2341. thériomacheó
Lexical Summary
thériomacheó: To fight with wild beasts

Original Word: θηριομαχέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: thériomacheó
Pronunciation: thay-ree-om-akh-eh'-o
Phonetic Spelling: (thay-ree-om-akh-eh'-o)
KJV: fight with wild beasts
NASB: fought with wild beasts, wild beasts
Word Origin: [from a compound of G2342 (θηρίον - beast) and G3164 (μάχομαι - argue)]

1. to be a beast-fighter (in the gladiatorial show)
2. (figuratively) to encounter (furious men)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
fight with wild beasts.

From a compound of therion and machomai; to be a beast-fighter (in the gladiatorial show), i.e. (figuratively) to encounter (furious men) -- fight with wild beasts.

see GREEK therion

see GREEK machomai

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from thérion and machomai
Definition
to fight with wild beasts
NASB Translation
fought with wild beasts (1), wild beasts (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2341: θηριομαχέω

θηριομαχέω, θηριομάχω: 1 aorist ἐθηριομάχησα; (θηριομαχος); to fight with wild beasts (Diodorus 3, 43, 7; Artemidorus Daldianus, oneir. 2, 54; 5, 49); εἰ ἐθηριομάχησα ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, 1 Corinthians 15:32 — these words some take literally, supposing that Paul was condemned to fight with wild beasts; others explain them tropically of a fierce contest with brutal and ferocious men (so θηριομάχειν in Ignatius ad Rom. 5 [ET] (etc.); ὁιοις θηρίοις μαχομεθα says Pompey, in the Appendix, bell. 104:2,61; see θηρίον). The former opinion encounters the objection that Paul would not have omitted this most terrible of all perils from the catalog in 2 Corinthians 11:23ff

Topical Lexicon
Overview

Strong’s Greek 2341 appears only once in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 15:32. Paul employs the image of “fighting wild beasts” to underscore the futility of suffering for Christ if the resurrection were not a historical reality. The verb evokes an arena scene in which a combatant contends with ferocious animals, highlighting extreme peril and sacrificial resolve.

Historical Background in the Greco-Roman World

Public spectacles that pitted humans against beasts were common in major imperial cities. Gladiatorial games, venationes, and executions ad bestias provided entertainment and judicial punishment. Prisoners, slaves, and perceived threats to civic order—among them Christians—were sometimes exposed to lions, leopards, or bulls. By the mid-first century, Ephesus possessed a theater capable of hosting such events. Paul’s wording therefore resonated with an audience familiar with the roar of arenas and the lethal danger they represented.

Paul’s Usage in 1 Corinthians 15:32

“If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did it profit me? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”

Interpretation revolves around whether Paul describes a literal encounter or a figurative struggle:

1. Literal view: Paul may have been condemned to the arena during his Ephesian ministry. Ancient tradition records believers who survived miraculous confrontations (compare Daniel 6; also note 2 Timothy 4:17, “the Lord…saved me from the mouth of the lion”).
2. Metaphorical view: The “wild beasts” symbolize violent adversaries—civic authorities, hostile artisans, or demonic forces—paralleling 1 Corinthians 4:9 and Psalms that liken enemies to ravenous beasts.

Either reading reinforces Paul’s central argument: he endured life-threatening ordeals because he was convinced of the physical resurrection of the dead.

Implications for Christian Suffering and Witness

The verb pictures ultimate hostility against the Gospel. Paul ties such suffering directly to the hope of bodily resurrection, teaching that:

• Present trials gain eternal weight (2 Corinthians 4:17).
• Courage flows from certainty that death is not the end (Philippians 1:20-23).
• Earthly loss without resurrection would reduce life to hedonism, “eat and drink” (Ecclesiastes 8:15), yet since Christ is risen, self-denial is meaningful.

Typological and Scriptural Connections

• Old Testament saints confronted beasts by faith: David with lions (1 Samuel 17:34-37), Daniel in the den (Daniel 6:22).
• Prophetic imagery portrays persecutors as animals (Psalm 22:12-13; Ezekiel 22:27).
• Peter warns of Satan as “a roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), linking spiritual opposition to literal beasts.
• Revelation depicts martyrs who “did not love their lives so as to shy away from death” (Revelation 12:11).

Church History and Early Martyrdom

Second-century accounts (Ignatius, Polycarp, the Martyrs of Lyon) attest to believers thrown to beasts for refusing idolatry. The apostolic allusion in 1 Corinthians 15:32 provided precedent and encouragement: faithful witness may meet bloody opposition, yet resurrection triumphs.

Practical Ministry Applications

1. Encourage believers under persecution: suffering is never purposeless; it testifies to future glory.
2. Guard against compromise: denying resurrection leads to moral collapse.
3. Foster missionary resilience: willingness to face “beasts”—literal or figurative—springs from certainty in Christ’s victory over death.
4. Cultivate prayer for deliverance and endurance, echoing Paul’s confidence that “He will yet deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:10).

Summary

The solitary New Testament occurrence of Strong’s Greek 2341 conveys the highest stakes of discipleship. Whether Paul survived an arena or used vivid metaphor, the term crystallizes his message: because Christ has been raised, believers can confront the fiercest opposition with steadfast hope, knowing that “your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Forms and Transliterations
εθηριομαχησα εθηριομάχησα ἐθηριομάχησα etheriomachesa etheriomáchesa ethēriomachēsa ethēriomáchēsa
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Englishman's Concordance
1 Corinthians 15:32 V-AIA-1S
GRK: κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐθηριομάχησα ἐν Ἐφέσῳ
NAS: motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus,
KJV: of men I have fought with beasts at
INT: according to man I fought wild beasts in Ephesus

Strong's Greek 2341
1 Occurrence


ἐθηριομάχησα — 1 Occ.

2340
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