UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to wash, to purify, washing, purification

Semantic entry: 53.31

Semantic domains: Religious Activities

Subdomains: Purify, Cleanse

Definition: to wash (in some contexts, possibly by dipping into water), with a view to making objects ritually acceptable

Notes: It is also possible to understand βαπτίσωνται in RV MRK 7:4 · LV MRK 7:4 · Read together MRK 7:4 as a middle form meaning ‘to wash themselves.’|There is some doubt as to the precise extent to which βαπτίζω[a], καταβαπτίζω[a] in RV MRK 7:4 · LV MRK 7:4 · Read together MRK 7:4 involve ritual cleansing, but the context would seem to imply this, particularly in view of the relationship of such washing to the rules followed by Jews in general and Pharisees in particular.

Sense 2: to baptize, baptism

Semantic entry: 53.41

Semantic domains: Religious Activities

Subdomains: Baptize

Definition: to employ water in a religious ceremony designed to symbolize purification and initiation on the basis of repentance{N:001}

Notes: According to the Didache (early second century) different forms of baptism were practiced in the early church, but with evident preference given to immersion.|The baptism practiced by John the Baptist would seem to reflect far more the Jewish pattern of ritual washing than the type of baptism employed by Christians, which constituted a symbol of initiation into the Christian community on the basis of belief in and loyalty to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There seems, however, to be no reason to employ a different expression for baptism in the case of John than in the case of the early Christians. Most translators actually employ a transliterated form of the Greek term βαπτίζω, but in some languages this is both awkward as well as inappropriate, especially if another term or expression has already been employed and is widely accepted by groups practicing various types or forms of baptism. In some languages, for example, one may employ an expression such as ‘to enter the water’ or ‘to undergo the ritual involving water.’ Such expressions do not necessarily imply the quantity of water nor the particular means by which water is applied.

Sense 3: to baptize

Semantic entry: 53.49

Semantic domains: Religious Activities

Subdomains: Dedicate, Consecrate

Definition: (a figurative extension of meaning of βαπτίζω [source selector 000001][b] ‘to baptize,’ 53.41: βαπτίζω / 53.41: βάπτισμα / 53.41: βαπτισμός) to cause someone to have a highly significant religious experience involving special manifestations of God’s power and presence

Sense 4: to suffer, to undergo

Semantic entry: 24.82

Semantic domains: Sensory Events and States

Subdomains: Pain, Suffering

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to be baptized with a baptism) to be overwhelmed by some difficult experience or ordeal

Notes: It is usually not possible to employ the general term for ‘baptism’ to indicate a difficult trial or ordeal. On the other hand, there may be a serious problem involved in using a technical term for ‘ordeal,’ since such an expression may imply merely a ‘proof of innocence.’ In a number of languages, therefore, one can best translate the idiom simply as ‘to suffer greatly.’

Collocations: βάπτισμα βαπτίζομαι