Quick Definition
I nourish, nurture, bring up
Strong's Definition
to rear up to maturity, i.e. (genitive case) to cherish or train
Derivation: from G1537 (ἐκ) and G5142 (τρέφω);
KJV Usage: bring up, nourish
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ἐκτρέφω; from Aeschylus down;
1. to nourish up to maturity; then universally, to nourish: τήν ἑαυτοῦ σάρκα, Eph_5:29.
2. to nurture, bring up: τά τέκνα, Eph_6:4.
STRONGS NT 1625a: ἔκτρομος [ἔκτρομος, adjective (cf. ἔκφοβος), trembling exceedingly, exceedingly terrified: Heb_12:21 Tr marginal reading WH mrg, after the Sinaiticus and Claromontanus manuscripts (others ἔντρομος, which see). Not found elsewhere.]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ἐκτρέφω ektrephō 2x
to nourish, promote health and strength, Eph_5:29 ; to bring up, educate, Eph_6:4
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
ἐκ -τρέφω ,
[in LXX for H1431 , etc.;]
1. prop ., of children, to nurture, bring up: Eph_6:4 .
2. to nourish: Eph_5:29 .†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
ἐκτρέφω [page 199]
With the use of this verb in Eph_6:4 we may compare P Ryl II. 178 .14 (early i/A.D.), an agreement with a nurse, in which she states τέθειμαι τὴν ὁμολογίαν καὶ ἐκθρέψωι τὸ δουλικὸν σωμάτιον Θερμουθάριον ἐπὶ τὰ δύο ἔτηι , I have made the agreement and I will nurse the infant slave Thermoutharion for the two years (Edd.), and the interesting inscr. from the southern cemetery at Karabunar (Calder, No. 8) in which a son commemorates his mother τήν τε [οἰκί ]αν κυβερνήσασα ἀνενκλήτως καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἐκθρέψασα . See also Syll 326 .34 (i/A.D.) τὸν μὲν ἐκθρέψαντα αὐτόν , and Menandrea p. 41 .577 παιδία ἐκτρέφομεν .
Liddell-Scott — Intermediate Greek Lexicon
ἐκτρέφω fut. -θρέψω "to bring up from childhood, rear up", Hdt. , attic:—Mid. "for oneself", Hhymn. , Soph.
STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Greek Lexicon
ἐκ-τρέφω
[in LXX for גָּדַל, etc. ;]
__1. prop., of children, to nurture, bring up: Eph.6:4.
__2. to nourish: Eph.5:29.†
(AS)
📖 In-Depth Word Study
Nourish (1625) ektrepho
Nourishes (1625) (ektrepho from ek = out or intensifying meaning + trepho = nourish, rear, feed) means to nourish up to maturity, to nourish in general, to nurture, to bring up from childhood, to raise a child to maturity by providing not just for physical and but also for emotional, soul needs (Eph 6:4-note). Ektrepho means to provide food for with the implication of a considerable period of time and the food being adequate nourishment. This word could mean that the man is to be the "breadwinner" or provider.
Webster says that nourish (from Latin nutrire = to feed, nourish) means to nurture, to rear, to promote the growth of, to provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth and health
The present tense pictures the continual process of nourishing leading up to an attained goal.
Ektrepho is found in a secular Greek writing...
“I have made the agreement and I will nurse (ektrepho) the infant slave Thermoutharion for the two years”
Ektrepho is used 19 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Ge. 45:7, 11; 47:17; 2 am. 12:3; 1 Ki. 11:20; 12:8, 10; 2 Ki. 10:6; 2 Chr. 10:10; Job 31:18; 39:3; Ps. 23:2; Prov. 23:24; Isa. 23:4; 49:21; Ezek. 31:4; Hos. 9:12; Jon. 4:10; Zech. 10:9) and 2 times in the NT, here and Ephesians 6:4. Here are a few examples of the uses in the Lxx.
Genesis 45:7 "And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive (Lxx = ektrepho) by a great deliverance...11 "There I will also provide (Lxx = ektrepho) for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished."'
2 Samuel 12:3 "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished (Lxx = ektrepho); And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him.
Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. (Lxx is rendered "he has nourished [Lxx = ektrepho] me by the water of rest.")
Zechariah 10:9 "When I scatter them among the peoples, They will remember Me in far countries, and they with their children will live (Lxx = nourish "they shall nourish their children") and come back.
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