The Greek verb egeirō (ἐγείρω) means "to arise," "to awaken," "to lift up," or "to raise from the dead." Appearing more than 140 times in the New Testament, it often carries both a physical and spiritual meaning, describing everything from waking from sleep to healing, renewal, and resurrection.
From this root comes the noun egersis (ἔγερσις), meaning "awakening" or "resurrection." In the New Testament, it is most notably associated with the raising of the dead after the crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27:53). The term reflects the belief that death is not the end but a temporary state from which divine power can awaken life once again.
The idea of sacred awakening was not unique to Christianity. Across the ancient Mediterranean, myths often centered on gods who died, disappeared, or descended into the underworld before returning with renewed power. In the Canaanite Baal Cycle, the storm god Baal is overcome by Mot, the power of death and drought, only to return and restore fertility to the land. The Phoenician god Melkart, the patron deity of Tyre, was also linked with cycles of death and renewal, and annual festivals celebrated his symbolic awakening. These older traditions of divine return and seasonal rebirth formed part of the cultural world in which later Greek and Christian ideas of resurrection developed, giving words like egeirō and egersis a resonance that stretched far beyond a simple command to "rise."