Behead
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
apo, "from, off," kephale, "a head," is found in Matthew 14:10; Mark 6:16,27; Luke 9:9 .
denotes "to cut with an axe" (from pelekus, "an axe"), Revelation 20:4 .
Easton's Bible Dictionary [2]
Genesis 40:17-19 2 Samuel 4:8 20:21,22 2 Kings 10:6-8 Matthew 14:8-12 Acts 12:2
King James Dictionary [3]
Behead', behed'. be and head.
To cut off the head to sever the head from the body, with a cutting instrument appropriately used of the execution of men for crimes.
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(v. t.) To sever the head from; to take off the head of.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [5]
(עָרִ Š, araph ', applied to an animal, to break the neck, Deuteronomy 21:6; like πελεκίζω, Revelation 20:4; but properly הֵסַיר הָראֹשׁ, αποκεφαλίζω, to take off the head, 2 Samuel 4:7; Matthew 14:10; Mark 6:16; Mark 6:27; Luke 9:9), a method of taking away life, known and practiced among the Egyptians ( Genesis 40:17-19). This mode of punishment, therefore, must have been known to the Hebrews, and there occur indubitable instances of it in the time of the early Hebrew kings ( 2 Samuel 4:8; 2 Samuel 20:21-22; 2 Kings 10:68). It appears, in the later periods of the Jewish history, that Herod and his descendants, in a number of instances, ordered decapitation ( Matthew 14:8-12; Acts 12:2). The apostle Paul is said to have suffered martyrdom by beheading, as it was not lawful to put a Roman citizen to death by scourging or crucifixion. (See Punishment).
