3500. nekrósis
Lexical Summary
nekrósis: Death, deadness, mortification

Original Word: νέκρωσις
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: nekrósis
Pronunciation: nek-RO-sis
Phonetic Spelling: (nek'-ro-sis)
KJV: deadness, dying
NASB: deadness, dying
Word Origin: [from G3499 (νεκρόω - dead)]

1. decease
2. (figuratively) impotency

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
deadness, dying.

From nekroo; decease; figuratively, impotency -- deadness, dying.

see GREEK nekroo

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from nekroó
Definition
a putting to death, a state of death
NASB Translation
deadness (1), dying (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3500: νέκρωσις

νέκρωσις, νεκρωσεως, (νεκρόω);

1. properly, a putting to death (Vulg.mortificatio in 2 Corinthians 4:10), killing.

2. equivalent to τό νεκρουσθαι (the being put to death), with τοῦ Ἰησοῦ added, i. e. the (protracted) death (A. V. the dying) which Jesus underwent in God's service (on the genitive cf. Winer's Grammar, 189 (178) note), Paul so styles the marks of perpetual trials, misfortunes, hardships attended with peril of death, evident in his body (cf. Meyer), 2 Corinthians 4:10.

3. equivalent to τό νενεκρωμένον εἶναι, the dead state (A. V. deadness), utter sluggishness (of bodily members and organs, Galen): Romans 4:19.

Topical Lexicon
Entry: Νέκρωσις (Strong’s Greek 3500)

Scope of the Term

Paul employs νέκρωσις to speak of physical or experiential “deadness” that serves a theological purpose: it highlights God’s power to create life where human ability has utterly failed and, in Christ, to transform suffering into resurrection life.

Occurrences in the New Testament

Romans 4:19; 2 Corinthians 4:10.

Romans 4:19 – Faith Confronting Physical Deadness

Abraham “considered his own body as good as dead… and the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Berean Standard Bible). Here νέκρωσις underscores the irreversible sterility of Abraham’s natural situation. Paul chooses the word to magnify two points:
• God’s covenant promises are not limited by human incapacity.
• Faith rests not on present vitality but on God’s creative power to give life where there is none (compare Romans 4:17).

By framing the patriarch’s condition as νέκρωσις, Paul links Abraham’s experience to the broader biblical pattern—divine life emerging from apparent death (Genesis 22; Hebrews 11:11–12).

2 Corinthians 4:10 – Sharing the Dying of Jesus

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (Berean Standard Bible). Paul applies νέκρωσις to the apostolic ministry itself. Continuous exposure to weakness, persecution, and mortal danger becomes a living reenactment of Christ’s death. The purpose is explicitly missional: the more the messenger is outwardly diminished, the more Christ’s life is made visible.

Old Testament and Jewish Background

While νέκρωσις does not appear in the Septuagint, the concept of life springing from death permeates Scripture: Sarah’s barrenness (Genesis 18), Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), and resurrection hopes in Daniel 12:2. Paul’s terminology resonates with these narratives, positioning Christ as the climactic fulfillment.

Death-to-Life Motif in Pauline Theology

1. Representative: Abraham’s νέκρωσις foreshadows the believer’s inability to attain righteousness by human effort (Romans 4:4–5).
2. Christological: Jesus submits to literal death, the ultimate νέκρωσις, and is vindicated in resurrection (Philippians 2:8–9).
3. Participatory: Believers “have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20) and “buried with Him through baptism into death” (Romans 6:4). Daily experiences of weakness are interpreted as extensions of Christ’s dying that anticipate His life.

Pastoral and Ministry Implications

• Encouragement amid infirmity: Physical decline or ministry hardship is not evidence of divine abandonment but an arena for God’s life-giving power.
• Integrity of witness: Authentic ministry often demands self-expenditure; νέκρωσις prevents self-reliance and redirects glory to God (2 Corinthians 4:7).
• Eschatological assurance: Present mortality guarantees future resurrection; just as Abraham received Isaac, believers await transformed bodies (Romans 8:11, 23).

Historical Reception

Early Church writers (e.g., Irenaeus, Athanasius) linked νέκρωσις with the incarnation: the Son entered human mortality to abolish death. Reformers emphasized νέκρωσις in the doctrine of mortification, urging believers to “put to death” sinful desires (Colossians 3:5) in reliance on the Spirit.

Related Concepts

• Σταυρός (cross) – the instrument producing Christ’s νέκρωσις.
• Θάνατος (death) – broader term; νέκρωσις stresses the state or process.
• Ζωοποιέω (make alive) – God’s answer to νέκρωσις, used in Romans 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:22.

Summary

Νέκρωσις in the New Testament serves as a vivid reminder that God’s saving work thrives where human capability ends. Whether confronting infertility or apostolic suffering, the term directs faith toward the Creator who brings life out of death and guarantees the hope of resurrection in Christ.

Forms and Transliterations
ένεμε ενέμεσθε ενέμετο ενέμοντο νεκρωσιν νέκρωσιν νεμέσθωσαν νεμήσει νεμήσεται νεμήσονται νεμόμενοι νέμων ο nekrosin nekrōsin nékrosin nékrōsin
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Englishman's Concordance
Romans 4:19 N-AFS
GRK: καὶ τὴν νέκρωσιν τῆς μήτρας
NAS: a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's
KJV: neither yet the deadness of Sara's
INT: and the deadening of the womb

2 Corinthians 4:10 N-AFS
GRK: πάντοτε τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ
NAS: in the body the dying of Jesus,
KJV: the body the dying of the Lord
INT: always the death [of] Jesus

Strong's Greek 3500
2 Occurrences


νέκρωσιν — 2 Occ.

3499
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