σφάζω

1 John 3:12 ἔσφαξεν ἔσφαξεν he slew, he slayed

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

Here: 'He slaughtered, cut the throat of.' This is a brutal word, normally used for butchering or sacrificing animals. Genesis 4:8 in Greek has the plainer 'killed.' John picks the harsher word on purpose.

Revelation 5:6 ἐσφαγμένον slain

Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Here: Perfect passive participle: it was slaughtered, and the slaughter's effects remain. The verb is the one used for cutting a sacrificial animal's throat.

Revelation 5:9 ἐσφάγης You were slain

And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

Here: A blunt word for killing by cutting the throat, used of sacrificial animals. It echoes the 'Lamb standing as though slaughtered' of 5:6 and the Passover lamb. The aorist tense presents it as one completed event.

Revelation 5:12 ἐσφαγμένον slain

In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Here: Perfect passive participle: slaughtered in the past and still bearing that state. It is the word for cutting an animal's throat in sacrifice, and it matches 5:6, where the Lamb stands 'as having been slaughtered'.

Revelation 6:4 σφάξουσιν. they will slay.

Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.

Here: 'They will slaughter.' This is the word for butchering an animal or cutting its throat in sacrifice, much harsher than 'kill'. Revelation uses the same verb for the Lamb 'who was slaughtered' (5:6, 9, 12) and for the martyrs 'who had been slaughtered' (6:9).

Revelation 6:9 ἐσφαγμένων slain

And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.

Here: "Having been slaughtered". It is the verb for killing a sacrificial animal by cutting its throat, and the same word used of the Lamb, "standing as though slain" (5:6, 9, 12). The perfect tense marks a finished act whose result remains: they are the slaughtered ones.

Revelation 13:3 ἐσφαγμένην slain

One of the heads of the beast appeared to have been mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast.

Here: "Having been slaughtered". The verb is used for butchering or sacrificing an animal by cutting its throat, and the tense describes a lasting state. It is the very word used of the Lamb "standing as slain" (5:6), and it marks the beast as a counterfeit of the Lamb.

Revelation 13:8 ἐσφαγμένου slain

And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.

Here: Perfect participle: 'having been slaughtered' and still bearing the marks of it. The word is the language of butchering or sacrificing an animal by cutting its throat, much harsher than English 'slain'.

Revelation 18:24 ἐσφαγμένων slain

And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.

Here: "Having been slaughtered": the throat-cutting word for killing animals and sacrificial victims. The tense describes a completed act whose result still stands, so they remain the slaughtered. It is the same word used of the Lamb "as though slaughtered" (5:6) and of the souls under the altar (6:9).