αἰτέω, -ῶ; fut. αἰτήσω:; 1 aor. ἤτησα: pf. ἤτηκα ; Mid., pres. αἰτοῦμαι ; impf. ἠτούμην ; fut. αἰτήσομαι ; 1 aor. ἡτησάμην ; [fr. Hom. down]; to ask; mid. to ask for one’s self, request for one’s self; absol.: Jas. i. 6; Mt. vii. 7; mid., Jas. iv. 3; Jn. xvi. 26; Mk. xv. 8; aireiσθαί τι, Jn. xv. 7; Mt. xiv. 7; Mk. vi. 24; x. 38; xi. 24; xv. 43; 1 Jn. v. 14 sq.; Lk. xxiii. 52; Acts xxv. 3, 15, ete. ; αἰτεῖν with ace. of the pers. to whom the request is made: Mt. v. 42; vi. 8; Lk. vi. 30; αἰτεῖσθαι with acc. of the pers. asked for— whether to be released, Mt. xxvii. 20; Mk. xv. 6 [here T WH Tr mre. παραιτ. q- v-]; Lk. xxiii. 25; or bestowed as a gift, Acts xiii. 21; αἰτεῖν τι ἀπό twos, Mt. xx. 20 L Tr txt. WH txt.; [Lk. xii. 20 Tr WH]; 1 Jn. v. 15 L T Tr WH; (so αἰτεῖσθαι in Plut. Galb. 20) [ef. B. 149 (130)]; ri παρά τινος, Acts iii. 2; Mt. xx. 20 R G T Tr mre. WH mrg.; Jas. i.5; 1 Jn. v.15 RG; foll. by the inf., In. iv. 9; mid., Acts ix. 2; [αἰτεῖν τι ἐν τ. ὀνόματι Χριστοῦ, Jn. xiv. 13; xvi. 24 (see ὄνομα, 2 e.); τὶ ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ. Mt. xxi. 22]; αἰτεῖν τινά τι, Mt. vii. 9; Lk. xi. 11; Mk. vi. 22; Jn. [xiv. 14 T but L WH Tr mre. br.]; xvi. 23; ὑπέρ twos foll. by iva, Col. i. 9 [ef. B. 237 (204)]; αἰτεῖσθαι with the ace. and inf., Lk. xxiii. 23; Acts iii. 14; with inf. only, Acts vii. 46 (ἠτήσατο εὑρεῖν he asked that he himself might find ; others wrongly translate ἠτήσατο desired) ; Eph. iii. 13. With the idea of demanding prominent : αἰτεῖν τι, Lk. i. 63; 1 Co. i. 22; τινά τι, Lk. xii. 48; 1 Pet. iii. 15. [The constructions of this word in the Greek Bible, the Apost. Fathers, ete., are exhibited in detail by Prof. Ezra Abbot in the No. Am. Rey. for Jan. 1872, p. 182 sq. He there shows also (in opposition to Trench, § Χ]., and others) that it is not “ the constant word for the seeking of the inferior from the superior,” and so differing from épwrdw, which has been assumed to imply ‘a certain equality or familiarity between the parties’; that the distinction between the words does not turn upon the relative dignity of the person asking and the person asked; but that airéw signifies to ask for something to be given not done, giving prominence to the thing asked for rather than the person, and hence is rarely used in exhortation. *Epwrdw, on the other hand, is to request a person to do (rarely to give) something ; referring more directly to the person, it is naturally used in exhortation, etc. ‘The views of Trench are also rejected by Cremer, 4te Aufl. s.v. The latter distinguishes airéw from similar words as follows: “airéw denotes the request of the will, ἐπιθυμέω that of the sensibilities, δέομαι the asking of need, while ἐρωτάω marks the form of the request, as does εὔχεσθαι also, which in classic Greek is the proper expression for a request directed to the gods and embodying itself in prayer.” Ἐρωτάω, airéw and δέομαι are also compared briefly by Green, Critical Notes, ete. (on Jn. xiv. 13, 16). who concludes of épwrdw “it cannot serve to indicate directly any peculiar position, absolute or relative, of the agent. The use of the word may, therefore, be viewed as having relation to the manner and cast of the request, namely, when carrying a certain freedom of aim and bearing; a thing inseparable from the act of direct interrogation”; cf. further Schmidt ch. 7. Comp.: ἀπ-, ἐξ-, ἐπ-, παρ-(-μαι), προσ-αιτέω.]

αἰτέω aiteō 70x

to ask, request; demand; desire, Acts 7:46

αἰτέω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for שׁאל;]

to ask, request: absol., Mt 7:7, Ja 1:6; c. acc. pers., Mt 5:42, Lk 6:30; c. acc. rei, seq. ἀπό, Mt 20:20, I Jo 5:15; id. seq. παρά, Ac 3:2, Ja 1:5; c. dupl. acc. Mt 7:9, Mk 6:22, Jo 16:23. Mid. (on the distinction bet. mid. and act., v. M, Pr., 160): absol., Mk 15:8, Jo 16:26, Ja 4:3; c. acc. rei, Mt 14:7, Mk 6:24, al.; c. acc. pers., Mt 27:20, Lk 23:25; c. acc. rei, seq. παρά, Ac 9:2; c. acc. et inf., Lk 23:23. c. inf. Ac 7:46, Eph 3:13 (cf. ἀπ-, ἐξ-, ἐπ-, παρ-, προσ-αιτέω).

SYN.: ἐρωτάω, q.v., πυνθάνομαι. On the proper distinction between these words, v. Tr., Syn., § xl, Thayer, s.v. αἰ. In late Gk., however, αἰ. and ἐ. seem to have become practically synonymous (cf. Ac 3:2, 3; v. Field, Notes, 101 f.; M, Th., I, 4:1; M, Pr., 66n; MM, VGT, s.v.).

TueEse words are often rendered by our Translators as though they covered the same spaces of meaning, the one as the other; nor can we object to their rendering, in numerous instances, αἰτεῖν and ἐρωτᾶν alike by our English ‘to ask.’ Yet sometimes they have a little marred the perspicuity of their translation by not varying their word, where the original has shown them the way. For example, the obliteration at John xvi. 23 of the distinction between αἰτεῖν and ἐρωτᾶν might easily suggest a wrong interpretation of the verse,—as though its two clauses were in near connexion, and direct antithesis,—being indeed in none. In our Version we read: ‘In that day ye shall ask Me nothing [ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε οὐδέν]. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask [ὅσα dv αἰτήσητε) the Father in my name, He will give it you.” Now every one competent to judge is agreed, that “ ye shall ask” of the first half of the verse has nothing to do with “ye shall ask” of the second; that in the first Christ is referring back to the ἤθελον αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν of ver. 19 ; to the questions which the disciples would fain have asked of Him, the perplexities which they would gladly have had resolved by Him, if only they dared to set these before Him. ‘In that day,’ He would say, ‘in the day of my seeing you again, I will by the Spirit so teach you all things, that 144 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ὃ χι. ye shall be no longer perplexed, no longer wishing to ask Me questions (cf. John xxi. 12), if only you might venture to do so.’ Thus Lampe well: ‘Nova est promissio de plenissim4 cognitionis luce, qué convenienter ceconomiz Novi Testamenti collustrandi essent. Nam sicut queestio supponit inscitiam, ita qui nihil amplius querit abunde se edoctum existimat, et in doctriné plene expositaé ac intellecté’ acquiescit. There is not in this verse a contrast drawn between asking the Son, which shall cease, and asking the Father, which shall begin; but the first half of the verse closes the declaration of one blessing, namely, that hereafter they shall be so taught by the Spirit as to have nothing. further to inquire; the second half of the verse begins the declaration of a new blessing, that whatever they shall seek from the Father in the Son’s name, He will give it them. Yet none will say that this is the impression which the English text conveys to his mind. The distinction between the words is this. Airéw, the Latin ‘peto,’ is more submissive and suppliant, indeed the constant word for the seeking of the inferior from the superior (Acts xii. 20); of the beggar from him that should give alms (Acts iii. 2); of the child from the parent (Matt. vii. 9; Luke xi. 11: Lam. iv. 4); of the subject from the ruler (Ezra viii. 22); of man from God (1 Kin, iii. 11; Matt. vii. 7; Jam. i. 5; 1 John iii. 22; ef. Plato, Euthyph. 14: εὔχεσθαι [ἔστιν] αἰτεῖν τοὺς θεούς). ᾿Ἔρωτάω, on the other hand, is the Latin ‘ rogo; ’ or some’ times (as John xvi. 23; cf. Gen. xliv. 19) ‘interrogo,’ its only meaning in classical Greek, where it never signifies ‘to ask,’ but only ‘to interrogate,’ or ‘to inquire.’ Like ‘rogare,’! it implies that he who asks stands on a certain footing of equality with him from whom the boon is asked, as king with king (Luke xiv. 42), or, if not of equality, on such a footing of familiarity as lends authority to the request. 1 Thus Cicero (Planc. x. 25): ‘ Neque enim ego sic rogabam, ut petere viderer, quia familiaris esset meus.’ δὃχ. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 145 Thus it is very noteworthy, and witnesses for the singular accuracy in the employment of words, and in the record of that employment, which prevails throughout the N. T., that our Lord never uses αἰτεῖν or αἰτεῖσθαι of Himself, in respect of that which He seeks on behalf of his disciples from God; for his is not the petition of the creature to the Creator, but the request of the Son to the Father. The consciousness of his equal dignity, of his potent and prevailing intercession, speaks out in this, that often as He asks, or declares that He will ask, anything of the Father, it is always ἐρωτῶ, ἐρωτήσω, an asking, that is, as upon equal terms (John xiv. 16; xvi. 26; XVli. 9, 15, 20), never aitéw or αἰτήσω. Martha, on the contrary, plainly reveals her poor unworthy conception of his person, that she recognizes in Him no more than a prophet, when she ascribes that αἰτεῖσθαι to Him, which He never ascribes to Himself: ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσῃ τὸν Θεὸν, δώσει σοι ὁ Θεός (John xi. 22): on which verse Bengel observes: ‘Jesus, de se rogante loquens ἐδεήθην dicit (Luc. XXii. 32), et ἐρωτήσω, at nunquam αἰτοῦμαι. Non Greece locuta est Martha, sed tamen Johannes exprimit improprium ejus sermonem, quem Dominus benigne tulit: nam αἰτεῖσθαι videtur verbum esse minus dignum:’ compare his note on 1 John v. 16. It will follow that the ἐρωτᾶν, being thus proper for Christ, inasmuch as it has authority in it, is not proper for us; and in no single instance is it used in the N. T. to express the prayer of man to God, of the creature to the Creator. The only passage seeming to contradict this assertion is 1 John v. 16. The verse is difficult, but whichever of the various ways of overcoming its difficulty may find favour, it will be found to constitute no true exception to the rule, and perhaps, in the substitution of ἐρωτήσῃ for the αἰτήσει of the earlier clause of the verse, will rather confirm it. L 146 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, § xu. Φ > [4 ” § ΧΙ]. ἀνάπαυσις, ἄνεσις. Our Version renders both these words by ‘ rest’ ; ἀνάπαυσις at Matt. xi. 29; xii. 43; and ἄνεσις at 2 Cor. ii. 13; vii. 5; 2 Thess. i. 7. No one can object to this; while yet, on a closer scrutiny, we perceive that they repose on dif- , ferent images, and contemplate this ‘rest’ from different points of view. ᾿Ανάπαυσις, from ἀναπαύω, implies the pause or cessation from labour (Rev. iv. 8); it is the constant word in the Septuagint for the rest of the Sabbath; thus Exod. xvi. 23; xxxi. 15 3 xxxv. 2, and often. “Aveous, from ἀνίημι;, implies the relaxing or letting down of chords or strings, which have before been strained or drawn tight, its exact and literal antithesis being ἐπίτασις (from ἐπιτείνω) : thus Plato (Rep. i. 349 6) : ἐν τῇ ἐπιτάσει καὶ ἀνέσει τῶν χορδῶν : and Plutarch (De Lib. Ed. 13): τὰ τόξα καὶ τὰς λύρας ἀνίεμεν, ἵνα ἐπιτεῖναι δυνηθῶμεν : and again (Lye. 29): οὐκ ἄνεσις ἦν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπίτασις τῆς πολιτείας : cf. Philo, De Incorr. Mun. 13. Moses in the year of jubilee gave, according to Josephus (Antt. iii. 12. 3), ἄνεσιν τῇ γῆ ἀπό τε ἀρότρου καὶ φυτείας. But no passage illustrates ἄνεσις so well as one from the treatise just quoted which goes by Plutarch’s name (De Lib. Ed. 13): δοτέον οὖν τοῖς παισὶν ἀναπνοὴν τῶν συνεχῶν πόνων, ἐνθυμουμένους, ὅτι πᾶς ὁ Bios ἡμῶν εἰς ἄνεσιν καὶ σπουδὴν διήρηται " καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μόνον ἐγρήγορσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὕπνος εὑρέθη " οὐδὲ πόλεμος, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰρήνη" οὐδὲ χειμών, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐδία" οὐδὲ ἐνεργοὶ πράξεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑορταί... καθόλου δὲ σώξεται, σῶμα μέν, ἐνδείᾳ καὶ πληρώσει: ψυχὴ δέ, ἀνέσει καὶ πόνῳ. Plato has the same opposition between ἄνεσις and σπουδή (Legg. iv. 724 a); while Plutarch (Symp. v. 6) sets ἄνεσις over against στενοχωρία, as a dwelling at large, instead of in a narrow and straight room; and St. Paul over against Prius (2 Cor. viii. 13), not being willing that there should be ‘ease’ (ἄνεσι5) to other Churches, and ‘affliction’ §xtu. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 147 (Artis), that is from an excessive contribution, to the Corinthian. Used figuratively, it expresses what we, employing the same image, call the relaxation of morals (thus Athenzeus, xiv. 13: ἀκολασία καὶ ἄνεσις, setting it over against σωφροσύνη : Philo, De Cherub. 27; De Ebriet. 6: ἄνεσις, ῥᾳθυμία, τρυφή : De Merc. Meret. 2). It will at once be perceived how excellently chosen ἔχειν ἄνεσιν at Acts xxiv. 23 is, to express what St. Luke has in hand to record. Felix, taking nowa more favourable view of Paul’s case, commands the centurion who had him in charge, to relax the strictness of his imprisonment, to keep him rather under honorable arrest than in actual confinement; which partial relaxation of his bonds is exactly what this phrase implies; cf. Ecclus. xxvi. 10; Josephus, Antt. xviii. 6. 10, where ἄνεσις is used in a perfectly similar case. The distinction, then, is obvious. When our Lord promises ἀνάπαυσις to the weary and heavy laden who come to Him (Matt. xi. 28, 29), his promise is, that they shall cease from their toils; shall no longer spend their labour for that which satisfieth not. When St. Paul expresses his confidence that the Thessalonians, troubled now, should yet find ἄνεσις in the day of Christ (2 Thess. i. 7), he anticipates for them, not so much cessation from labour as relaxation of the chords of affliction, now so tightly drawn, strained and stretched to the uttermost. It is true that this promise and that at the heart are not two, but one; yet for all this they present the blessedness which Christ will impart to his own under different aspects, and by help of different images; and each word has its own fitness in the place where it is employed. § ΧΗ, ταπεινοφροσύνη, rpadrns.

αἰτέω. The ordinary meaning of this word ‘‘to make a request,” ““to ask for something” is borne out by the papyri, e.g. P Fay 109} (carly i/A.D.) αἴτησον Σάραν τὰς τοῦ (δραχμὰς) uB, ‘‘ask Saras for the twelve (silver) drachmae.” In ἐῤ. 121. (c, A.D. 100) it is construed with the accusative of the thing and παρά, τὸ δέρμα τοῦ μόσχου οὗ ἐθύ[σ]αμεν αἴτησον παρὰ τοῦ] κύρτου βυρσέως, “ask the hunchbacked tanner for the hide of the calf that we sacrificed ” (Edd.): cf. Ac 3%. See further σοῦ. ἐρωτάω, and for the distinction between active and middle Pvo/eg., p. 160f. If the middle connotes a greater degree of earnestness, it is natural that it should be more frequent than the active, as for example in the phrases αἰτούμενος λόγον SyA@ . . . (P Hamb I, 65 (A.D. 129), αἰτούμενος... ὀνόματα... δίϑομει (GU I. 91° a.p. 170-1), and see the list of passages in the index to Sy// (iii. p. 245). The verbal occurs negatived in P Ryl IT. 1634 (A.D. 139) γῆς κατοικικοῦ ἀναιτήτου, “not subject to demand ’’ (Edd.—see the note on 1645).

αἰτέω (aiteō) — to ask. αἰτ-έω (Aeolic dialect αἴτημι [Refs 5th c.BC+], Ionic dialect imperfect αἴτεον[Refs 5th c.BC+]future αἰτήσω: aorist ᾔτησα: perfect ᾔτηκα[NT]: pluperfect ᾐτήκει[Refs 2nd c.AD+]perfect passive ᾔτημαι, etc.:—ask, beg, absolutely, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

2. mostly with accusative of things, ask for, demand, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὁδὸν αἰ. ask leave to depart, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; αἰ. τινί τι to ask something for one,[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with accusative person et of things, ask a person for a thing, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δίκας αἰ. τινὰ φόνου to demand satisfaction from one for.., [NT+6th c.BC+]

3. with accusative person et infinitive, ask one to do, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

4. with accusative only, beg of, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

5. in Logic, postulate, assume, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. middle, ask for one's own use, claim, Λύσανδρον ἄρχοντα[Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently almost = the active, and with the same construct., first in [Refs 5th c.BC+] (παρ-),[Refs 4th c.BC+]; πάλαισμα μἠποτε λῦσαι θεὸν αἰτοῦμαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently absolutely in participle, αἰτουμένῳ μοι δός[Refs 5th c.BC+]; αἰτεῖσθαι ὑπέρ τινος to beg for one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. passive, of persons, have a thing begged of one, αἰτηθέντες χρήματα[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, to be asked to do a thing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III.2. of things, to be asked, τὸ αἰτεόμενον[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵπποι ᾐτημένοι borrowed horses, [Refs 5th c.BC+]