Cease
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
"to stop, to make an end," is used chiefly in the Middle Voice in the NT, signifying "to come to an end, to take one's rest, a willing cessation" (in contrast to the Passive Voice which denotes a forced cessation), Luke 5:4 , of a discourse; Luke 8:24 , of a storm; Luke 11:1 , of Christ's prayer; Acts 5:42 , of teaching and preaching; Acts 6:13 , of speaking against; Acts 13:10 , of evil doing; Acts 20:1 , of an uproar; Acts 20:31 , of admonition; Acts 21:32 , of a scourging; 1—Corinthians 13:8 , of tongues; Ephesians 1:16 , of giving thanks; Colossians 1:9 , of prayer; Hebrews 10:2 , of sacrifices; 1—Peter 4:1 , of "ceasing" from sin. It is used in the Active Voice in 1—Peter 3:10 , "let him cause his tongue to cease from evil." See Leave , Refrain.
lit., "to leave between," i.e., "to leave an interval, whether of space or time" (dia, "between," leipo, "to leave"); hence, "to intermit, desist, cease," in Luke 7:45 is used of the kissing of the Lord's feet.
"to be quiet, still, at rest," is said of Paul's friends in Caesarea, in "ceasing" to persuade him not to go to Jerusalem, Acts 21:14; it is used of silence (save in Luke 23:56; 1—Thessalonians 4:11 ) in Luke 14:4; Acts 11:18 . See Peace (hold one's), Quiet , Rest.
"to cease through being spent with toil, to cease raging" (from kopos, "labor, toil," kopiao, "to labor"), is said of the wind only, Matthew 14:32; Mark 4:39; 6:51 .
"to let go," is translated "let us cease to" in Hebrews 6:1 , RV (marg., "leave") for AV, "leaving." See Forgive , Leave.
"to rest" (kata, "down," intensive, and No. 1), is so translated in Hebrews 4:10 , for the AV "hath ceased." See Rest , Restrain.
Galatians 5:11Abolish. 2—Peter 2:14
"unceasing" (from a, negative, dia, "through," leipo, "to leave"), is used of "incessant" heart pain, Romans 9:2 , AV, "continual," RV, "unceasing," and in 2—Timothy 1:3 , of remembrance in prayer; the meaning in each place is not that of unbroken continuity, but without the omission of any occasion. Cp. A, No. 2. See Continual.
"unceasingly, without ceasing," is used with the same significance as the adjective, not of what is not interrupted, but of that which is constantly recurring; in Romans 1:9; 1—Thessalonians 5:17 , of prayer; in 1—Thessalonians 1:3 , of the remembrance of the work, labor and patience of saints; in 1—Thessalonians 2:13 , of thanksgiving.
Acts 12:5 1—Peter 4:8
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words [2]
A. Verbs.
Châdal ( חָדַל , Strong'S #2308), “to cease, come to an end, desist, forbear, lack.” This word is found primarily in Hebrew, including modern Hebrew. In the Hebrew Old Testament, it is found fewer than 60 times. The first occurrence of châdal is in Gen. 11:8 where, after man’s language was confused, “they left off building the city” (RSV).The basic meaning of châdal is “coming to an end.” Thus, Sarah’s capacity for childbearing had long since “ceased” before an angel informed her that she was to have a son (Gen. 18:11). The Mosaic law made provision for the poor, since they would “never cease out of the land” (Deut. 15:11; Matt. 26:11). In Exod. 14:12, this verb is better translated “let us alone” for the literal “cease from us.”
Shâbath ( שָׁבַת , 7673), “to rest, cease.” This word occurs about 200 times throughout the Old Testament. The root also appears in Assyrian, Arabic, and Aramaic.
The verb first occurs in Gen. 2:2-3: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested —from all his work which God created and made.”
The basic and most frequent meaning of shâbath is shown in Gen. 8:22: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” This promise became a prophetic sign of God’s faithfulness: “If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever” (Jer. 31:36).
We find a variety of senses: “… Even the first day ye shall— put away leaven out of your houses …” (Exod. 12:15). “Neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking —from thy meat offering” (Lev. 2:13 Nasb, Kjv, Niv “do not leave out”). Josiah “put down the idolatrous priests …” (2 Kings 23:5). “I will also eliminate harmful beasts from the land” (Lev. 26:6 Nasb, Kjv “rid”; Rsv, Niv “remove”).
B. Noun.
Shabbâth ( שַׁבָּת , Strong'S #7676), “the sabbath.” The verb sabat is the root of shabbâth “Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor …” (Exod. 23:12, Nasb, Kjv “rest”). In Exod. 31:15, the seventh day is called the “sabbath rest” (NASB, “a sabbath of complete rest”).A man’s “rest” was to include his animals and servants (Exod. 23:12): even “in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest” (Exod. 34:21). “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed” (Exod. 31:17).
“… Then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord” (Lev. 25:2). Six years’ crops will be sown and harvested, but the seventh year “shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord …” (Lev. 25:4). The feast of trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the first and eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacles are also called “a sabbath observance” or “a sabbath of complete rest” (Lev. 23:24, 32, 39).
The “sabbath” was a “day of worship” (Lev. 23:3) as well as a “day of rest and refreshment” for man (Exod. 23:12). God “rested and was refreshed” (Exod. 31:17). The “sabbath” was the covenant sign of God’s lordship over the creation. By observing the “sabbath,” Israel confessed that they were God’s redeemed people, subject to His lordship to obey the whole of His law. They were His stewards to show mercy with kindness and liberality to all (Exod. 23:12; Lev. 25).
By “resting,” man witnessed his trust in God to give fruit to his labor; he entered into God’s “rest.” Thus “rest” and the “sabbath” were eschatological in perspective, looking to the accomplishment of God’s ultimate purpose through the redemption of His people, to whom the “sabbath” was a covenant sign. The prophets rebuked Israel for their neglect of the sabbath (Isa. 1:13; Jer. 17:21-27; Ezek. 20:12-24; Amos 8:5). They also proclaimed “sabbath” observance as a blessing in the messianic age and a sign of its fullness (Isa. 56:2-4; 58:13; 66:23; Ezek. 44:24; 45:17; 46:1, 3-4, 12). The length of the Babylonian Captivity was determined by the extent of Israel’s abuse of the sabbatical year (2 Chron. 36:21; cf. Lev. 26:34- 35).
King James Dictionary [3]
CEASE,
1. To stop moving, acting or speaking to leave of to give over followed by from before a noun.
It is an honor for a man to cease from strife. Proverbs 20 .
2. To fail to be wanting.
The poor shall never cease out of the land. Deuteronomy 15 .
3. To stop to be at an end as, the wonder ceases the storm has ceased. 4. To be forgotten.
I would make the remembrance of them to cease. Deuteronomy 32 .
5. To abstain as, cease from anger. Psalms 37 .
To cease from labor, is to rest to cease from strife, is to be quiet but in such phrases, the sense of cease is not varied.
CEASE, To put a stop to to put an end to. Cease this impious rage. But in this use the phrase is generally elliptical,
CEASE, n. Extinction.
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(1): (n.) Extinction.
(2): (v. i.) To come to an end; to stop; to leave off or give over; to desist; as, the noise ceased.
(3): (v. t.) To put a stop to; to bring to an end.
(4): (v. i.) To be wanting; to fail; to pass away.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [5]
sēs : A remarkable array of 20 Hebrew and 6 Greek words is so translated. In the King James Version 15 of the former and 3 of the latter are used only once with this rendering. The originals most frequently in use are חדל , ḥādhal , "to leave off"; שׁבת , shābhath "to rest from" (labor); παύομαι , paúomai , "to make to cease." Few words illustrate better the fertility of the Hebrew in expressing limitless shades of meaning, impoverished by the use of one English word. This extensive variety is, however, well expressed by "cease": i.e. stop , come to an end , e.g. ceasing of tears ( Jeremiah 14:17 ); work ( Ezra 4:24 ); grinders ( Ecclesiastes 12:3 ); thunder ( Exodus 9:29 ); the wicked ( Job 3:17 ); anger ( Psalm 37:8 ). The significance of shābhath lies in its being the Hebrew for Sabbath, implying complete cessation: as of manna ( Joshua 5:12 ); strife and ignominy ( Proverbs 22:10 ); occurs with negative to show the ceaseless Providence of God in Nature: "summer and winter ... shall not c." ( Genesis 8:22 ). In the New Testament it illustrates Christ's power over Nature ; wind and raging sea ceased ( Luke 8:24 ); over a sinner's heart : "not ceased to kiss my feet" (διαλείπω , dialeı́pō ) ( Luke 7:45 ); devotion of the early disciples, "ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ" ( Acts 5:42 ); the eternity and blessedness of the believer's sabbatic rest (ἀπολείπω , apoleı́pō ) ( Hebrews 4:10 the King James Version).
