead to life (see ἐκ, I. 5), Romans 11:15; πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν who was the first that returned to life from among the dead, Colossians 1:18; also πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν Revelation 1:5; ζοωποίειν τούς νεκρούς Romans 4:17; ἐγείρειν τινα ἀπό τῶν νεκρῶν, to rouse one to quit (the assembly of) the dead, Matthew 14:2; Matthew 27:64; Matthew 28:7; κρίνειν ζῶντας καί νεκρούς, 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5; κριτής ζώντων καί νεκρῶν, Acts 10:42; νεκρῶν καί ζώντων κυριεύειν, Romans 14:9.

c. destitute of life, without life, inanimate (equivalent to ἄψυχος): τό σῶμα χωρίς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, James 2:26; οὐκ ἐστιν () Θεός νεκρῶν ἀλλά ζώντων, God is the guardian God not of the dead but of the living, Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:27; Luke 20:38.

2. tropically:

a. (spiritually dead, i. e.) "destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses and sins; inactive as respects doing right": John 5:25; Romans 6:13; Ephesians 5:14; Revelation 3:1; with τοῖς παραπτώμασιν (the dative of cause (cf. Winer's Grammar, 412 (384f))) added, Ephesians 2:1, 5; ἐν (but T Tr WH omit ἐν) τοῖς παραπτοις Colossians 2:13; in the pointed saying ἄφες τούς νεκρούς θάψαι τούς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς, leave those who are indifferent to the salvation offered them in the gospel, to bury thee bodies of their own dead, Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:60.

b. universally, destitute of force or power, inactive, inoperative: τῇ ἁμαρτία, unaffected by the desire to sin (cf. Winers Grammar, 210 (199); Buttmann, § 133, 12), Romans 6:11; of things: ἁμαρτία, Romans 7:8; πίστις, James 2:17, 20 (R G), 26; ἔργα, powerless and fruitless (see ἔργον, 3, p. 248b bottom), Hebrews 6:1; Hebrews 9:14. (Cf. θνητός, at the end)

Topical Lexicon
Scope of the Term

Strong’s Greek 3498 occurs 130 times, spanning every major section of the New Testament. It designates (1) the physically deceased, (2) the spiritually lifeless, and (3) the entire class of humanity awaiting resurrection and final judgment. The word therefore knits together doctrines of sin, salvation, resurrection, and eschatology.

Physical Death in Narrative Settings

The Gospels and Acts use the term for corpses and the newly deceased. “The dead man sat up and began to speak” (Luke 7:15) displays Christ’s immediate authority over death, as does every report of Lazarus after his resuscitation (John 12:1, 12:9, 12:17). Peter’s revival of Eutychus (Acts 20:9) and Paul’s immunity to the viper (Acts 28:6) continue the theme that the risen Christ delegates power over death to His witnesses.

Spiritual Death

Paul, James, and the writer of Hebrews use the word metaphorically to diagnose the human condition apart from God. “You were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17) show that mere physical vitality does not equal true life. “Dead works” (Hebrews 6:1; 9:14) underscores religion without regeneration. Spiritual death is not annihilation but separation from God; only union with Christ reverses it.

Death to Sin and New Life

After justification, believers are to “consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Union with Christ’s death breaks sin’s dominion (Romans 6:4–13) and obligates ethical renewal. The same Spirit who “raised Jesus from the dead” dwells in believers, giving life even to mortal bodies (Romans 8:11).

The Resurrection of Jesus

The core of apostolic preaching is that God “raised Him from the dead” (Acts 3:15; Romans 10:9). The resurrection vindicates Jesus (Romans 1:4), inaugurates the new creation (Colossians 1:18), and guarantees the believer’s future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20–23). Because Christ is “the firstborn from the dead” (Revelation 1:5), death has lost its finality.

Resurrection of the Believer

New Testament writers tie every strand of Christian hope to bodily resurrection:

• Jesus assures that those “who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection of the dead… can no longer die” (Luke 20:35–36).
• Paul defends the hope “that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked” (Acts 24:15).
• “The dead in Christ will rise first” when the Lord descends (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
• “What is sown perishable, is raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42).

This hope reshapes present conduct (1 Corinthians 15:32–34) and empowers sacrificial ministry (2 Corinthians 1:9).

Judgment of the Dead

Final accountability is in view wherever the term signifies the totality of departed humanity:

• God “has set a day when He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed, having provided proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
• “The dead were judged according to their deeds” at the great white throne (Revelation 20:12–13).
• Jesus “is ready to judge the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:1).

The resurrection therefore guarantees judgment as well as reward.

Authority over Death

Jesus claims exclusive sovereignty: “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). Believers share in this triumph: “God… will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

Ministerial Mandate

When Christ commissions the Twelve, “Raise the dead” (Matthew 10:8) is listed among gospel works. While literal resurrections authenticated the message in the apostolic era, the ongoing task is to proclaim the word that brings the spiritually dead to life (John 5:25; Ephesians 2:5). Pastors are to call sinners from death to life, warn of judgment, and comfort the bereaved with resurrection hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

Pastoral and Practical Implications

1. Assurance: The empty tomb secures forgiveness, adoption, and future glory (1 Peter 1:3–4).
2. Holiness: Being “alive from the dead” obliges believers to present themselves to God as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13).
3. Perseverance: Suffering is endurable because “God raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).
4. Worship: The risen Lamb receives glory because He was “once dead” yet now lives forever (Revelation 5:6–14).

Summary

Strong’s 3498 threads through the New Testament as a sober reminder of mortality, a penetrating diagnosis of spiritual need, and a blazing testimony to resurrection power. Physical corpses, spiritual lifelessness, and the eschatological company of “the dead” all find their ultimate answer in the risen Christ, whose victory redefines both life and death for every believer.

Forms and Transliterations
νεκρα νεκρά νεκραν νεκράν νεκράς νεκροι νεκροί νεκροὶ νεκροις νεκροίς νεκροῖς νεκρον νεκρόν νεκρὸν νεκρος νεκρός νεκρὸς νεκρου νεκρού νεκροῦ νεκρους νεκρούς νεκροὺς νεκρώ νεκρων νεκρών νεκρῶν nekra nekrá nekran nekrán nekroi nekroí nekroì nekrois nekroîs nekron nekrón nekròn nekrôn nekrōn nekrō̂n nekros nekrós nekròs nekrou nekroû nekrous nekroús nekroùs
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Englishman's Concordance
Matthew 8:22 Adj-AMP
GRK: ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς
NAS: Me, and allow the dead to bury
KJV: and let the dead bury their
INT: leave the dead to bury

Matthew 8:22 Adj-AMP
GRK: τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς
NAS: to bury their own dead.
KJV: bury their dead.
INT: their own dead

Matthew 10:8 Adj-AMP
GRK: ἀσθενοῦντας θεραπεύετε νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε λεπροὺς
NAS: raise [the] dead, cleanse
KJV: raise the dead, cast out
INT: Sick heal dead raise lepers

Matthew 11:5 Adj-NMP
GRK: ἀκούουσιν καὶ νεκροὶ ἐγείρονται καὶ
NAS: hear, [the] dead are raised
KJV: hear, the dead are raised up,
INT: hear and dead are raised and

Matthew 14:2 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ διὰ
NAS: he has risen from the dead, and that is why
KJV: is risen from the dead; and therefore
INT: from the dead and because of

Matthew 17:9 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθῇ
NAS: of Man has risen from the dead.
KJV: be risen again from the dead.
INT: of man from among [the] dead be risen

Matthew 22:31 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε
NAS: the resurrection of the dead, have you not read
KJV: the resurrection of the dead, have ye
INT: resurrection of the dead not have you read

Matthew 22:32 Adj-GMP
GRK: ὁ θεὸς νεκρῶν ἀλλὰ ζώντων
NAS: He is not the God of the dead but of the living.
KJV: the God of the dead, but
INT: God of [the] dead but of [the] living

Matthew 23:27 Adj-GMP
GRK: γέμουσιν ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης
NAS: they are full of dead men's bones
KJV: full of dead [men's] bones,
INT: they are full of bones of [the] dead and of all

Matthew 27:64 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ἔσται
NAS: He has risen from the dead,' and the last
KJV: He is risen from the dead: so the last
INT: from the dead and will be

Matthew 28:4 Adj-NMP
GRK: ἐγενήθησαν ὡς νεκροί
NAS: of him and became like dead men.
KJV: became as dead [men].
INT: became as dead [men]

Matthew 28:7 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ἰδοὺ
NAS: that He has risen from the dead; and behold,
KJV: from the dead; and,
INT: from the dead and behold

Mark 6:14 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἐγήγερται ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ διὰ
NAS: has risen from the dead, and that is why
KJV: was risen from the dead, and therefore
INT: is risen from among [the] dead and because of

Mark 9:9 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ
NAS: of Man rose from the dead.
KJV: were risen from the dead.
INT: of man from among [the] dead be risen

Mark 9:10 Adj-GMP
GRK: τὸ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι
NAS: what rising from the dead meant.
KJV: the rising from the dead should mean.
INT: the from among [the] dead rising

Mark 9:26 Adj-NMS
GRK: ἐγένετο ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ὥστε τοὺς
NAS: so much like a corpse that most
KJV: he was as one dead; insomuch that
INT: he became as if dead so that

Mark 12:25 Adj-GMP
GRK: γὰρ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῶσιν οὔτε
NAS: they rise from the dead, they neither
KJV: from the dead, they neither
INT: indeed from among [the] dead they rise neither

Mark 12:26 Adj-GMP
GRK: δὲ τῶν νεκρῶν ὅτι ἐγείρονται
NAS: the fact that the dead rise again,
KJV: as touching the dead, that
INT: moreover the dead that they rise

Mark 12:27 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἔστιν θεὸς νεκρῶν ἀλλὰ ζώντων
NAS: He is not the God of the dead, but of the living;
KJV: not the God of the dead, but the God
INT: He is God of [the] dead but of [the] living

Mark 16:14 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἐγηγερμένον ἐκ νεκρῶν οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν
INT: arisen from the dead not they believed

Luke 7:15 Adj-NMS
GRK: ἀνεκάθισεν ὁ νεκρὸς καὶ ἤρξατο
NAS: The dead man sat up and began
KJV: And he that was dead sat up, and
INT: sat up the dead [man] and began

Luke 7:22 Adj-NMP
GRK: κωφοὶ ἀκούουσιν νεκροὶ ἐγείρονται πτωχοὶ
NAS: hear, [the] dead are raised
KJV: hear, the dead are raised,
INT: deaf hear dead are raised poor

Luke 9:7 Adj-GMP
GRK: ἠγέρθη ἐκ νεκρῶν
NAS: that John had risen from the dead,
KJV: was risen from the dead;
INT: has been raised from among [the] dead

Luke 9:60 Adj-AMP
GRK: Ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς
NAS: to him, Allow the dead to bury
KJV: unto him, Let the dead bury their
INT: Leave the dead to bury

Luke 9:60 Adj-AMP
GRK: τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς σὺ δὲ
NAS: their own dead; but as for you, go
KJV: bury their dead: but go
INT: their own dead you however

Strong's Greek 3498
130 Occurrences


νεκρά — 3 Occ.
νεκράν — 1 Occ.
νεκρῶν — 78 Occ.
νεκροὶ — 14 Occ.
νεκροῖς — 2 Occ.
νεκρόν — 3 Occ.
νεκρὸς — 9 Occ.
νεκροῦ — 1 Occ.
νεκροὺς — 19 Occ.

3497
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