Drown
Drown (שָׁטִת, shataph', Song 8:7, to overflow, as elsewhere usually rendered; שָׁקִע, shaka', to subside or be submerged, Am 9:5; Am 8:8; elsewhere "quench," "sink," etc.; טָבִע, taba', to immerse, Ex 15:4; elsewhere "sink;" βυθίζω, whelm, 1Ti 6:9: "sink," Lu 5:7; καταπίνω, Heb 11:12, to swallow, as elsewhere rendered; καταποντίζομαι, Mt 18:6, to be sunk, as in Mt 14:3). Drowning was a mode of punishment in use among the Syrians, and was well known to the Jews in the time of our Savior (Mt 18:6), though we have no scriptural evidence that it was practiced by them. It was in use also among the Greeks and Romans. The emperor Augustus punished certain persons who had been guilty of rapacity in the province of Syria or of Lycia by causing them to be thrown into a river, with a heavy weight about their necks. Josephus also tells us that the Galilaeans revolting, drowned the partisans of Herod in the sea of Gennesareth (Ant. 14:15, 10). To this mode of capital punishment Christ alludes in Mt 18:6. It is still practiced in India: a large stone is tied around the neck of the criminal, who is cast into the sea or into deep water. SEE PUNISHMENT.
