ἐκκομίζω (ekkomizō)
ekkomizō
to carry out
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The verb ekkomizō means to carry someone out, specifically a corpse from a town or city for burial. It combines the prefix ek ("out") with komizō ("to bring" or "to carry"). This precise action distinguishes it from general terms for carrying, focusing on the movement of the dead body from the inhabited area to its resting place.
Its most notable occurrence is in Luke 7:12, where Jesus encounters a funeral procession at the Nain gate. The text describes the widow’s son being carried out, highlighting the word’s specific use for transporting the deceased. This single instance underscores the gravity of the moment, as the community moves from life to death before Jesus intervenes.
Translators typically render this word simply as "carried out," which captures the physical reality without adding theological commentary. The rarity of the term in Scripture emphasizes its descriptive function: it marks the finality of burial customs in the ancient world, a context that makes Jesus’ subsequent command to the young man all the more striking.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word ekkomizō describes the heavy, final act of carrying a corpse out of a town for burial. It is not a general term for movement but a specific description of leaving the community of the living behind. In Luke 7:12, this action marks the end of a young man’s life and the beginning of his mother’s grief alone.
Jesus meets this procession at the city gate, right as the body is being carried out. His intervention stops the finality of death. This shows that God’s power reaches into our deepest losses. He does not ignore our pain but enters it directly.
For your faith, this reminds you that no situation is beyond hope. Even when circumstances seem closed and final, Christ can bring life where there was only loss. You are never abandoned in your sorrow.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- was being carried out1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- ἐξεκομίζετο1×
Key Verses
-
Luke 7:12
Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only born son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her.
This verse uses the word to describe the physical removal of the widow's son from the city, highlighting the finality of death before Jesus intervenes.