Greek word · G519
ἀπάγχω
apanchō
to strangle
Active: to strangle or throttle someone. Middle (acting on oneself): to strangle oneself, that is, to hang oneself with a noose. Classical Greek also has the colloquial curse 'go hang yourself' with this verb.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἀπ-άγχω
(ἄγχω, to press, strangle), [in LXX: 2 Samuel 17:23 (חָנַק), Tobit 3:10 * ;]
to strangle; mid., to hang oneself (or, to choke; see M, Pr., 155): Matthew 27:5.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Matthew 27:5
- Range of meaning
Active: to strangle or throttle someone. Middle (acting on oneself): to strangle oneself, that is, to hang oneself with a noose. Classical Greek also has the colloquial curse 'go hang yourself' with this verb.
- Against the English
Nearly all English versions say 'hanged himself', which is correct. YLT's 'did strangle himself' is more literal and reflects how such a death actually happened: slow strangulation by a noose, not the drop of a modern execution.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It appears only here in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament it describes Ahithophel, David's trusted counselor who joined Absalom's revolt against him: when his advice was rejected he 'went off (apēlthen) to his house... and hanged himself (apēnxato)' (2 Samuel 17:23). Tobit 3:10 uses it of Sarah, who thinks of hanging herself but decides not to. Classical writers use it for both suicide and strangling.
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 27:5 ἀπήγξατο.¶ hanged himself.
So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Here: 'He strangled himself,' meaning he hanged himself by a noose. The verb's form points the action back on the subject. It is the exact word form used of Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23 (Greek), and it appears nowhere else in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.