581. apoginomai
Lexical Summary
apoginomai: To be away, to be absent, to depart

Original Word: ἀπογίνομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: apoginomai
Pronunciation: ä-po-gē'-no-mī
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-og-en-om'-en-os)
KJV: being dead
NASB: die
Word Origin: [past participle of a compound of G575 (ἀπό - since) and G1096 (γίνομαι - become)]

1. absent, i.e. deceased
2. (figuratively) renounced

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
deceased

Past participle of a compound of apo and ginomai; absent, i.e. Deceased (figuratively, renounced) -- being dead.

see GREEK apo

see GREEK ginomai

HELPS Word-studies

581 apogenómenos (or apoginomai, from 575/apo, "from" and 1096 /gínomai, "become, emerge") – properly, "become from" (used only in 1 Pet 2:24).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from apo and ginomai
Definition
to be away, be removed from
NASB Translation
die (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 581: ἀπογίνομαι

ἀπογίνομαι: (2 aorist ἀπεγενομην);

1. to be removed from, depart.

2. to die (often so in Greek writings from Herodotus down); hence, tropically, ἀπογίνεσθαι τίνι, to die to anything: ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι i. e. become utterly alienated from our sins, 1 Peter 2:24 (Winers Grammar, § 52, 4, 1 d.; Buttmann, 178 (155)).

Topical Lexicon
Entry for Strong’s Greek 581 – Apoginomai

Biblical occurrence and immediate context

The participial form ἀπογενόμενοι appears in 1 Peter 2:24. In the Berean Standard Bible, the verse reads: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sins, we might live to righteousness. ‘By His stripes you are healed.’” The word pictures believers as people who, through Christ’s substitutionary death, have become separated from the sphere and dominion of sin in order to enter a new realm of righteous living.

Theological significance

1. Identification with Christ’s death
• Peter links the believer’s status (“having died to sins”) with Christ’s atoning work. The verb underscores a decisive, completed break: sin no longer defines the believer’s identity or destiny.
• This echoes Romans 6:2 where Paul asks, “How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?” and Galatians 2:20 where union with the crucified Christ is central to Christian experience.

2. Liberation from sin’s power
• The phrase positions holiness not as a human achievement but as a fruit of Christ’s cross. By sharing in His death, believers are released from sin’s mastery (Romans 6:6-7) and empowered to “live to righteousness.”
• The outcome is both negative (freedom from sin) and positive (the pursuit of righteous conduct), reflecting the dual aspect of sanctification.

3. Healing and covenant restoration
• Peter borrows Isaiah 53:5 (“By His stripes you are healed”) to show that dying to sin is inseparable from the prophetic promise of spiritual healing. The cross secures the believer’s restoration to covenant wholeness, anticipated by Isaiah and fulfilled in Christ.

Relation to wider biblical teaching

Colossians 2:20 and Colossians 3:3 describe believers as having “died with Christ” and “hidden with Christ in God,” reinforcing the once-for-all nature of the separation accomplished by apoginomai.
Hebrews 9:26 affirms that Christ’s self-offering put away sin; Peter’s wording shows how this cosmic victory becomes personal.
• The Old Testament background centers on sacrificial blood removing guilt (Leviticus 17:11). Peter applies that typology to the Messiah’s death, making the believer’s moral separation from sin the new-covenant counterpart to ceremonial cleansing.

Historical reception in the Church

• Early writers such as Ignatius and Polycarp cited 1 Peter to encourage martyr-faithfulness, viewing “having died to sins” as the believer’s moral readiness to face persecution.
• Augustine emphasized the participatory reality: baptism signifies the burial of the old self, aligning with 1 Peter 2:24.
• Reformation expositors tied the verb to justification and sanctification, insisting that grace not only declares righteousness but also re-creates righteous living.

Pastoral and ministry implications

1. Assurance of transformation

Elders can ground exhortations to holy living in the objective union with Christ’s death. The imperative to live righteously flows from an accomplished fact, not a legalistic demand.

2. Counseling freedom from habitual sin

Apoginomai encourages believers that persistent patterns do not have ultimate authority; Christ’s cross has already rendered sin powerless.

3. Discipleship and baptismal teaching

New converts learn that baptism symbolizes the burial of the old life (Romans 6:4) and the experiential truth of 1 Peter 2:24, fostering confident pursuit of righteousness.

4. Worship and liturgy

Communion services may cite 1 Peter 2:24 to celebrate both forgiveness and deliverance, uniting confession of sin with thanksgiving for emancipating grace.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 581, apoginomai, illuminates the believer’s decisive break with sin effected by Christ’s atonement. Though occurring only once, it encapsulates a core New Testament theme: union with the crucified Lord liberates and empowers the redeemed community to live in righteousness, fulfilling prophetic promises and shaping Christian identity, worship, and mission.

Forms and Transliterations
απογενομενοι απογενόμενοι ἀπογενόμενοι απόγονοι απόγονος απογόνων apogenomenoi apogenómenoi
Links
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Englishman's Concordance
1 Peter 2:24 V-APM-NMP
GRK: ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ
NAS: so that we might die to sin
KJV: we, being dead to sins,
INT: to sins having been dead to righteousness

Strong's Greek 581
1 Occurrence


ἀπογενόμενοι — 1 Occ.

580
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