Greek word · G2740
καῦσις
kausis
burning
Burning, the act of setting on fire or being burned.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Burning, the act of setting on fire or being burned.
- Against the English
"To be burned" and "it will be burned" are accurate. The question is what is burned (the weeds, or the field as a whole) and what the burning stands for.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It appears only here in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament it is used, for example, at Isaiah 40:16 ("Lebanon is not enough for burning"). Ancient farmers burned stubble and weeds (Virgil, Georgics 1.84–93, recommends it), but Scripture also pictures land under judgment as burned waste (Deuteronomy 29:23, Sodom-like ground; Isaiah 5:6; 10:17).
Where it appears
Hebrews · 1
-
Hebrews 6:8 καῦσιν.¶ burning.
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
Here: The act of burning. It occurs only here in the New Testament. It is the farmer's fire put to a field of thorns, and in Hebrews it also calls to mind the fire of God's judgment (10:27; 12:29).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.