In the context of the Bible, "decease" refers to the event of death or the end of physical life. The term is used to describe the transition from earthly existence to the afterlife, a significant moment in the Christian understanding of human destiny. The concept of decease is intertwined with themes of mortality, judgment, and eternal life.

Biblical References:

1. 2 Peter 1:15 : "And I will make every effort to ensure that after my decease, you will always be able to recall these things." In this passage, the Apostle Peter speaks of his impending death, emphasizing the importance of leaving a lasting spiritual legacy. His use of the word "decease" highlights the temporary nature of earthly life and the enduring impact of spiritual teachings.

2. Luke 9:31 : "They appeared in glory and spoke about His decease, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." This verse refers to the Transfiguration of Jesus, where Moses and Elijah discuss with Jesus His forthcoming death in Jerusalem. The term "decease" here underscores the sacrificial nature of Christ's death, which is central to the Christian faith as the means of atonement for sin.

Theological Significance:

In Christian theology, decease is not merely the cessation of life but a passage to a new existence. It is viewed as a transition from the temporal world to an eternal reality. The Bible teaches that death entered the world through sin (Romans 5:12), but through Jesus Christ, believers have the hope of resurrection and eternal life (John 11:25-26).

Mortality and Judgment:

The Bible frequently reminds believers of their mortality and the inevitability of death. Hebrews 9:27 states, "Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment." This verse underscores the belief that after decease, individuals will face divine judgment, determining their eternal destiny based on their faith and actions during their earthly life.

Hope in Christ:

For Christians, the concept of decease is imbued with hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 declares, "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'" This passage affirms the belief that through Christ, death is not the end but a defeated enemy, offering believers the promise of eternal life.

Practical Implications:

The awareness of decease encourages Christians to live with an eternal perspective, prioritizing spiritual values over temporal concerns. It serves as a reminder to live a life of faith, obedience, and service, knowing that earthly life is fleeting and that eternal rewards await those who remain faithful to God.

In summary, the concept of decease in the Bible is a profound reminder of human mortality, the reality of judgment, and the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. It calls believers to live with purpose and anticipation of the life to come.1. (n.) Departure, especially departure from this life; death.

2. (v. i.) To depart from this life; to die; to pass away.

DECEASE, IN NEW TESTAMENT

de-ses' (teleutao, "to come to an end," "married and deceased" (Matthew 22:25)): With thanato, "death," "die the death" (Matthew 15:4 Mark 7:10, the Revised Version, margin "surely die"). Elsewhere the word is translated "die" (Matthew 2:19; Matthew 9:18 Mark 9:48 and often; Hebrews 11:22, the Revised Version (British and American) "end was nigh").

Also the substantive, exodos, "exodus," "exit," "departure," "his decease which he was about to accomplish" (Luke 9:31, the Revised Version, margin "departure"); "after my decease" (2 Peter 1:15, the Revised Version, margin "departure").

DECEASE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCYPHRA

de-ses' (rapha', plural repha'im, "ghosts," "shades," is translated by "dead," "dead body," and "deceased" in both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)): The word seems to mean "soft," "inert," but its etymology is uncertain (see REPHAIM). The various writers of the Old Testament present, as is to be expected on such a subject, different conceptions of the condition of the deceased. In the beginning probably a vague idea of the continuation of existence was held, without the activities (Isaiah 59:10) and the joys of the present life (Psalm 49:17). They dwell in the "land of forgetfulness" (Job 14:21 Psalm 88:5; compare Isaiah 26:14), they "tremble" of cold (Job 26:5), they totter and "stumble at noonday as in the twilight" (Isaiah 59:10), their voice is described as low and muttering or chirping (Isaiah 8:19; Isaiah 29:4), which may refer to the peculiar pitch of the voice of the spirit medium when a spirit speaks through him. (The calling up of the dead, which was strictly forbidden to Israel (Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:27) is referred to in 1 Samuel 28:13 and perhaps in Isaiah 14:9.) The deceased are separated from their friends; love and hatred have both ceased with them (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6); "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). The deceased are unable to praise Yahweh (Psalm 6:5; Psalm 88:10-12 Isaiah 38:18; Baruch 2:17; Sirach 17:27, 28). Nor does there seem to have been at first an anticipation of reward or punishment after death (Psalm 88:10; Sirach 41:4), probably because the shades were supposed to be lacking the organs by which either reward or punishment could be perceived; nevertheless they are still in the realm of God's power (1 Samuel 2:6 Psalm 86:13; Psalm 139:8 Proverbs 15:11 Isaiah 7:11 Hosea 13:14 Amos 9:2; Tobit 13:2).

Gradually the possibility of a return of the departed was conceived (Genesis 5:24 2 Kings 13:21 Psalm 49:15; Psalm 73:24; Psalm 86:13 Hosea 13:14; The Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-7; 4:13, 14; 6:18, 19; 10:14). Even here it is often more the idea of the immortality of the soul than that of the resurrection of the body, and some of these passages may be interpreted as allegorical expressions for a temporal rescue from great disaster (e.g. 1 Samuel 2:6); nevertheless this interpretation presupposes the existence of a deliverance from the shadows of Sheol to a better life in the presence of Yahweh. Some passages refer clearly to such an escape at the end of the age (Daniel 12:2 Isaiah 26:19). Only very few of the Old Testament believers reached the sublime faith of Job (19:25, 26) and none the blessed expectation taught in the New Testament, for none but Christ has "brought life and immortality to light" (2 Timothy 1:10 John 5:28, 29).

The opinion that the dead or at least the newly buried could partake of the food which was placed in graves, a custom which recent excavations have clearly shown to have been almost universal in Palestine, and which is referred to in Deuteronomy 26:14 and Tobit 4:17, was soon doubted (Sirach 30:18), and food and drink prepared for the funeral was henceforth intended as the "bread of comfort" and the "cup of consolation" for the mourners (Jeremiah 16:7 2 Samuel 3:35 Ezekiel 24:17). Similarly the offering and burning of incense, originally an homage to the deceased, became a relief for the mourner (2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19 Jeremiah 34:5). See also The Wisdom of Solomon 3:2; 7:06; Sirach 38:23, and articles on CORPSE; DEATH; HADES; SHEOL.

H. L. E. Luering

5053. teleutao -- to complete, to come to an end, hence to die
... decease, die. From a presumed derivative of teleo; to finish life (by implication,
of bios), ie Expire (demise) -- be dead, decease, die. see GREEK teleo. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5053.htm - 7k

1841. exodos -- a departure
... a departure, exodus. From ek and hodos; an exit, ie (figuratively) death -- decease,
departing. see GREEK ek. see GREEK hodos. (exodon) -- 2 Occurrences. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1841.htm - 6k

3500. nekrosis -- a putting to death, a state of death
... deadness, dying. From nekroo; decease; figuratively, impotency -- deadness, dying.
see GREEK nekroo. (nekrosin) -- 2 Occurrences. 3499, 3500. nekrosis. 3501 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3500.htm - 6k

5054. teleute -- a finishing, end, ie death
... See 5053 (). Word Origin from teleo Definition a finishing, end, ie death NASB Word
Usage death (1). death. From teleutao; decease -- death. see GREEK teleutao. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5054.htm - 6k

4880. sunapothnesko -- to die with
... die with. From sun and apothnesko; to decease (literally) in company with, or
(figuratively), similarly to -- be dead (die) with. see GREEK sun. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4880.htm - 6k

2837. koimao from NG2749 -- sleep, fall asleep, die
... From keimai; to put to sleep, ie (passively or reflexively) to slumber; figuratively,
to decease -- (be a-, fall a-, fall on) sleep, be dead. see GREEK keimai. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2837.htm - 7k

7901. shakab -- to lie down
... A primitive root; to lie down (for rest, sexual connection, decease or any other
purpose) -- X at all, cast down, ((lover-))lay (self) (down), (make to) lie ...
/hebrew/7901.htm - 6k

On the Decease of an Eminent Christian Missionary in the West ...
... On the Decease of an eminent Christian Missionary in the West Indies. 6.6.8.6.8.8 ...
On the Decease of an eminent Christian Missionary in the West Indies. Oh! ...
/.../montgomery/sacred poems and hymns/hymn cclxiv on the decease.htm

An Explanation of what Has Been Said Touching the Decease of Our ...
... TO GOD'S GOOD-PLEASURE. CHAPTER XIV. AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT HAS BEEN SAID
TOUCHING THE DECEASE OF OUR WILL. We may well believe ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter xiv an explanation of.htm

Going Out and Going In
... II. PETER GOING OUT AND GOING IN. 'An entrance ... my decease.'"2 Peter
1:11, 15. I do not like ... of this. 'My decease ... an entrance ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture ephesians peter/going out and going in.htm

'In the Holy Mount'
... Elias: 31. Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should
accomplish at Jerusalem.'"Luke 9:30, 31. The mysterious ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture e/in the holy mount.htm

Letter Lviii. --Second Letter to Orsisius.
... when he heard about our father Theodorus, was grieved, and sent this letter to the
Abbat Orsisius and the brethren to console them for his decease, as follows ...
/.../letter lviii second letter to orsisius.htm

The Transfiguration.
... It is, I think, indicated in the fact, also recorded by St Luke, that the talk of
his heavenly visitors was "of his decease which he should accomplish at ...
/.../macdonald/miracles of our lord/xii the transfiguration.htm

The Water of Life;
... In it he refers to one of those ten excellent manuscripts left by him at his decease,
prepared for the press, and afterwards published by Mr. Doe. ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the water of life.htm

Jesus Only!
... The conversation is about Christ's 'decease,' the wonderful event which
was to constitute Him Lord of the living and of the dead. ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture d/jesus only.htm

Third Withdrawal from Herod's Territory.
... that miraculous knowledge may have accompanied miraculous sight.] ^c 31 who [ie,
Moses and Elijah] who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he was ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/lxx third withdrawal from herods 4.htm

Corruption Tends to Non-Existence.
... be so blind or stupid as to doubt how to answer himself, or as not to see that,
in proportion as anything is corrupted, in that proportion it approaches decease ...
/.../chapter 40 name tends to.htm

Decease (2 Occurrences)
... 2. (vi) To depart from this life; to die; to pass away. Int. Standard Bible
Encyclopedia. DECEASE, IN NEW TESTAMENT. ...DECEASE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCYPHRA. ...
/d/decease.htm - 13k

Deceased (8 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (imp. & pp) of Decease. 2. (a.) Passed away; dead;
gone. Multi-Version Concordance Deceased (8 Occurrences). ...
/d/deceased.htm - 9k

Death (1610 Occurrences)
... PHYSIOLOGICAL AND FIGURATIVE VIEW The word "Death" is used in the sense of (1) the
process of dying (Genesis 21:16); (2) the period of decease (Genesis 27:7 ...
/d/death.htm - 68k

Go (17871 Occurrences)
... and come. 11. (vi) To pass away; to depart forever; to be lost or ruined;
to perish; to decline; to decease; to die. 12. (vi) To ...
/g/go.htm - 19k

Inherit (98 Occurrences)
... death of an ancestor or other person to whose estate one succeeds; to receive as
a right or title descendible by law from an ancestor at his decease; as, the ...
/i/inherit.htm - 38k

Fail (130 Occurrences)
... 12. (vi) Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure
or failing, except in the phrase without fail. 13. (vi) Death; decease. Int. ...
/f/fail.htm - 43k

Funeral (3 Occurrences)
... 16). Immediately after decease the body was washed, and then wrapped in
a large cloth (Acts 9:37; Matthew 27:59; Mark 15:46). In ...
/f/funeral.htm - 10k

Taste (46 Occurrences)
... to come...." Hebrews 6:4, 5). HLE Luering. DECEASE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
AND APOCYPHRA. de-ses' (rapha', plural repha'im, "ghosts ...
/t/taste.htm - 59k

Transfiguration
... Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah, the subject of the discourse, as the disciples
probably learned later, being of the decease (exodus) which Jesus was ...
/t/transfiguration.htm - 17k

Endeavor (3 Occurrences)
... Certainly not! (See RSV). 2 Peter 1:15 Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be
able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance. (WBS). ...
/e/endeavor.htm - 8k

Decease: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus