Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary
αινεω
The verb αινεω (aineo) means to tell about or speak of, often in a very positive way: to praise, extoll or recommend. In the New Testament, this verb appears solely with God as its object, and obviously does not refer to a sort of formless vocalizations but rather a rational and controlled recounting of the essence and character of the deity — which, namely, comes down to the oneness of all creation (Romans 1:20, and compare Hebrews 1:3 to John 17:20-23).
Because of the obvious harmonic oneness of all things, we know that the universe is governed by the One (and not by the many — which is why most of us moderns are no longer polytheistic), which is why what goes up must come down, why the total amount of energy always stays the same and only changes form, why momentum and baryon number are preserved, and so on.
Our verb basically reflects the whole of scientific contemplation, as well as expressions of the joy experienced by all those living in a nation that is dedicated to the study of Oneness (rather than autocratic tyranny, competition and war, or any of the many superstitions to which the ancestors of some of us stubbornly clung; Matthew 28:19).
It's not at all clear where our verb might have come from, or what it might have originally conveyed. Its derived noun αινος (ainos) describes a morally uplifting account (often spiced with a mysterious riddle), or simply praise (see below). An apparently unrelated (and in the New Testament unused) adjective that's spelled identical and pronounced slightly different, namely αινος (ainos), means horrible or terrible; hence an αινολυκος (ainolukos) is a terrible wolf, not a wolf of praise, and an αινολογος (ainologos) is a terrible speaker, not a speaker of praise. How these two widely differing meanings came to be captured in these very similar words isn't clear, but not an unlike thing happened with our English verbs to fear (in the sense of revere) and to fear (in the sense of be afraid of).
Traces of any possible origin of our verb in Indo-European languages are tellingly scarce, and since everybody is guessing, we here at Abarim Publications like to point out that the Greek alphabet is an adaptation of the Hebrew one, and alphabetic script was introduced into the Greek language basin along with a hardy helping of abstract terms and terms relating to information technology and statecraft and such (see our article on Hellas for more on this). That said, our verb may very well be an adaptation of the Hebrew noun עין ('ayin), which means both fountain and eye, and the link between these two meanings suggests that to the Hebrews, weeping was a means for the heart to rinse itself, and the human eye was the instrument for that.
As we point out in our article on the verb δακρυω (dakruo), to shed tears, the eye is one of a few bodily water sources (urine, sweat, spit), which all serve to clean the inner body from dirt, waste and excess heat. It's probably that bodily production of cleaning and streaming water that made Jesus state: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:38). That suggests that what whatever the act of praising meant to the newly converted Greeks, it served to clean them from within, and make them "pee" as a nation. See our article on the noun δουλος (doulos), servant, for a look at the woes of national lymphedema.
And also note that the name Judah comes from the verb ידה (yada), meaning to praise.
Our verb is used 9 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, and from it derive:
- The noun αινεσις (ainesis), which describes an instance of the verb, an act of telling about or praising (Hebrews 13:15 only).
- The noun αινος (ainos), meaning a thing told: any kind of story that extolls the virtue of some object. In the classics this noun commonly described a tale told to entertain, and since the ancients practiced wisdom like a sport (1 Kings 10:1, Proverbs 1:6), tales like this often contained a riddle or challenge (see next). This noun occurs in Matthew 21:16 and Luke 18:43 only, and from it in turn derive:
- The noun αινιγμα (ainigma), from which English gets the word enigma: an obscure saying or riddle, something of which the meaning is not clear but concealed in the presentation. In antiquity, wizards (wise-ards) would swap enigmas for sport, but on occasion one took to cursing some mighty ruler and used an enigma to wisely hide his immediate objectives. Hence enigmas were not always regarded positively, and at times known as "dark sayings". In the New Testament, our word occurs in 1 Corinthians 13:12 only, in the familiar saying that now we see through a glass "darkly" but then face to face. With this Paul obviously touches on the perpetual incompleteness of any formal system of knowledge, an incompleteness that can only be filled by faith. A similar word is μυστηριον (musterion), mystery, something hidden.
- Together with the preposition επι (epi) meaning on or upon: the noun επαινος (epainos), meaning either praise for something specified, a commendation, or a story upon a story, like an encore or elaboration. It's used 11 times; see full concordance. Also see next.
- Again together with the preposition επι (epi) meaning on or upon: the verb επαινεω (epaino), meaning to bestow praise upon, or to commend. This verb is used 6 times; see full concordance, but also see the previous word.
- Together with the preposition παρα (para), meaning near or nearby: the verb παραινεω (paraineo), meaning to advise, encourage or exhort a person from very close by (figuratively of literally). This verb occurs in Acts 27:9 and 27:22 only.