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G1164 · Greek · New Testament
δεῖγμα
Deigma
Noun, neuter
Example, specimen, display

Definition

The Greek noun deigma means a specimen, example, or display — something set out to be seen as a demonstration. It appears in Jude 7, where Sodom and Gomorrah are said to serve as a deigma — an example — undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

Usage & Theological Significance

Jude 7 uses deigma with profound solemnity: Sodom and Gomorrah 'serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.' Their destruction is not merely historical — it is a visible, ongoing lesson (deigma) about the certainty of divine judgment on sexual immorality and the rejection of God's order. The related verb deigmatizo (Colossians 2:15) describes Christ putting the defeated powers on public display at the cross — the ultimate reversal where the cross, itself a Roman display of shame, becomes the divine display of Christ's victory.

Key Bible Verses

Jude 7 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Colossians 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
2 Peter 2:6 If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.
1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

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