Able (2425) (hikanos from the root hik- = “to reach [with the hand],” “to attain”, `reaching to', `attaining to'; hence, `adequate') refers to that which reaches or arrives at a certain standard and in context refers to men who meet the standard and are fit, qualified and able to "teach" (didasko). The primary meaning of hikanos is sufficient, and hence comes to be applied to number and quantity and so means many or enough. In reference to time hikanos means long. Hikanos means worthy or sufficient for an honor, a place or a position. Untrained, unqualified believers are not be placed in teaching positions, which so often happens in churches today. In a frantic rush to increase our numbers, we often fill empty teaching slots with men who lack adequate training. In our pursuit for quantity we sacrifice quality and the church languishes in mediocrity. Hikanos - 41x in NAS - Mt 3:11; 8:8; 28:12; Mk. 1:7; 10:46; 15:15; Lk. 3:16; 7:6, 12; 8:27, 32; 20:9; 22:38; 23:8, 9; Acts 8:11; 9:23, 43; 11:24, 26; 12:12; 14:3, 21; 17:9; 18:18; 19:19, 26; 20:8, 11, 37; 22:6; 27:7, 9; 1Co. 11:30; 15:9; 2Co. 2:6, 16; 3:5; 2Ti 2:2. NAS translates: able, 1; adequate, 2; aloud, 1; considerable, 4; enough, 1; fit, 4; good many, 1; large, 1; large sum, 1; length, 1; long, 5; long while, 1; many, 9; number, 1; pledge, 1; satisfy, 1; sizeable, 1; some, 1; sufficient, 1; very bright, 1; worthy, 2 Hikanos has been variously used from the time of the Greek tragic dramatists in the basic sense of adequate (sufficient for a specific requirement), sufficient (enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end), enough (in or to a degree or quantity that satisfies or that is sufficient or necessary for satisfaction), qualified (fitted as by training or experience for a given purpose), competent (having the capacity to function or develop in a particular way) to do a thing or large enough. As illustrated in selections below, the NT usage corresponds to these secular uses. Hikanos - 27x in non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Ge. 30:15; 33:15; Exod. 4:10; 12:4; 36:7; Lev. 5:7; 12:8; 25:26, 28; Ruth 1:20, 21; 1Ki 16:31; 2Ki. 4:8; 2Chr 30:3; Job 21:15; 31:2; 40:2; Prov. 25:16; 30:15; Is 40:16; Jer. 48:30; Ezek. 34:18; Joel 2:11; Obad. 1:5; Nah. 2:12; Hab. 2:13; Zech. 7:3. Note that some Septuagint uses have nuances of meaning not found in the NT uses. For example in Ruth the Septuagint translators selected hikanos to translate God's Name, the Almighty (Shaddai - see study)... And she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty (Lxx = hikanos with definite article = "the Adequate One") has afflicted me?" (hikanos meaning sizeable, considerable, competent, ample, adequate, enough, large enough or sufficient. Take those meanings and plug them into the Name of God. Naomi is saying my God is "the Sufficient (One)", "the (One Who is large) Enough", "the Adequate One", etc. It is as if by using Shaddai (seldom used outside of Genesis and Job), Naomi is expressing trust in Him even in the midst of her pain. Would it be that we could all see God as ample, adequate, competent, large enough, sufficient, etc when we are experiencing adversity. Open our eyes LORD to see Thee as Who Thou truly art -- "Large Enough" for any and every trial and affliction we will ever encounter. Click notes Ruth 1:20-21) In Exodus we see the Israelites had to be restrained from bringing materials for the building of the Tabernacle... For the material they had was sufficient (Hebrew = day = sufficiency; Lxx = hikanos) and more than enough for all the work, to perform it. (Exodus 36:7) John the Baptist declared in (Mt 3:11) that... He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. In a similar statement (Mt 8:8) the centurion told Jesus... Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. Mark (Mark 15:5) uses hikanos to describe Pilate's acquiescence to the wishes of the Jews writing... Wishing to satisfy (to content) the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. Luke uses hikanos far more than any other writer in Scripture, most often conveying a semi-quantitative sense... Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. (Lk 7:12) And He began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time." (Lk 20:9) They said, "Lord, look, here are two swords ." And He said to them, "It is enough." (Lk 22:38) for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord." (Acts 11:24) Hikanos can refer to a pledge (something given as security for the performance of an act; a binding promise or agreement to do), Luke recording... And when they had received a pledge (hikanos) from Jason and the others, they released them." (Acts 17:9) Vincent comments that Hikanos here means: "Bail, either personal or by a deposit of money. A law term. They engaged that the public peace should not be violated, and that the authors of the disturbance should leave the city." ) A T Robertson adds: "receive a pledge" was "A Greek idiom = Latin satis accipere, to receive the sufficient (bond), usually money for the fulfillment of the judgment. Writing to the Corinthians (2Cor 3:5-note) Paul declares... Not that we are adequate (sufficient - No one in his own strength is adequate or competent to serve God in the ways and with the power that Paul has been describing) in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy (related noun hikanotes - only God can make a person adequate to do his work, and Paul realized that it...) is from God, "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2_timothy_21-7.htm#able