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G942 · Greek · New Testament
βάτος
Batos (bush)
Noun, masculine/feminine
Thornbush, bramble; the burning bush

Definition

The Greek noun batos (as a bush) refers to a thornbush, briar, or bramble. In the New Testament its most significant appearance is in Mark 12:26 and Luke 20:37, where Jesus references the 'passage about the bush' — the burning bush episode of Exodus 3 — as scriptural evidence for the resurrection of the dead.

Usage & Theological Significance

The burning bush (batos) of Exodus 3 is one of the most theologically charged images in Scripture: a bush burning but not consumed, through which God revealed His eternal name 'I AM.' Jesus' use of this passage to argue for the resurrection is a masterclass in theological reasoning: God's self-identification as 'the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' (present tense, not past) implies their continuing existence.

Key Bible Verses

Mark 12:26Have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush (batou), how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?
Luke 20:37But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
Acts 7:30After forty years, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush (batō) in the desert near Mount Sinai.
Acts 7:35He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush (batō).
Exodus 3:2There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

Related Words

External Resources

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