verb
epainamō
Strong’sG1867
I praise, commend
stem epain-6 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books4 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
ἐπ-αινέω, -ῶ
[in LXX for הָלַל pi., שָׁבַח pi.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1867 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Aeolic dialect ἐπαίνημι Refs 4th c.BC+; Laconian dialect ἐπαινίω Refs 5th c.BC+imperfect ἐπῄνεον Il Refs: future -έσωRefs 7th c.BC+: but more frequently -έσομαιRefs 5th c.BC+ poetry -ήσω Refs 6th c.BC+: aorist 1 ἐπῄνεσα Refs 8th c.BC+: also Aeolic dialect prose, Refs: perfect ἐπῄνεκα Refs 5th c.BC+:—middle, aorist ἐπῃνησάμην Refs 4th c.AD+; -εσάμην Refs 3rd c.BC+:—passive, future ἐπαινεθήσομαι Refs 5th c.BC+ codices: aorist ἐπῃνέθην Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect ἐπῄνημαι Refs 5th c.BC+:—approve, applaud, commend, in Refs 8th c.BC+: with dative person, agree with, side with, Ἕκτορι μὲν γὰρ ἐπῄνησαν Refs 8th c.BC+: absolutely, assent, agree, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐπαινεσάντων δ᾽ αὐτῶν on their assent, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 praise, commend in any way (the usually sense in Attic dialect and Trag.), τινά or τι, Refs 7th c.BC+; ἐ. τινά τι commend one for a thing, but in this case the thing is always a neuter pronoun or adjective, τὰ μέν σ᾽ ἐπαινῶ Refs 5th c.BC+ ἐπαινεῖσθαι ταῖς ζητήσεσιν, [ἐπί] should be read; ἐπί τινι.. καὶ διότι Refs 2nd c.BC+; εἴς τι Refs 5th c.BC+ praise something in some one, Refs 5th c.BC+: with participle, ἐπαινέσεσθαί τινα ἀνασχόμενον Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐ. τινὰ πρός τινα praise one man to another, Refs; especially compliment publicly, [Βρασίδας] πρῶτος τῶν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐπῃνέθη ἐν Σπάρτῃ Refs 5th c.BC+; frequently in honorary Inscrr.,Refs 2nd c.BC+
3 of things, [πολιτεία] ὑπὸ πάντων -ουμένη Refs 5th c.BC+; approve, πόλις ἄλλως ἄλλοτ᾽ ἐ. τὰ δίκαια Refs 4th c.BC+
4 agree to or undertake to do, ῥώμην μ᾽ ἐπαινῶ λαμβάνειν Refs 5th c.BC+
5 aorist ἐπῄνεσα in Attic dialect in present sense, ἐπῄνεσ᾽ ἔργον I commend it, Refs 5th c.BC+: absolutely, well done! Refs 5th c.BC+
II ={παραινέω}, recommend, advise, τοιούσδ᾽ ἐπαινεῖς δῆτα δὺ κτᾶσθαι φίλου; Refs 5th c.BC+: with dative et infinitive, ὑμῖν δ᾽ ἐπαινῶ γλῶσσαν εὔφημον φέρειν Refs; σιγᾶν ἐπῄνεσ᾽Refs 5th c.BC+
III as a civil form of declining an offer or invitation, I thank you, I am much obliged, κάλλιστ᾽, ἐπαινῶ Refs 5th c.BC+; so ἐ. τὴν κλῆσιν decline it, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV of Rhapsodists, recite, declaim publicly, Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| epainamōἐπαινῶ | happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular | praise | 3× |
| epainataἐπῄνεσεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | commended | 1× |
| epainameiaἐπαινέσω | happened · Iaorist active subjunctive 1st person singular | praise | 1× |
| epainalarἐπαινεσάτωσαν | happened · theyaorist active imperative 3rd person plural | praise | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 4 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epainamō3×ἐπαινῶ | epainame | epainami | epainama | epainamē | epainamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | epainasō | epainase | epainasi | epainasa | epainasē | epainaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epainatō | epainate | epainati | epainata1×ἐπῄνεσεν | epainatē | epainatelē |
| we 1st person plural | epainanō | epainane | epainani | epainana | epainanē | epainanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | epainavō | epainave | epainavi | epainava | epainavē | epainavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | epainalō | epainale | epainali | epainala | epainalē | epainalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epainameiō | epainameia1×ἐπαινέσω | epainameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | epainaseiō | epainaseia | epainaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epainateiō | epainateia | epainateiē |
| we 1st person plural | epainaneiō | epainaneia | epainaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | epainaveiō | epainaveia | epainaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | epainaleiō | epainaleia | epainaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | epainasōr | epainasar | epainasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epainatōr | epainatar | epainatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | epainavōr | epainavar | epainavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | epainalōr | epainalar1×ἐπαινεσάτωσαν | epainalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epainamoiō | epainamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | epainasoiō | epainasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epainatoiō | epainatoia |
| we 1st person plural | epainanoiō | epainanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | epainavoiō | epainavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | epainaloiō | epainaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | epainarō | epainari | epainara | epainarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | epainarōntos | epainarintos | epainarantos | epainarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
epain is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
6 occurrences, every one of them listed
epainamō“praise”happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular3×
1 Corinthians 11:2“praise”Epainamō de vin hoti panteim mu mimnēskovē …Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for …
1 Corinthians 11:17Houtem de parangelarōntos ouk epainamō hoti ouk eis tem kreittonem alla …… the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do …
1 Corinthians 11:22“praise”… vi? epainameia vin? en houte ouk epainamō.… say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not!
epainata“commended”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Luke 16:8kai epainata tos kurios ton oikonomon tau adikiau …The master commended the dishonest manager because he had …
epainameia“praise”happened · Iaorist active subjunctive 1st person singular1×
1 Corinthians 11:22… toin mē echarōntoin? tinem legameia vi? epainameia vin? en houte ouk epainamō.… I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will …
epainalar“praise”happened · theyaorist active imperative 3rd person plural1×
Romans 15:11“praise”… panteim teim ethneim, ton kurion, kai epainalar auton pantois tois laois.… again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.”