Zogreo (Gr) – to capture alive (Eng) – the Greek word zogreo comes from the vocabulary of hunting and war. Zogreo occurs 2x in the NT referring to being caught in a net.
Luke 5:10 – “Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.' ”
In Greek writing zogreo usually means “kill,” “massacre,” “annihilate.”
Herodotus says, “The Persians zogreo (“massacred”) a large number…and made others prisoners.”
Thucydides says, “The Syracusans had either captured or killed a large number of men.”
Often men were not killed in battle, but were instead zogreo is used to refer to them being
“captured alive” and taken as prisoners. These captured men are said to be executed in the end,
put in weighted fetters, sacrificed, mutilated or tortured.
The reason zogreo, “to be taken alive,” is better than death is because there is
still hope of a future liberation.
Besides Jesus using zogreo in Luke 5:10 the other NT use of zogreo is by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:26:
"God may perhaps grant them repentanceleading to a knowledge of the truth,
and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil,
after being captured by him to do his will."
- 2 Timothy 2:25-26
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