William H. Kelley (1841-1915), an apostle in the then-RLDS Church, wrote the following useful note about the meaning of βαπτιζω:
Baptism
Baptized is from the Greek word baptistheis. It is not a translation, but is transferred, with an English termination. Baptize is from the Greek word baptizo, anglicized or Englishized, and means, when used in connection with the ordinance of baptism, immersion. Says Richard Fuller: “Never was there a word the meaning of which was more clear and precise.” Again: “The question before us, then, is this: What does baptizo mean? I answer, it means immerse. It no more means to pour, or sprinkle, than it means to fly.”
Evidence from Greek Writers
Heraclides Ponticus (Allegor., page 495): “When a piece of iron is taken red-hot from the fire, and is dipped [original, baptized] in water, the heat, being quenched by the peculiar nature of the water, ceases.”
The Greek Scholiast, on Aratus, Vol. V., page 951: “The crow often dips [baptizes] herself from the head of the top of the shoulders in the river.”
Alcibiades, in Jacob’s Anthol, Vol. XI., page 49, note: “And I, plunging [baptizing] you in the waves of the sea, will destroy you in the briny surges.”
Anacreon, in his ode on Love in the Heart: “Finding Cupid among the flowers, I caught him and plunged [baptized] him into wine, and drank him up.”
“Baptizo always denotes a total immersion. If only a part of a thing be immersed, still it is an entire immersion of that part, and the context limits its extent. Thus, Polybius, Vol. III., page 72: ‘The foot-soldiers passed through [the waters] scarcely immersed [baptized] to the paps.” (William H. Kelley, Presidency and Priesthood: The Apostasy, Reformation, and Restoration [Boston: Alfred Mudge and Sons, Printers, 1891], 363-64)
For those interested in delving deeply into early Christian understandings of βαπτιζω and other central issues, I highly recommend the following book from Everett Ferguson:
For some of the many articles on baptism on this blog, see: