Bible Dictionary
DEADLY
Deadly means causing or bringing death. Scripture uses it of mortal enemies, fatal disease, a death-stroke, poison, and the destructive power of an uncontrolled tongue.
Definition
Deadly means causing or bringing death. It may describe a mortal enemy, fatal disease, death-stroke, poison, or a destructive force.
Biblical Usage
Scripture speaks of deadly enemies, fatal disease, a deadly wound or death-stroke, deadly poison, and the tongue as full of deadly poison.
Historical Background
The underlying terms are used in connection with mortal wounds, venomous reptiles, deadly potions, and fatal contagion.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ded'-li: In the Old Testament two words are used in the sense of a "mortal (Hebrew nephesh, "hateful," "foul") enemy" (Ps 17:9), and in the sense of "fatal disease," the destructiveness of which causes a general panic (Hebrew maweth, "death," 1Sa 5:11).</p><p>In the New Testament we have in Re 13:3,12 the expression "deadly wound" (Greek thanatos), better "death-stroke," as in the Revised Version (British and American), and the phrases "deadly thing," i.e. poison (thanasimon ti, Mr 16:18), and "full of deadly poison" (meste iou thanatephorou, Jas 3:8), said of an unruly tongue. Both Greek words convey the idea of "causing or bringing death" and occur in classical literature in a variety of uses in combination with the bite of venomous reptiles, deadly potions, mortal wounds and fatal contagion.</p><p>H. L. E. Luering</p>