ἐρωτάω, -ῶ, [(1πῇ. -τᾶν L T Tr, -τᾷν RG WH; 5661, 2)7; impf. 3 pers. plur. ἠρώτων and (in Mt.xv. 23 LT Tr WH, Mk. iv. 10 Tdf.) ἠρώτουν, cf. B. 44 (38); [W. 85 (82); Tdf. Proleg. p. 122; Soph. Lex. p.41; WH. App. p. 166; Mullach, Griech. Vulgarspr. p. 252]; fut: ἐρωτήσω; 1 aor. ἠρώτησα; Sept. for Sxw; to ask, i. 6. 1. as in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down to question: absol., Lk. xxii. 68; Jn. viii. 7 [R]; τινά, Jn. ix. 21; xvi. 19, 30; [xviii. 21 where Rec. ézep.], ete.; with the addition of λέγων and the words of the questioner: Mt. xvi. 13; Lk. xix. 31 [om. λέγων; xxiii. 3 T Tr WH]; Jn.i. 19, 21; v.12; ix.19; xvi. 5; τινά τι [cf. W. § 32, 4 a.], Mt. xxi. 24; Mk. iv. 10; Lk. xx. 3; Jn. xvi. 23 [al. refer this to 2]; τινὰ περί τινος, Lk. ix. 45 [Lehm. ἐπερ.] ; Jn. xviii. 19. 2. to ask i.e. to request, entreat, beg, beseech, after the Hebr. >xvi, in a sense very rare in prof. auth. (Joseph. antt. 5, 1, 14 [but here the text is uncertain; substitute antt. 7, 8, 1; ef. Dr. Ezra Abbot in No. Am. Rey. for 1872, p. 173 note]; Babr. fab. [42, 3]; 97,3; Apoll. synt. p. 289, 20; ef. W. pp- 30 and 32): τινά, Jn. xiv. 16; with the addition of λέγων and the words of the asker, Mt. xv. 23; Jn. xii. 21; foll. by impv. alone [B. 272 sq. (234)], Lk. xiv. 18 sq-; Phil iv. 3; foll. by ta [ef. W. § 44, 8 a.; B. 237 (204)], Mk. vii. 26; Lk. vii. 36; xvi. 27; Jn. iv. 47; xvii. 15; xix. 31,38; 2 Jn. 5; 1 Th.iv.1; by ὅπως, Lk. vil. 3; xi. 37; Acts xxiii. 20; by the inf. [B. 258 (222); ef. W. 335 (315)], Lk. v. 3; viii. 37; Jn. iv. 40; Acts iii. 35 x. 48; xxiii. 18; 1 Th. ν. 12 ; τινὰ περί τινος, Lk. iv. 38; Jn. xvii. 9, 20; 1 Jn. ν. 16; ὑπέρ τινος [foll. by eis w. inf.; cf. B. 265 (228)], 2 Th. ii. 1 86. : ἐρωτᾶν τὰ [WH txt. om. τά] πρὸς εἰρήνην (see εἰρήνη, 1), Lk. xiv. 32. [Sy¥n. see airéa, fin. Comp.: δι-, ἐπ-ερωτάω.]

ἐρωτάω erōtaō 63x

to ask, interrogate, inquire of, Mt. 21:24; Lk. 20:3; in NT to ask, request, beg, beseech, Mt. 15:23; Lk. 4:38; Jn. 14:16

ἐρωτάω, -ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for שָׁאַל ;]

to ask, question (cl.): absol., Lk 19:31 22:68, Jo 8:7 c. acc pers., Jo 9:21 16:19, 30 18:21; seq. λέγων, Mt 16:13, Lk 23:3, Jo 1:19, 21 5:12 9:19 16:5; c. dupl. acc (WM, § 32, 4a), Mt 21:24, Mk 4:10, Lk 20:3, Jo 16:23 (M, Pr., 66n); c. acc pers., seq. περί, Lk 9:45, Jo 18:19.

In late Gk. (Milligan, NTD, 51; not, as Cremer, 716, Thayer, s.v., a "Hebraism"), = αἰτέω (q.v.), to ask, request: c. acc pers., Jo 14:16; seq. imperat., Lk 14:18, 19 Phl 4:3; λέγων, Mt 15:23, Jo 12:21; seq. ἵνα (M, Pr., 208), Mk 7:26, Lk 7:36 16:27, Jo 4:47 17:15 19:31, 38, I Th 4:1, II Jo 5; ὅπως, Lk 7:3 11:37, Ac 23:20; c. inf., Lk 5:3 8:37, Jo 4:40, Ac 3:3 10:48 23:18, I Th 5:12; c. acc pers., seq. περί, Lk 4:38 Jo 17:9, 20, I Jo 5:16; ὑπέρ, II Th 2:1, 2; τὰ (WH, txt., om. τὰ) πρὸς εἰρήνην, Lk 14:32 (cf. δι-, ἐπ-ερωτάω)

SYN.: v.s. αἰτέω

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.

ἐρωτάω in the sense of ‘‘ask,” ‘‘ entreat,” is so amply vouched for in the Kow7 that it is quite unnecessary to bring in the influence of the Heb. Syw (Grimm): cf. eg. P Oxy II. 292! (c. A.D. Ζο)ἠρώτησα δὲ καὶ “Epplfajy τὸν ἀδελφὸν διὰ γραπτοῦ ἀνηγεῖϊ σθαί] σοι περὶ τούτου, P Ryl II. 2298 (A.p. 38) ἐρωτῶ σε ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου εὐθέως μοι πέϊμ)ψαι τὰς ἄλλας (ἀρτάβας) y, and from the inscrr. Sy// 3285 (B.c. 84) π]ρὸς ἐμὲ ἦλθ[εν Ely ᾿Απαμήᾳ ἠρώτησέν τε [ὅπως Av] ἐξουσlay αὐ[τ]ῷ [π]οιήσω ἐπὶ τοῦ συν βο]υλίο[υ (where see Dittenberger’s note). ᾿Ἑ!ρωτηθείς -- “being asked what your pleasure is’’ comes to mean ‘‘please,” e.g. P Oxy II. 269% (A.D. 57) ἐὰν δύνῃ ἐρωτηθεὶς ὄχλησον Διόσκορον, ‘if you can, please worry Dioscorus” (Edd.): cf. Abbott Jos. Gr. p. 468. For the conjunction with παρακαλῶ, as in 1 Th 41, cf. P Oxy II. 29428 (A.D. 22) ἐρωτῶ δέ σε καὶ παρακαλ[ῶ γράψει μοι ἀντιφώνησιν περὶ τῶν γενομέν[ων : see further Milligan Zhess. p. 46. On the relation of ἐρωτάω and αἰτέω in Jn 167%, see Profeg. p. 66 n.1, and cf. Field Mores, p. tor f.,and for an apparently exceptional (cf. Abbott Joh. Gr. p- 469. f.) instance of ἐρωτάω in the sense of Christian prayer for Christians see the inscr. from the Roman catacombs ZHCHC EN KQ KAI EPOTA ὙΠῈΡ HMON (Northcote and Brownlow Roma Sotteranea, ii. p. 159) cited by Westcott σα 1 Jn 515. In MGr ἐρωτῶ may expand to ἐρωτάγω or contract to ῥωτῶ : a form ἀρωτῶ is also found.

ἐρωτάω (erōtaō) — to ask. ἐρωτ-άω, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰρωτάω, contraction in [Refs 8th c.BC+] and best codices of [Refs 5th c.BC+]: imperfect ἠρώτων [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect εἰρώτευν [Refs 5th c.BC+]participle -τεῦντας variant in [Refs]: future -ήσω[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist I ἠρώτησα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἠρώτηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+] —used in _Attic dialect_ to supply the defective tenses of ἔρομαι:—ask, τινά τι something of one, ἅ μ᾽ εἰρωτᾷς [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, to be asked, τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. ἐ. τι ask about a thing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. ἐρώτημα to ask a question, [Refs]; τὰς πύστεις ἐρωτῶντες εἰ.. putting the question, whether.., [Refs 5th c.BC+] —passive, τὸ ἐρωτηθέν, τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ἀποκρίνασθαι, to answer the question, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —passive, also with person as subject, ἐρωτηθεὶς τὸ καλόν asked about beauty, [Refs]

3. followed by indirect question, εἰρώτα..τίς εἴη καὶ πόθεν ἔλθοι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐ. εἰ.. or ἤν.. to ask whether.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. question a person, εἰρωτᾷς μ᾽ ἐλθόντα θεὰ θεόν [Refs 8th c.BC+]:— passive, to be questioned, ἐρωτᾶσθαι θέλω [Refs]

II. b of sentries, challenge, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὸ ἐρωτώμενον the password, [Refs]

II.2. in Dialectic, opposed to demonstration, question an opponent in order to refute him from his answers, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τι [Refs]; hence later, submit, set forth, propound an argument, λόγον [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—passive, ὁ λόγος..ἠρωτῆσθαι φαίνεται [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

III. later, ={αἰτέω}, beg, entreat, ἐ. τινὰ τὰ εἰς εἰρήνην [LXX]; ἐρωτᾶτε τὰ εἰς εἰρήνην τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ[LXX+1st c.AD+] ωτάω, cognate with ἐρ (ϝ) έσθαι (see. ἔρομαι).)