Defining and Understanding Biblical Words and Terms

[JLB]

Key biblical words and phrases that were used by our Lord, and the writers of the New Testament, may have a different meaning than their modern day counterparts, used today.


There is no need for endless debate over simple, basic biblical words and terms, that degrade into unhealthy dialogue between Christians.


Having unity and harmony concerning biblical words and terms is the beginning to having unity and harmony concerning sound biblical doctrine, for it is the words that make up the doctrine.


Misunderstand the words and we will misunderstand the doctrine.


Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16



The Lord you and keep as we work toward the unity of the faith.




JLB

 

[JLB]

Here are just a few of the biblical words and terms that I hope to see us define and understand as a community, for the purpose of unity and growth in this body of believers, as well as those that the Lord will bring here in the coming months and years.


Love
Believe
Faith
Salvation
Eternal life (now & then)
Lost
Found
Gospel
Repent
Grace


Inherit the kingdom
The faith
The love of God
The truth





JLB

 

[JLB]

The Bible is its own best interpreter, in that the scriptures themselves define for us in some cases what a word or phrase means, either by context or by direct definition.


Contextually we must allow the scriptures to define for us the Authors intent and use of a word to convey His meaning to us.


Here is an example of a biblical definition -

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1


Here is the definition of faith according to the Strongs -

Faith pistis. Strongs 4102 - Noun


I. conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
A. relating to God
i. the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
B. relating to Christ
i. a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
C. the religious beliefs of Christians
D. belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
II. fidelity, faithfulness
A. the character of one who can be relied on



The Point: Bible dictionary’s, lexicons, and study guides are a good place to start, but are not necessarily the final say on how a biblical word is defined.


Believe: - pisteuō Strongs # G4100 - verb


The KJV translates Strong's G4100 in the following manner: believe (239x), commit unto (4x), commit to (one's) trust (1x), be committed unto (1x), be put in trust with (1x), be commit to one's trust (1x), believer (1x).


I. to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in
A. of the thing believed
i. to credit, have confidence
B. in a moral or religious reference
i. used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul
ii. to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith
iii. mere acknowledgment of some fact or event: intellectual faith
II. to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity
A. to be intrusted with a thing



He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 NKJV


He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 NASB



It is noteworthy to understand that unbelief and disobedience are the same Greek word and are used interchangeably in the Bible based on translation.


Example: Unbelief - Disobedience



Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Hebrews 4:6 KJV


Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, Hebrews 4:6 NKJV


The word “believe” as it relates to Christ and His gospel, commandments and doctrine should be understood as follows.

Believe - Trust, commit; submit to obey





JLB

 

[Sparkey]

Key biblical words and phrases that were used by our Lord, and the writers of the New Testament, may have a different meaning than their modern day counterparts, used today.

I've heard that called, 'Reverse Etymology' (which is a slight misnomer). Scholars may be very precise with words. Scribes are known to be even more so. The typical method for understanding and expanding the vocabulary would be to start somewhere, at the beginning, of course!

So if we had a word like 'Etymology' we could consult our thinnest dictionary and get the QuickLook definition: the history of a linguistic form (such as a word)

But maybe that's not quite enough. Linguists may want to conduct further word studies to trace it down even further. Such further studies may be shown "by tracing the word's development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, ..." (non-sourced quote by Google)

The phrase, "Reverse Etymology" may be used to describe how some use the process in the wrong direction. A recent example from other conversations brought Elvis and The Beatles into a conversation about the word, Rock. Others were speaking about Peter (little rock) and The Rock of Ages (huge rock). How did Elvis enter the building? Rock and Roll, of course. But the modern day word (slang?) should not enter there, well, not properly in any case.

It doesn't happen with words only. There are many things that so easily beset us. Once, I saw a cereal box while at the grocery store. It said something about "RED BERRIES" - what was the name of the cereal? It doesn't matter, they don't pay me for advertising... but I thought, those can't be strawberries because they [those at Post Cereal? Kellogg? Quaker? No! It does NOT matter. ] seemed to be evasive in their description. A look at the ingredients box proved my thesis wrong.

They were strawberries. One may not form a conclusion from an absence. Just because they didn't say "strawberries" does not necessarily mean they were not strawberries.

Now that we are aware of this type of fallacy it may appear more often (or so it seems).
Absence of evidence quote (quotehd.com)
The absence of a good reason for an order is evidence that the order is bad, since absence of good is bad. Carl Sagan is often quoted as saying "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", but he meant it as an example of what fools mean, and has since been consistently misquoted as something he meant.

Misunderstand the words and we will misunderstand the doctrine.

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16

JLB sage advice, my friend. I'm glad you're in our family.

 

[JLB]

I've heard that called, 'Reverse Etymology' (which is a slight misnomer). Scholars may be very precise with words. Scribes are known to be even more so. The typical method for understanding and expanding the vocabulary would be to start somewhere, at the beginning, of course!

So if we had a word like 'Etymology' we could consult our thinnest dictionary and get the QuickLook definition: the history of a linguistic form (such as a word)

But maybe that's not quite enough. Linguists may want to conduct further word studies to trace it down even further. Such further studies may be shown "by tracing the word's development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, ..." (non-sourced quote by Google)

The phrase, "Reverse Etymology" may be used to describe how some use the process in the wrong direction. A recent example from other conversations brought Elvis and The Beatles into a conversation about the word, Rock. Others were speaking about Peter (little rock) and The Rock of Ages (huge rock). How did Elvis enter the building? Rock and Roll, of course. But the modern day word (slang?) should not enter there, well, not properly in any case.

It doesn't happen with words only. There are many things that so easily beset us. Once, I saw a cereal box while at the grocery store. It said something about "RED BERRIES" - what was the name of the cereal? It doesn't matter, they don't pay me for advertising... but I thought, those can't be strawberries because they [those at Post Cereal? Kellogg? Quaker? No! It does NOT matter. ] seemed to be evasive in their description. A look at the ingredients box proved my thesis wrong.

They were strawberries. One may not form a conclusion from an absence. Just because they didn't say "strawberries" does not necessarily mean they were not strawberries.

Now that we are aware of this type of fallacy it may appear more often (or so it seems).
Absence of evidence quote (quotehd.com)
The absence of a good reason for an order is evidence that the order is bad, since absence of good is bad. Carl Sagan is often quoted as saying "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", but he meant it as an example of what fools mean, and has since been consistently misquoted as something he meant.

Thanks for the input.

That may be a good subject for you to start a thread on, since it’s going to be over my head.

You have always had a deep understanding of things that I appreciate and admire.



My point is, some folks read a passage with the word “believe” in it, and get the idea from our everyday use, that it means “realize to be true”.


So if they “believe” the Gospel from this type of understanding, not realizing that the original word “believe” carries the meaning of “commit to obey”, then they may come to the conclusion that they are saved by “realizing its true that Jesus died for theirs”, without ever obeying the Gospel.



JLB

 

[Sparkey]

It takes prayer, methinks. Prayer and willingness. Curiosity helps. Personally, I don't love the King James translators (they often transliterate). The famous quote about Faith springs to mind. Faith is the substance ...

And internally I'm all like /WTF? Which is an acronym for What the Factual? (to me).
But the problem is that my horse stumbles right out the gate.

... The substance of things hoped for ...
... the evidence of things not seen.

Okay, so now this ill-defined (to me) stubstance (so called) is evidence? /ORLY?!?

The process then leads me to my trusted Strong's Exhaustive and another of my personal etymologies begins. You'll hear me quote my word and conclusion in everyday conversation. I've substituted a different wording for the word Faith in this. My transliteration becomes a partial definition: [God-Trust]. I dug that one up. It's as true for the Hebrew as it is for the Greek. Here: try it out.

[God-Trust] is the substance of things we hope for and [God-Trust] is the evidence of things not seen.

Not to leave you hanging but it works in other places too. You can't approach [God] without [God-Trust] faith.

So if they “believe” the Gospel from this type of understanding, not realizing that the original word “believe” carries the meaning of “commit to obey”,

Good one! I'll take this on your good word and Berean it later but it's a veritable nugget of imperishable, that. That's what we dig for. The nuggets that never perish. Sounds to me like you are one who knows a secret... I'm gonna shout!

 

[JLB]

And internally I'm all like /WTF?

Lol

 

[JLB]

My transliteration becomes a partial definition: [God-Trust].

Yes

God confidence.

Substance is also rendered confidence.


However faith is a noun, and trust is a verb.

Because we have the faith thing (noun) we must believe, trust and obey, which are actions to do or not do.

By doing, faith, the noun, becomes activated and alive, as well as complete and able to function to produce the intended divine result whether it be justification, salvation, healing... or whatever.


What makes the faith thing work is believing and therefore obeying.


Without obedience faith remains dormant, inactive, dead, incomplete and unable to function as a body without a spirit.



JLB

 

[Sparkey]

However faith is a noun, and trust is a verb.

Hence my use of the word, 'transliteration' as opposed to the distinct, 'translation'.

Of course, I misused the meaning. There is no representation of each letter, but again, and to me, I am substituting concepts for letters. It's a Spirit/Letter (of the Law) thing. It's a pun and a word-play. No offence is intended. I have been told, "You make me itch," by a loved one before.

Heck, I'm not even a linguist. There were no credits applied to my educational record for the Hebrew or Greek intro classes I tooksome 30-40 years ago. Kindly keep this in mind as you read me -- I'm probably thinking of 12 or 20 things at that moment. For my part, you may correct me and I will most likely thank you for it. From the heart. I'll ask God to thank you too.

 

[JLB]

Hence my use of the word, 'transliteration' as opposed to the distinct, 'translation'.

Of course, I misused the meaning. There is no representation of each letter, but again, and to me, I am substituting concepts for letters. It's a Spirit/Letter (of the Law) thing. It's a pun and a word-play. No offence is intended. I have been told, "You make me itch," by a loved one before.

Heck, I'm not even a linguist. There were no credits applied to my educational record for the Hebrew or Greek intro classes I tooksome 30-40 years ago. Kindly keep this in mind as you read me -- I'm probably thinking of 12 or 20 things at that moment. For my part, you may correct me and I will most likely thank you for it. From the heart. I'll ask God to thank you too.

I look forward to learning from your rich insights in this Forum.

Thank you for sharing, with us.


Be blessed, JLB

 

[GodsGrace]

The Bible is its own best interpreter, in that the scriptures themselves define for us in some cases what a word or phrase means, either by context or by direct definition.


Contextually we must allow the scriptures to define for us the Authors intent and use of a word to convey His meaning to us.


Here is an example of a biblical definition -

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1


Here is the definition of faith according to the Strongs -

Faith pistis. Strongs 4102 - Noun


I. conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
A. relating to God
i. the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
B. relating to Christ
i. a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
C. the religious beliefs of Christians
D. belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
II. fidelity, faithfulness
A. the character of one who can be relied on



The Point: Bible dictionary’s, lexicons, and study guides are a good place to start, but are not necessarily the final say on how a biblical word is defined.


Believe: - pisteuō Strongs # G4100 - verb


The KJV translates Strong's G4100 in the following manner: believe (239x), commit unto (4x), commit to (one's) trust (1x), be committed unto (1x), be put in trust with (1x), be commit to one's trust (1x), believer (1x).


I. to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in
A. of the thing believed
i. to credit, have confidence
B. in a moral or religious reference
i. used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul
ii. to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith
iii. mere acknowledgment of some fact or event: intellectual faith
II. to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity
A. to be intrusted with a thing



He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 NKJV


He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 NASB



It is noteworthy to understand that unbelief and disobedience are the same Greek word and are used interchangeably in the Bible based on translation.


Example: Unbelief - Disobedience



Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Hebrews 4:6 KJV


Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, Hebrews 4:6 NKJV


The word “believe” as it relates to Christ and His gospel, commandments and doctrine should be understood as follows.

Believe - Trust, commit; submit to obey





JLB

What will those 2,000 years from now and studying English make of the phrase:
Don't Put Him Down.

Don't put him on the list?
Don't pin him to the floor?

Same with old languages.
Here are two examples:

1. John 3:36
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

All versions have the 1st BELIEVE.
Some versions have BELIEVE or OBEY for the negative....DOES NOT BELIEVE or OBEY.

So what's the difference?
There isn't any.
I like the NASB better (quoted above) because it explains very well what is trying to be said.
One Must BELIEVE and OBEY the Son.

When BELIEVE is used both times, hyper gracers and easy believers take this to mean that the 1st BELIEVE is referring to saved persons and the 2nd BELIEVE is referring to unsaved persons....this is not correct of course.
We must both BELIEVE in the Son and OBEY Him since in the word BELIEVE ... obeying is also intended.


Another example:

2. Ephesians 1:14
14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Some versions say GUARANTEE instead of pledge.

The original word was. EARNEST

Earnest means a down-payment. IF the conditions of the contract are met...
THEN the promise is kept.

Instead the word guarantee is used to mean that if a person believes AT ONE TIME in their life, they will be saved forever because the Holy Spirit guarantees this.

atpollard brought up an interesting point regarding this. He said that God must fulfill the contract, not us.
Of course this could be debated, but I don't understand why it would be necessary since the N.T. makes it clear that WE are to obey, hold fast the faith, and continue in the word. Ephesians just proves this.

 

[JLB]

All versions have the 1st BELIEVE.
Some versions have BELIEVE or OBEY for the negative....DOES NOT BELIEVE or OBEY.

So what's the difference?
There isn't any.
I like the NASB better (quoted above) because it explains very well what is trying to be said.
One Must BELIEVE and OBEY the Son.

Well said.

That’s the commitment we make when we repent, by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.


We are now in His kingdom, and are subject to Him and His law of commandments and doctrine, which are all about love.


He is love, and He desires His people of His kingdom to express His will and desires, which is love; Loving God and loving our fellow brothers and sisters.


It’s very simple.


Disobedience is hatred of God and our neighbor.


If we steal from our brother that is an expression of hatred, not love.


How is it these things need to be explained to people, to born again Christians?


Paul says it this way -


knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
1 Timothy 1:9-10



JLB

 

[Sparkey]

I tried to find an online version of a study Bible, Rotherham's Emphasized, with only partial success. The Online reads more like Westcott and Hort than his printed, emphasized version. One can tell that 19th century man was dedicated just by lifting the thing up. Borrowing a phrase from my youth, "That's heavy, man." The Westcott and Hort is free from the Mormons. I just ignore their junk (did I say that? I must be tired) on the one side and use the Literal parts they didn't change. Young's Literal is also a nice study Bible if you're into that kind of thing.

I did find a Greek interlinear and it's fwee online. It is a true transliteration. Greek above and English below, word for word and phrase for phrase. It's interesting:
John 3:36 Greek Interlinear

 

[JLB]

I did find a Greek interlinear and it's fwee online.

To me “fwee” doesn’t bring out the full meaning of the original Greek word.

This English word only seems to have a shallower meaning and doesn’t do justice to its Greek counterpart.

A common use of this word in our day to day lives is best illustrated in a sentence.


The new government is providing “fwee” health care.



Just saying.



JLB

 

[JLB]

I did find a Greek interlinear and it's fwee online. It is a true transliteration. Greek above and English below, word for word and phrase for phrase. It's interesting:
John 3:36 Greek Interlinear

The NASB seems to pick up this meaning.


He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36


Interesting.



JLB

 

[tdidymas]

What will those 2,000 years from now and studying English make of the phrase:
Don't Put Him Down.

Don't put him on the list?
Don't pin him to the floor?

Same with old languages.
Here are two examples:

1. John 3:36
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

All versions have the 1st BELIEVE.
Some versions have BELIEVE or OBEY for the negative....DOES NOT BELIEVE or OBEY.

So what's the difference?
There isn't any.
I like the NASB better (quoted above) because it explains very well what is trying to be said.
One Must BELIEVE and OBEY the Son.

When BELIEVE is used both times, hyper gracers and easy believers take this to mean that the 1st BELIEVE is referring to saved persons and the 2nd BELIEVE is referring to unsaved persons....this is not correct of course.
We must both BELIEVE in the Son and OBEY Him since in the word BELIEVE ... obeying is also intended.


Another example:

2. Ephesians 1:14
14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Some versions say GUARANTEE instead of pledge.

The original word was. EARNEST

Earnest means a down-payment. IF the conditions of the contract are met...
THEN the promise is kept.

Instead the word guarantee is used to mean that if a person believes AT ONE TIME in their life, they will be saved forever because the Holy Spirit guarantees this.

atpollard brought up an interesting point regarding this. He said that God must fulfill the contract, not us.
Of course this could be debated, but I don't understand why it would be necessary since the N.T. makes it clear that WE are to obey, hold fast the faith, and continue in the word. Ephesians just proves this.

Concerning your explanation of John 3:36, I think you are right in saying that believing and obeying is the same thing, and I agree. Biblical believing involves the whole person, so this kind of believing will produce obedience. This is one of the doctrines in the epistle of James.

Also, Paul in Rom. 1 and elsewhere mentions "obedience of faith" among the gentiles, which tells me that to obey the gospel is to believe in Christ. So in this sense, faith and obedience are equivalent. And this faith has obedient actions that follow it, since whoever believes in Christ trusts what He has to say enough to do what He says.

I'm not sure your meaning of saying that the first "believe" in that verse refers to the saved and the 2nd "believe" refers to the unsaved, as incorrect, since it says "he who does not believe..." So the first part says "believes", the 2nd part says "does not believe" so I don't know what you mean by it is incorrect.

Just because the aberrant fringe say something, doesn't automatically mean it's wrong, and just because a doctrine is misused, doesn't negate the doctrine. Just wondering why you said it.
TD

 

[tdidymas]

Well said.

That’s the commitment we make when we repent, by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.


We are now in His kingdom, and are subject to Him and His law of commandments and doctrine, which are all about love.


He is love, and He desires His people of His kingdom to express His will and desires, which is love; Loving God and loving our fellow brothers and sisters.


It’s very simple.


Disobedience is hatred of God and our neighbor.


If we steal from our brother that is an expression of hatred, not love.


How is it these things need to be explained to people, to born again Christians?


Paul says it this way -


knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
1 Timothy 1:9-10



JLB

"If we steal from our brother that is an expression of hatred, not love. "

It was said after the Nuremberg trials that the worst kind of hate the Nazis displayed was their indifference to the evil they did. Today we call that sociopathy.

Also, they did what historically conquering nations did - take spoils of war by stealing everything of value.
TD

 

[GodsGrace]

Concerning your explanation of John 3:36, I think you are right in saying that believing and obeying is the same thing, and I agree. Biblical believing involves the whole person, so this kind of believing will produce obedience. This is one of the doctrines in the epistle of James.

Also, Paul in Rom. 1 and elsewhere mentions "obedience of faith" among the gentiles, which tells me that to obey the gospel is to believe in Christ. So in this sense, faith and obedience are equivalent. And this faith has obedient actions that follow it, since whoever believes in Christ trusts what He has to say enough to do what He says.

I'm not sure your meaning of saying that the first "believe" in that verse refers to the saved and the 2nd "believe" refers to the unsaved, as incorrect, since it says "he who does not believe..." So the first part says "believes", the 2nd part says "does not believe" so I don't know what you mean by it is incorrect.

Just because the aberrant fringe say something, doesn't automatically mean it's wrong, and just because a doctrine is misused, doesn't negate the doctrine. Just wondering why you said it.
TD

Yes, I understand why you don't get what I meant....

We're referring to John 3:36
HE WHO BELIEVES IN THE SON HAS ETERNAL LIFE.....
HE WHO DOES NOT OBEY THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE....

We're in agreement that the word OBEY could be substituted with BELIEVE since, basically, they mean the same.

So in some versions it would say:

HE WHO BELIEVES IN THE SON HAS ETERNAL LIFE....
HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE IN THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE...

What the reply will be is that those that BELIEVE will be saved,
and those that DO NOT BELIEVE will not be saved.

IOW,,,what they're doing is attributing to the word believe and not believe the understanding that one is either saved or not.

Instead it means that those that do not obey will not see life...
since obey is inclusive of the word believe,,,as you've stated.

They will fight to state that it is not necessary to obey to remain saved....someone just recently told me he could murder someone and still be saved - without mentioning contrition. (which would be necessary of course). And thus, they take John 3:36 to say that one group believes and one group does not....instead of understanding that the words believe and obey are interchangeable.

Hope that helps....
I think we agree.

 

[GodsGrace]

"If we steal from our brother that is an expression of hatred, not love. "

It was said after the Nuremberg trials that the worst kind of hate the Nazis displayed was their indifference to the evil they did. Today we call that sociopathy.

Also, they did what historically conquering nations did - take spoils of war by stealing everything of value.
TD

And they stole the most valuable assets of all...
One's dignity
One's family
One's life

Was it mass sociopathy? It's rather chilling to think that an entire population (with little exceptions) could be brought to commit such horror.

First, the Jews had to become as non-human to them.
They had to see them as things and not as humans.
Then,,,yes,,,the indifference to the point of killing children, either quicky or slowly by starvation.

Satan is alive and well.