📖 Biblical Definition
To smite is to strike with force — and in Scripture it is the verb of the judicial blow. God smote Egypt with the ten plagues (Exodus 12:12, 29); smote the firstborn at Passover; smote Uzzah for touching the ark (2 Samuel 6:7); smote Saul of Tarsus blind on the Damascus road (Acts 9:8); smote Herod Agrippa I with worms for accepting divine acclaim (Acts 12:23). Yet the most decisive smiting in Scripture fell on Christ Himself at the cross: "yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted... he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:4-5). Christ was smitten so that the smiting need not fall on us. The judicial blow has already landed.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
To strike with force; the verb of judicial blow.
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To strike forcefully; to deal a blow; in Scripture the verb of judicial action — the angel of death smites Egypt, plagues smite the disobedient, the rod of God smites the rock at Meribah. The Servant in Isaiah 53 is smitten of God so that the saint is not.
📖 Key Scripture
Isaiah 53:4 — "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
Exodus 12:23 — "For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door."
Acts 12:23 — "And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Lost from common English; with it has gone the seriousness of God's judicial action language.
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"Smite" survives only as cartoon-speak. Scripture uses it for the seriousness of God's judicial action — plagues, deaths, sudden judgments. The vocabulary's loss has tracked with a cultural reluctance to take divine judgment seriously.
Recover the weight: the God who smote Pharaoh smote His own Son in our place. To miss the smiting language is to miss what the cross was for.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew nakah; Greek patassō.
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['Hebrew', 'H5221', 'nakah', 'to strike, smite']
['Greek', 'G3960', 'patassō', 'to strike, smite']
Usage
"He was smitten of God for our sake."
"The smiting of the firstborn passed over Israel."
"Take divine judgment seriously."