Lexical Summary athanasia: Immortality Original Word: ἀθανασία Strong's Exhaustive Concordance immortality. From a compound of a (as a negative particle) and thanatos; deathlessness -- immortality. see GREEK a see GREEK thanatos HELPS Word-studies 110 athanasía (from 1 /A "without" and 2288 /thánatos, "death") – properly, immortality (literally "without death, deathlessness"), referring to the unique glorification awarded to each believer by the Lord at His return (1 Cor 15:53,54). NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom alpha (as a neg. prefix) and thanatos Definition immortality NASB Translation immortality (3). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 110: ἀθανασίαἀθανασία (ας ἡ (ἀθάνατος), immortality: 1 Corinthians 15:53; 1 Timothy 6:16 where God is described as ὁ μόνος ἔχων ἀθανασίαν, because he possesses it essentially — 'ἐκ τῆς ὀικείας οὐσίας, οὐκ ἐκ θελήματος ἄλλου, καθάπερ οἱ λοιποί πάντες ἀθάνατοι Justin,quaest, et resp. ad orthod. 61, p. 84, Otto edition. (In Greek writings from Plato down.) Topical Lexicon Overview Strong’s Greek 110 designates the quality of being deathless—“immortality.” While pagan thought often regarded immortality as an intrinsic possession of the soul, Scripture locates it singularly in God and as a future gift to redeemed humanity through the resurrection. Old Testament Foreshadowing Though the term itself does not occur in the Hebrew canon, the anticipation of life beyond death is present. Enoch’s translation (Genesis 5:24), Job’s confession “Yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:26), and Daniel’s promise that “many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Daniel 12:2) collectively prepare the reader for the New Testament unveiling of immortality. Usage in the New Testament Canon The noun occurs three times, concentrated in Pauline writings. 1. 1 Corinthians 15:53–54 sets immortality within the eschatological transformation of believers: “For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” Here immortality is not an abstract state but a bodily reality granted at Christ’s return, replacing corruption with incorruption. God's Unique Possession of Immortality God’s life is underived, eternal, and unthreatened by decay. The doxology of 1 Timothy 6:16 locates immortality among God’s incommunicable attributes, alongside unapproachable light and sovereign dominion. Any creaturely share in immortality, therefore, is derivative, granted by grace rather than possessed by nature. Immortality and the Resurrection Body 1 Corinthians 15 contrasts “mortal” (subject to death) with “immortal” (incapable of dying). Immortality will clothe the believer only when “the trumpet sounds” (1 Corinthians 15:52). Thus, immortality is inseparable from resurrection; it is bodily, holistic, and victorious over the last enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15:26). Pastoral Implications for Believers • Assurance in bereavement: the certainty that those in Christ will “always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Historical and Theological Reflections Early Church Fathers (Ignatius, Irenaeus) opposed Gnostic spiritualizing by emphasizing bodily resurrection and derived immortality. The Apostles’ Creed echoes this stance: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” The Reformers retained the distinction that God alone is immortal by nature while believers receive immortality consummately at the last day. Connections with Related Doctrines • Incorruptibility (Strong’s 861) highlights freedom from decay; together with immortality it describes the believer’s glorified state. Conclusion Strong’s 110 underscores the biblical storyline: God, inherently immortal, shares His deathless life with His people through the resurrection accomplished by Jesus Christ. This promised immortality shapes Christian hope, ethics, and worship, anchoring the church in confident expectation that “death has been swallowed up in victory.” Forms and Transliterations αθανασιαν αθανασίαν ἀθανασίαν αθανίμ athanasian athanasíanLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance 1 Corinthians 15:53 N-AFSGRK: τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν NAS: mortal must put on immortality. KJV: mortal [must] put on immortality. INT: this to put on immortality 1 Corinthians 15:54 N-AFS 1 Timothy 6:16 N-AFS |