Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary
σβεννυμι
The verb σβεννυμι (sbennumi) means to quench or extinguish. In the classics this verb could be used to describe how liquids dried up, inflamed boils calmed down and went away, winds died down, men died out or their charm withered. It's not wholly clear where this verb may have come from but the Hebrew verb סבב (sabab) describes a circular motion and thus a turning around or a turning into something else.
In Matthew 12:20 and Mark 9:44, our verb σβεννυμι (sbennumi) translates the Hebrew verb כבה (kaba), to extinguish. This Hebrew verb tells of extinguishing fires (πυρ, pur) and lamps (נר, ner), but in the Scriptures occurs always in negative constructions and thus witnesses solely of fires and lamps that typically cannot or should not go out. Half of this verb's occurrences refer to the unquenchable fire of God's wrath, which unfortunately encouraged the propagation of the pagan idea of hell (see our article on Gehenna).
Our verb σβεννυμι (sbennumi), to quench, is used 8 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, and from it comes:
- Together with the particle of negation α (a), meaning not or without: the adjective ασβεστος (asbestos), meaning unquenchable, inextinguishable (hence our mis-named English word asbestos). In the classics, this word was applied to the ceaseless flow of the ocean and that of time. It occurs 4 times, see full concordance, and exclusively translates negative Hebrew constructions involving the verb כבה (kaba) we mentioned above.