From a primary sos (contraction for obsolete saos, "safe"); to save, i.e. Deliver or protect (literally or figuratively) -- heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

a. universally, τινα, one (from injury or peril); to save a suffering one (from perishing), e. g. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health: Matthew 9:22; Mark 5:34; Mark 10:52; Luke 7:50 (others understand this as including spiritual healing (see b. below)); Luke 8:48; Luke 17:19; Luke 18:42; James 5:15; passive, Matthew 9:21; Mark 5:23, 28; Mark 6:56; Luke 8:36, 50; John 11:12; Acts 4:9 (cf. Buttmann, § 144, 25); . to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save (i. e. rescue): Matthew 8:25; Matthew 14:30; Matthew 24:22; Matthew 27:40, 42, 49; Mark 13:20; Mark 15:30; Luke 23:35, 37, 39; passive, Acts 27:20, 31; 1 Peter 4:18; τήν ψυχήν, (physical) life, Matthew 16:25; Mark 3:4; Mark 8:35; Luke 6:9; Luke 9:24 and R G L in ; σῴζειν τινα ἐκ with the genitive of the place, to bring safe forth from, Jude 1:5; ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης, from the peril of this hour, John 12:27; with the genitive of the state, ἐκ θανάτου, Hebrews 5:7; cf. Bleek, Brief an d. Hebrews 2:2, p. 70f; (Winers Grammar, § 30, 6 a.; see ἐκ, I. 5).

b. to save in the technical biblical sense; — negatively, to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment, Joel 2:32 (); to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance: ἀπό τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, Matthew 1:21; ἀπό τῆς ὀργῆς namely, τοῦ Θεοῦ, from the punitive wrath of God at the judgment of the last day, Romans 5:9; ἀπό τῆς γενεάς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης, Acts 2:40; ψυχήν ἐκ θανάτου (see θάνατος, 2), James 5:20; (ἐκ πυρός ἁρπάζοντες, Jude 1:23) — positively, to make one a partaker of the salvation by Christ (opposed to ἀπόλλυμι, which see): hence, σῴζεσθαι and ἐισέρχεσθαι εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ are interchanged, Matthew 19:25, cf. Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:26, cf. Mark 10:25; Luke 18:26, cf. Luke 18:25; so σῴζεσθαι and ζωήν αἰώνιον ἔχειν, John 3:17, cf. John 3:16. Since salvation begins in this life (in deliverance from error and corrupt notions, in moral purity, in pardon of sin, and in the blessed peace of a soul reconciled to God), but on the visible return of Christ from heaven will he perfected in the consummate blessings of ὁ αἰών ὁ μέλλων, we can understand why τό σῴζεσθαι is spoken of in some passages as a present possession, in others as a good yet future: — as a blessing beginning (or begun) on earth, Matthew 18:11 Rec.; Luke 8:12; Luke 19:10; John 5:34; John 10:9; John 12:47; Romans 11:14; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Corinthians 7:16; 1 Corinthians 9:22; 1 Corinthians 10:33; 1 Corinthians 15:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 3:21; τῇ ἐλπίδι (dative of the instrument) ἐσώθημεν (aorist of the time when they turned to Christ), Romans 8:24; χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διά τῆς πίστεως, Ephesians 2:5 (cf. Buttmann, § 144, 25), 8; — as a thing still future, Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:13; (Mark 13:13); Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Timothy 2:15; James 4:12; τήν ψυχήν, Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; ψυχάς, Luke 9:56 Rec.; τό πνεῦμα, passive, 1 Corinthians 5:5; by a pregnant construction (see εἰς, C. 1, p. 185b bottom), τινα εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ κυρίου αἰώνιον, to save and transport into etc. 2 Timothy 4:18 (ἡ εὐσέβεια ἡ σωζουσα εἰς τήν ζωήν αἰώνιον, 4 Macc. 15:2; many examples of this construction are given in Passow, vol. ii., p. 1802{a}; (cf. Liddell and Scott, under the word II. 2)). universally: (Mark 16:16); Acts 2:21; Acts 4:12; Acts 11:14; Acts 14:9; Acts 15:1,(); f; Romans 9:27; Romans 10:9, 13; Romans 11:26; 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Timothy 4:16; Hebrews 7:25; James 2:14; ἁμαρτωλούς, 1 Timothy 1:15; τάς ψυχάς, James 1:21; οἱ σῳζόμενοι, Revelation 21:24 Rec.; Luke 13:23; Acts 2:47; opposed to οἱ ἀπολλύμενοι, 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15 (see ἀπόλλυμι, 1 a. β'.). (Compare: διασῴζω, ἐκσῴζω.)