Quick Definition
βαπτίζω v. I dip, submerge, baptize
Strong's Definition
from a derivative of 911; to immerse, submerge; to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); used only (in the New Testament) of ceremonial ablution, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism
KJV Usage: Baptist, baptize, wash
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
verb | βάπτω
53.31 · Religious Activities · Purify, Cleanse
to wash, to purify, washing, purification to wash (in some contexts, possibly by dipping into water), with a view to making objects ritually acceptable It is also possible to understand βαπτίσωνται in MRK 7:4 as a middle form meaning ‘to wash themselves.’
There is some doubt as to the precise extent to which βαπτίζω, καταβαπτίζω, and βαπτισμός in MRK 7:4 involve ritual cleansing, but the context would seem to imply this, particularly in view of the relationship of such washing to the rules followed by Jews in general and Pharisees in particular.
53.41 · Religious Activities · Baptize
to baptize, baptism to employ water in a religious ceremony designed to symbolize purification and initiation on the basis of repentance According to the Didache (early second century) different forms of baptism were practiced in the early church, but with evident preference given to immersion.
The baptism practiced by John the Baptist would seem to reflect far more the Jewish pattern of ritual washing than the type of baptism employed by Christians, which constituted a symbol of initiation into the Christian community on the basis of belief in and loyalty to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There seems, however, to be no reason to employ a different expression for baptism in the case of John than in the case of the early Christians. Most translators actually employ a transliterated form of the Greek term βαπτίζω, but in some languages this is both awkward as well as inappropriate, especially if another term or expression has already been employed and is widely accepted by groups practicing various types or forms of baptism. In some languages, for example, one may employ an expression such as ‘to enter the water’ or ‘to undergo the ritual involving water.’ Such expressions do not necessarily imply the quantity of water nor the particular means by which water is applied.
MAT 3:6 · MAT 3:11 · MAT 3:13 · MAT 3:14 · MAT 3:16 · MAT 28:19 · MRK 1:4 · MRK 1:5 · MRK 1:8 · MRK 1:9 · MRK 6:14 · MRK 6:24 · MRK 16:16 · LUK 3:7 · LUK 3:12 · LUK 3:16 · LUK 3:21 · LUK 3:21 · LUK 7:29 · LUK 7:30 · JHN 1:25 · JHN 1:26 · JHN 1:28 · JHN 1:31 · JHN 1:33 · JHN 1:33 · JHN 3:22 · JHN 3:23 · JHN 3:23 · JHN 3:26 · JHN 4:1 · JHN 4:2 · JHN 10:40 · ACT 1:5 · ACT 1:5 · ACT 2:38 · ACT 2:41 · ACT 8:12 · ACT 8:13 · ACT 8:16 · ACT 8:36 · ACT 8:38 · ACT 9:18 · ACT 10:47 · ACT 10:48 · ACT 11:16 · ACT 16:15 · ACT 16:33 · ACT 18:8 · ACT 19:3 · ACT 19:4 · ACT 19:5 · ACT 22:16 · ROM 6:3 · ROM 6:3 · 1CO 1:13 · 1CO 1:14 · 1CO 1:15 · 1CO 1:16 · 1CO 1:16 · 1CO 1:17 · 1CO 12:13 · 1CO 15:29 · 1CO 15:29 · GAL 3:27
53.49 · Religious Activities · Dedicate, Consecrate
to baptize (a figurative extension of meaning of βαπτίζω[b] ‘to baptize,’ 53.41) to cause someone to have a highly significant religious experience involving special manifestations of God’s power and presence
24.82 · Sensory Events and States · Pain, Suffering
Collocation: βάπτισμα βαπτίζομαι
to suffer, to undergo (an idiom, literally: to be baptized with a baptism) to be overwhelmed by some difficult experience or ordeal It is usually not possible to employ the general term for ‘baptism’ to indicate a difficult trial or ordeal. On the other hand, there may be a serious problem involved in using a technical term for ‘ordeal,’ since such an expression may imply merely a ‘proof of innocence.’ In a number of languages, therefore, one can best translate the idiom simply as ‘to suffer greatly.’
1 βαπτίζω[b] and βαπτισμός[b] should not be confused in meaning with βαπτίζω[a] and βαπτισμός[a] to wash, to purify (53.31). Both sets of meanings involve purification, but only βαπτίζω[b] and βαπτισμός[b] involve initiation into a religious community. 2 MAT 3:11 In MAT 3:11 ‘fire’ is generally regarded as a reference to the experience of Pentecost, but it is possible to understand ‘fire’ in this context as referring to judgment.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
βαπτίζω baptizō 77x
pr. to dip, immerse; to cleanse or purify by washing; to administer the rite of baptism, to baptize; met. with various reference to the ideas associated with Christian baptism as an act of dedication, e.g. marked designation, devotion, trial, etc.; mid. to procure baptism for one’s self, to undergo baptism, Acts 22:16
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
βαπτίζω
(< βάπτω), [in LXX: IV Ki 5:14 (טבל), Is 21:4, Jth 12:7, Si 31 (34):30*;]
to dip, immerse, sink; generally (in Polyb., iii, 72, of soldiers wading breast-deep; in i, 51, of the sinking of ships); metaph., to overwhelm (Is 21:4; cf. MM, Exp., x); c. cogn. acc., βάπτισμα β., Mk 10:38, 39, Lk 12:50. Mid.,
to perform ablutions, wash oneself, bathe (IV Ki 5:14, Jth 12:7, Si 31 (34):30): Mk 7:4; aor. pass, in same sense, Lk 11:38.
Of ablution, immersion, as a religious rite, to baptize; absol.; Mk 1:4, Jo 1:25, 26, 28 3:22, 23, 26 4:2 10:40, I Co 1:17; ὁ βαπτίζων (= ὁ βαπτιστής, M, Pr., 127), Mk 6:14, 24; c. acc., Jo 4:1, Ac 8:38, I Co 1:14, 16; c. cogn. acc., τὸ βάπτισμα, Ac 19:4 (cf. Mk 10:38, supr.); pass., to be baptized, receive baptism: Mt 3:13, 14, 16, Mk 16:16, Lk 3:7, 12, 21 7:29 (τ. βάπτισμα) ib. 30, Ac 2:41 8:12, 13, 36 9:18 10:47 16:15, 33 18:8; mid., 22:16 (M, Pr., 163);
with prepositions: ἐν, of the element, Mt 3:6, 11, Mk 1:4, 5, 8, Lk 3:16, Jo 1:26, 31, 33 3:23, Ac 1:5 2:38 10:48 11:16, I Co 10:2; εἰς, of the element, purpose or result (Lft., Notes, 155), Mt 3:11 28:19, Mk 1:9, Ac 8:16 19:3, 5, Ro 6:3, I Co 1:13, 15 10:2 12:13, Ga 3:27; c. dat., ὕδατι, Lk 3:16, Ac 1:5 11:16; ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν, perh. to fulfil the wish of a dead friend, I Co 15:29 (v. ICC, in l.; cf. DB, i, 238 ff.; DCG, i, 169a; ii, 605b; Cremer, 126).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
βαπτίζω. As late as iv/A.D. the word is used in a magic papyrus, P Lond 46° (=I. p. 67) of a ‘‘submerged” boat—amrd vevavayynk(dtos) πλοίου ἀπὸ πάκτωνος βεβαπτισμίένον). Lucian 7 νιον 44 makes the Misanthrope threaten ὠθεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν βαπτίζοντα. So in a fragment of Epictetus (Stobaeus no. 47—Schenkl p. 474), quoted by D. 5. Sharp, Epictetus and the NT, p. 66, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἂν ἐβούλου ἐν νηΐ μεγάλῃ Kal γλαφυρᾷ Kal πολυχρύσῳ πλέων βαπτίζεσθαι. With its use to express ceremonial ablution—as Lk 118 and the new Gospel-fragment P Oxy V. 840! μ[ή]τε μὴν τῶν μαθητῶν σου τοὺς πίόδας Balmricbévtwy—we may compare another magic papyrus P Lond 1214" (iii/A.p.) (=I. p. 98) λουσάμενος kal βαπτισάμενος. Our earliest quotation is from P Par 4738 (c. B.C. 153) (= Se/ectéons, p. 22) κἂν ἰδῇς ὅτι μέλλομεν σωθῆναι, τότε βαπτιζώμεθα. The translation of the letter, which is very illiterate, is by no means clear, but βαπτιζόμεθα must mean ‘‘ flooded,” or overwhelmed with calamities. That the word was already in use in this metaphorical sense (cf. Diod. 1. educated people, strikingly illustrates our Lord’s speaking of His Passion as a ‘‘ baptism” (Mk 10%). 73. 6), even among un-
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
βαπτίζω (baptizō) — to baptize. βαπτ-ίζω, dip, plunge, ξίφος εἰς σφαγήν [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—passive, of a trephine, [Refs 1st c.AD+] — in passive, to be drowned, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; of ships, sink or disable them, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἐβάπτισαν τὴν πόλιν flooded the city, metaphorically, of the crowds who flocked into Jerusalem at the time of the siege, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ βεβαπτίσθαι ἀναπνέουσι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to be drenched, [Refs 4th c.BC+]soaked in wine, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὀφλήμασι βεβ. over head and ears in debt, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; γνοὺς βαπτιζόμενον τὸ μειράκιον seeing that he was getting into deep water, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. draw wine by dipping the cup in the bowl, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
3. baptize, τινά [NT]:—passive, βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν [NT]:—middle, dip oneself, [LXX]; get oneself baptized, [NT]:—passive, perform ablutions, [NT]