# H4194 - mavet **Strong's:** [H4194](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h4194/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** maw'-veth **Part of speech:** masculine noun (from the verbal root H4191 *muth*, "to die") **Frequency:** ~155 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible, distributed across the Pentateuch (esp. [Genesis 2](/codex/genesis-2/)-3, Deut), the historical books, the prophets (esp. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea), and Psalms. **LXX equivalent:** θάνατος (*thanatos*), direct correspondent. See [G2288 - thanatos](/codex/g2288-thanatos/). **Antonym:** [H2416 - chay](/codex/h2416-chay/), *chay* (living / life), the OT life-counterpart. ## Semantic range (Brown-Driver-Briggs) 1. **Death (literal)**, the cessation of physical life; the natural-biological event. 2. **Death personified**, *mavet* sometimes appears as a quasi-personified power: the "first-born of *mavet*" ([Job 18:13](/codex/job-18-13/)), Death "swallowing" up ([Isa 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/)), Death's "cords" ([2 Sam 22:6](/codex/2-samuel-22-6/) / [Ps 18:4-5](/codex/psalms-18-4-5/)), Death's "gates" ([Ps 9:13](/codex/psalms-9-13/); 107:18; [Job 38:17](/codex/job-38-17/)), Death "climbing through windows" ([Jer 9:21](/codex/jeremiah-9-21/)). This personification anticipates the NT's "the last enemy that will be abolished is death" ([1 Cor 15:26](/codex/1-corinthians-15-26/)). 3. **Realm of the dead**, by metonymy, the *condition* / *place* of the dead (parallel to *Sheol*). 4. **Plague / pestilence**, sometimes *mavet* names the agent or cause of mass death ([Jer 15:2](/codex/jeremiah-15-2/); 18:21; 43:11; cf. [Rev 6:8](/codex/revelation-6-8/), *Thanatos* on the pale horse). 5. **Spiritual death (figurative, late OT and NT)**, alienation from the life of God; the standing condition of unredeemed humanity. Less developed in the OT but emerging in late prophetic / wisdom literature. ## Theological force, the wages of sin and the defeated enemy *Mavet* is the most theologically loaded death-word in biblical Hebrew. The OT's death-theology centers on three threads: ### Thread 1, Death as the consequence of sin **[Genesis 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/)**, "in the day that you eat from it you will surely die (*moth tamuth*)", the original consequence-of-disobedience formula. The Hebrew *moth tamuth* is an *infinitive absolute + verb* construction emphasizing certainty: "dying you shall die" / "you shall surely die." The double-form has been read variously: as immediate spiritual death (the moment-of-disobedience reading); as inevitable physical death (the future-certainty reading); as both (the canonical-Christian reading, physical death's inevitability is the visible pattern of the spiritual rupture). The Pauline summary in [Romans 6:23](/codex/romans-6-23/) ("the wages of sin is *thanatos*") is direct activation of the [Gen 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/) *mavet*-as-consequence pattern. ### Thread 2, Death personified as enemy The OT poetic / prophetic literature treats *mavet* as a *power* or *enemy*. **[Isaiah 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/)**, "He will swallow up *mavet* forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces", the eschatological hope is the *defeat of Death*. Paul cites [Isa 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/) in [1 Cor 15:54](/codex/1-corinthians-15-54/) as fulfilled in Christ's resurrection. **[Hosea 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/)**, "I will ransom them from the power of *Sheol*; I will redeem them from *mavet*. O *mavet*, where are your thorns? O *Sheol*, where is your sting?", quoted by Paul in [1 Cor 15:55](/codex/1-corinthians-15-55/) as the resurrection-victory taunt. ### Thread 3, The eschatological abolition of death The OT's ultimate hope, glimpsed in [Isa 25](/codex/isaiah-25/)-27 and [Daniel 12](/codex/daniel-12/), is the *abolition* of death: - [Isa 25:7-9](/codex/isaiah-25-7-9/), God will swallow up death; remove the shroud - [Isa 26:19](/codex/isaiah-26-19/), "your dead will live; their corpses will rise" - [Daniel 12:2](/codex/daniel-12-2/), "many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake" The NT consummates this hope: Christ's resurrection is the *firstfruits* of death's defeat ([1 Cor 15:20-26](/codex/1-corinthians-15-20-26/)); the second resurrection at the *parousia* completes the abolition. [Revelation 20:14](/codex/revelation-20-14/), "death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire", final eschatological victory. ## Notable verses ### Death as consequence of sin - **[Genesis 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/)**, "in the day that you eat from it you will surely die (*moth tamuth*)" - **[Genesis 3:3](/codex/genesis-3-3/), [4](/codex/genesis-3-4/)**, the serpent's contradiction: "you will not surely die" - **[Romans 6:23](/codex/romans-6-23/)**, "the wages of sin is *thanatos*" - **[Ezekiel 18:4](/codex/ezekiel-18-4/), [20](/codex/ezekiel-18-20/)**, "the soul who sins will die" - **[Romans 5:12](/codex/romans-5-12/)**, "through one man sin entered into the world, and *thanatos* through sin" ### Death personified - **[2 Samuel 22:6](/codex/2-samuel-22-6/) / [Psalms 18:4-5](/codex/psalms-18-4-5/)**, "the cords of *mavet* surrounded me" - **[Job 18:13](/codex/job-18-13/)**, "the firstborn of *mavet* devours his parts" - **[Job 28:22](/codex/job-28-22/)**, "*Abaddon* and *mavet* say, 'with our ears we have heard a report of it'" - **[Job 38:17](/codex/job-38-17/)**, "have the gates of *mavet* been revealed to you?" - **[Psalms 9:13](/codex/psalms-9-13/)**, "lift me up from the gates of *mavet*" - **[Psalms 49:14](/codex/psalms-49-14/)**, "*mavet* shall be their shepherd" - **[Psalms 107:18](/codex/psalms-107-18/)**, "they drew near to the gates of *mavet*" - **[Hosea 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/)**, "O *mavet*, where are your thorns?", quoted at [1 Cor 15:55](/codex/1-corinthians-15-55/) - **[Jeremiah 9:21](/codex/jeremiah-9-21/)**, "*mavet* has come up through our windows" ### Death and atonement - **[Isaiah 53:9](/codex/isaiah-53-9/), [12](/codex/isaiah-53-12/)**, the Servant's *mavet*; "He poured out Himself to death" ### Eschatological abolition - **[Isaiah 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/)**, "He will swallow up *mavet* forever", quoted at [1 Cor 15:54](/codex/1-corinthians-15-54/) - **[Hosea 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/)**, "I will ransom them from *mavet*", quoted at [1 Cor 15:55](/codex/1-corinthians-15-55/) - **[Daniel 12:2](/codex/daniel-12-2/)**, resurrection-of-the-dead ### Capital-offense legal use - **[Genesis 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/); [Lev 20:9-16](/codex/leviticus-20-9-16/); 24:16-17; [Num 35:16-21](/codex/numbers-35-16-21/)**, death as legal penalty for capital offenses (the *moth yumath* formula) ### NT activation - **[Romans 5:12-21](/codex/romans-5-12-21/)**, the Adam-Christ contrast: death entered through Adam, life through Christ - **[Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/)**, "the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" - **[1 Corinthians 15:21-22](/codex/1-corinthians-15-21-22/), [26](/codex/1-corinthians-15-26/), [54-55](/codex/1-corinthians-15-54-55/)**, the resurrection-defeat of death; quotations of [Isa 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/) and [Hos 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/) - **[2 Timothy 1:10](/codex/2-timothy-1-10/)**, Christ "abolished *thanatos* and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" - **[Hebrews 2:14-15](/codex/hebrews-2-14-15/)**, "that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of *thanatos*, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of *thanatos* were subject to slavery all their lives" - **[Revelation 1.18](/codex/revelation-1-18/)**, "I have the keys of *thanatos* and of Hades" - **[Revelation 20.14](/codex/revelation-20-14/)**, "*thanatos* and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire... this is the second death" - **[Revelation 21.4](/codex/revelation-21-4/)**, "there will no longer be any *thanatos*; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain" ## Patristic / scholarly note The Christian theology of death, death as the wages of sin ([Gen 3](/codex/genesis-3/) / [Rom 5](/codex/romans-5/)) and as the defeated enemy ([1 Cor 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/)), runs through patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern Reformed theology. **Athanasius** (*De Incarnatione* 8-10, 21-32), the most extended patristic treatment: Christ's death-and-resurrection is the *defeat* of death; humanity is rescued from corruption by the Word's incarnation-into-mortality and conquest-of-death-from-within. **[Cyril of Alexandria](/codex/cyril-of-alexandria/)** (*Festal Letters*), develops the same line. In Reformed theology, **Geerhardus Vos** (*The Pauline Eschatology*, 1930), extensive treatment of Pauline death-theology against the *mavet* / *thanatos* OT background. **Herman Ridderbos** (*Paul: An Outline of His Theology*, 1966), Pauline death-and-resurrection as the central soteriological frame. The personification of death (cf. [Hos 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/), [Isa 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/), NT *Thanatos* in Rev) intersects with the broader question of how the Christian tradition relates to death as *natural* vs. *enemy*. Augustine (*City of God* XIII), death is *not natural* in its original creational form; physical death is the consequence of sin ([Rom 5:12](/codex/romans-5-12/)) and itself an enemy to be defeated. Pelagian and modern naturalist readings dispute this; Reformed orthodoxy retains the Augustinian death-as-enemy frame. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [Genesis 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/) (the original consequence), [Genesis 3:3-4](/codex/genesis-3-3-4/) (the serpent's lie), [Hosea 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/) (the resurrection-taunt source), [Isaiah 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/) (the abolition prophecy), [Romans 5.12](/codex/romans-5-12/) / [Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/) (Pauline activation), [1 Corinthians 15:54-55](/codex/1-corinthians-15-54-55/) (the consummation), [Hebrews 2:14-15](/codex/hebrews-2-14-15/) (Christ's death-defeating death), [Revelation 21.4](/codex/revelation-21-4/) (eschatological abolition). ## See also - [G2288 - thanatos](/codex/g2288-thanatos/), *thanatos* (death), Greek correspondent - [H2416 - chay](/codex/h2416-chay/), *chay* (living / life), antonym - [G3498 - nekros](/codex/g3498-nekros/), *nekros* (dead), Greek-side adjective - [G2222 - zoe](/codex/g2222-zoe/), *zōē* (life), Greek-side life-noun - [G2198 - zao](/codex/g2198-zao/), *zaō* (to live), Greek-side life-verb - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), death as the wages-of-sin Christ bore - [Argument from the Resurrection](/codex/argument-from-the-resurrection/), Christ's death-defeating death - Passages: [Genesis 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/), [Genesis 3:3-4](/codex/genesis-3-3-4/), [Hosea 13:14](/codex/hosea-13-14/), [Isaiah 25:8](/codex/isaiah-25-8/), [Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/), [1 Corinthians 15:54-55](/codex/1-corinthians-15-54-55/), [Revelation 21.4](/codex/revelation-21-4/)