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Greek Word Study
Strong's G907. The Greek word behind New Testament baptism means far more than a sprinkle. It means to immerse.
The Word Itself
The Greek word translated "baptize" in the New Testament is βαπτίζω (baptizō), assigned Strong's number G907. Its core meaning is to immerse, to submerge, to plunge, or to dip. It comes from the root word βάπτω (baptō, G911), which means to dip. Baptizō is the stronger, fuller form: not a passing touch of water, but a thorough submersion that surrounds and changes what is dipped.
This matters because the word itself already tells us the shape of the act. When the New Testament commands baptism, the very verb it uses means immersion. Sprinkling and pouring are different actions with different Greek words. To baptize is to bury in water.
Documented Meaning
The meaning of baptizō is not an Apostolic invention. It is the plain testimony of the Greek language, both in the New Testament and in wider Greek writing.
The recognized Greek lexicons, including Thayer, Liddell and Scott, and BDAG, define baptizō as to dip, to immerse, to submerge, and to overwhelm. Immersion is the settled lexical meaning of the word.
Outside the Bible, baptizō described a sunken ship, cloth submerged in dye, and a person overwhelmed by debt or sleep. In every case the idea is of something completely plunged into and surrounded.
Around 200 BC the Greek writer Nicander gave a pickling recipe that used both words: the vegetable is first dipped (baptō) in boiling water, then immersed (baptizō) in the vinegar brine. The second word is the lasting, thorough submersion.
When Scripture means to sprinkle, it uses a different word, ῥαντίζω (rhantizō). The New Testament never uses that word for water baptism. The command is always to immerse.
The Word Family
| Greek | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| βαπτίζω (baptizō) | G907 | to immerse, submerge, baptize |
| βάπτισμα (baptisma) | G908 | baptism, the act of immersion |
| βαπτισμός (baptismos) | G909 | a washing or dipping |
| βαπτιστής (baptistēs) | G910 | a baptizer (as with John the Baptist) |
| βάπτω (baptō) | G911 | to dip (the root word) |
Where baptizō Appears
Baptizō is used around eighty times in the New Testament. These passages show both how baptism was done and in whose name.
"Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water."
Even Jesus' own baptism describes going down into and coming up out of the water, the picture of immersion.
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins."
Peter's command on the birthday of the church: immersion, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.
"They went down both into the water... and when they were come up out of the water..."
Philip and the Ethiopian both go down into the water. The account only makes sense as immersion.
"They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
Every recorded baptism in Acts was performed in the name of Jesus, the apostles' consistent practice.
"We are buried with Him by baptism into death... raised up... to walk in newness of life."
Baptism is a burial and a resurrection with Christ. You cannot bury someone by sprinkling.
"Buried with Him in baptism... baptism doth also now save us."
Baptism is joined to death, burial, and resurrection, and Peter says it now saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Why This Word Matters
The word itself settles three questions that people still ask today.
Baptizō means immersion, so baptism is by immersion, a full burial in water. This is why Scripture pictures it as a death, burial, and resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12), and why every account describes going down into and coming up out of the water (Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:38-39; John 3:23).
Every baptism recorded in the book of Acts was done in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5). The apostles understood the singular "name" of Matthew 28:19 to be fulfilled in the name of Jesus, and they baptized accordingly, without exception.
Baptism is "for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38), the place where sins are washed away (Acts 22:16), a burial and rising with Christ into newness of life (Romans 6:4). Far from an empty symbol, Peter says, "baptism doth also now save us... by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21).
Memorize This
Acts 2:38 KJV
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
For the Lexical and Historical Notes
Scripture is quoted from the KJV. The lexical notes draw on standard sources.
See baptism in the name of Jesus throughout the book of Acts.
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