Lexicon

G0907 - baptizo

Strong's: G0907 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: bap-tid'-zo Part of speech: verb Root: intensive / iterative form of G0911 - bapto (βάπτω, "to dip"); the -izō suffix typically indicates causative or intensive action NT occurrences: ~77

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

To immerse, submerge, dip, the lexical core. To plunge under water; to make fully wet.
To wash, cleanse with water, by extension, the use of water for ritual or hygienic purification (Mark 7:4 of vessels; the Pharisaic ritual washings).
(Metaphorically) to overwhelm, to be inundated, to be flooded with calamity, suffering, or spiritual outpouring (Luke 12:50 "I have a baptism to undergo"; 1 Corinthians 10:2 "baptized into Moses").
The Christian ordinance of baptism, the technical NT-cultic sense; ritual immersion signifying union with Christ's death and resurrection, incorporation into the church, and remission of sins.

Theological force, the bapto / baptizō distinction

A point made by classical Greek lexicographers (most famously by James W. Dale, Classic Baptism, 1867; cited often in Baptist mode/method debates): baptō describes a temporary dip (e.g., dipping a quill in ink, dipping bread in a dish), while baptizō describes a state-changing immersion that produces a permanent character, being submerged in dye to become dyed; being immersed in water to become characterized by what the water signifies. Whether or not the lexical distinction is as clean as Dale claimed, the distribution in NT usage supports the broader observation: Christian baptism is identification, not mere washing.

This bears on three contested questions in Christian practice:

Mode, immersion vs sprinkling vs pouring. Lexically, baptizō most naturally means immersion. Historically, the Didache (c. AD 100) already permits pouring when sufficient water for immersion is unavailable. Reformed and Catholic traditions hold that mode is not strictly bound to immersion since the meaning is identification, which sprinkling/pouring also signifies.
Subjects, believers only (credobaptism) or believers and their children (paedobaptism). The lexical issue is settled (the verb itself doesn't decide); the dispute turns on covenantal hermeneutics, the relation of baptism to circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12), and the household-baptism passages (Acts 16:15, 33).
Efficacy, sacramentally regenerative (Catholic, Lutheran, some Anglican) vs sign of an already-wrought reality (Reformed, Baptist) vs ordinance / public profession (most Baptist and free-church traditions). The lexical baptizō doesn't decide; the dispute turns on broader theology of grace and means.

Notable verses

The Trinitarian Great Commission

Matthew 28.19, "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name (onoma, singular) of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"

Connection to forgiveness / salvation

Acts 2:38, "repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins"
Acts 22:16, "be baptized, and wash away your sins"
1 Peter 3:21, "baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience"
Romans 6:3-4, "all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death"
Galatians 3:27, "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ"

Baptism into one body

1 Corinthians 12:13, "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body"
Ephesians 4:5, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism"

John's baptism, preparatory

Matthew 3:11, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me… will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire"
Acts 19:1-7, the Ephesian disciples re-baptized into Christ after John's

Metaphorical baptism, overwhelming

Mark 10:38-39, "are you able to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" (Christ's suffering)
Luke 12:50, "I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished"
1 Corinthians 10:2, Israel "baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea"

Spirit baptism

Acts 1:5, "you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now"
Acts 11:16, same language quoted by Peter

Patristic / scholarly note

The Didache (c. AD 100) gives the earliest extra-canonical instructions on baptism: by immersion in living (running) water if possible, by other means if not; preceded by fasting; in the threefold Name. Tertullian (On Baptism, c. AD 200) is the first systematic Christian treatment. By the third century baptism is firmly Trinitarian (per Matthew 28.19) and largely (though not universally) practiced by immersion of confessing believers, with infant baptism increasing through the third and fourth centuries (already attested in Origen, Comm. Romans 5.9, c. AD 244).

The Pauline development, baptism as union with Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6), is the substantive Christian theological distinctive over against Jewish proselyte baptism (a similar rite of incorporation but without the Christ-shaped meaning).

Verses in this codex

See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here. Top-cited references using baptizō include: Matthew 28.19, Romans 6:3 (pending), Acts 2.38.