verb
peinamō
Strong’sG3983
I am hungry, needy
stem pein-23 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books13 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
To be hungry, to hunger for food 1234.
The word is also used figuratively, to crave or desire something intensely, or simply to be in want of or lack something 1234.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
πεινάω, -ῶ,
[in LXX chiefly for = רָעֵב;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3983 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpi-nah'-o
"pine"); to famish (absolutely or comparatively); figuratively, to crave
Fromfrom the same as G3993 (through the idea of pinching toil;
King Jamesbe an hungered.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
forms in αε contraction into η not ᾱ (as in διψάω,Refs 2nd c.AD+, πεινῇς, -ῇ Refs 5th c.BC+; infinitive πεινῆν Refs 5th c.BC+; Epic dialect πεινήμεναι Refs 8th c.BC+: imperfect ἐπείνων Refs 5th c.BC+: future πεινήσω Refs 5th c.BC+; later πεινάσω [ᾱ] LXX+NT: aorist ἐπείνησα LXX+5th c.BC+: perfect πεπείνηκα Refs 5th c.BC+: later we find the contraction of αε into ᾱ, ἐπείνας, πεινᾷ, -ᾶν, LXX+NT: (πεῖνἀ):—to be hungry, πεινάων, of a lion, Refs 8th c.BC+; κακῶς π. to be starved, Refs 5th c.BC+; thrice in Trag., πεινῶσα Refs 5th c.BC+
II with genitive, hunger after, σίτου δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἔφη πεινήμεναι Refs 8th c.BC+
II.2 metaphorically, hunger, crave after, χρημάτων Refs 5th c.BC+; simply, to be in want of, lack, πεινῶντες ἀγαθῶν NT+5th c.BC+. [ᾱ in un contraction forms in Refs 8th c.BC+ [same place], and the Attic dialect contractions (-η- from -ηε-) agree; but πεινῶντι Doric dialect 3rd.pers. plural present indicative in Refs 5th c.BC+ codices points to -ᾰοντι.]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| peinatōπεινᾷ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | hungry | 2× |
| peinanōπεινῶμεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | hungry | 1× |
| peinaviπεινάσετε | will happen · yefuture active indicative 2nd person plural | hungry | 1× |
| peinaliπεινάσουσιν | will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural | hunger | 1× |
| peinamaἐπείνασα | happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular | hungry | 2× |
| peinataἐπείνασεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | hungry | 7× |
| peinalaἐπείνασαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | hungry | 1× |
| peinateiōπεινᾷ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular | hungry | 1× |
| peinateiaπεινάσῃ | happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular | hunger | 1× |
| peinarōπεινᾶν | happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive | hungry | 1× |
| peinarōntonπεινῶντα | happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative singular masculine | hungry | 2× |
| peinarōntoisπεινῶντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | hunger | 2× |
| peinarōntoinπεινῶντας | happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative plural masculine | hungry | 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, 15 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | peinamō | peiname | peinami | peinama2×ἐπείνασα | peinamē | peinamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | peinasō | peinase | peinasi | peinasa | peinasē | peinaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | peinatō2×πεινᾷ | peinate | peinati | peinata7×ἐπείνασεν | peinatē | peinatelē |
| we 1st person plural | peinanō1×πεινῶμεν | peinane | peinani | peinana | peinanē | peinanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | peinavō | peinave | peinavi1×πεινάσετε | peinava | peinavē | peinavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | peinalō | peinale | peinali1×πεινάσουσιν | peinala1×ἐπείνασαν | peinalē | peinalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 2 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | peinameiō | peinameia | peinameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | peinaseiō | peinaseia | peinaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | peinateiō1×πεινᾷ | peinateia1×πεινάσῃ | peinateiē |
| we 1st person plural | peinaneiō | peinaneia | peinaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | peinaveiō | peinaveia | peinaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | peinaleiō | peinaleia | peinaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | peinasōr | peinasar | peinasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | peinatōr | peinatar | peinatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | peinavōr | peinavar | peinavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | peinalōr | peinalar | peinalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | peinamoiō | peinamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | peinasoiō | peinasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | peinatoiō | peinatoia |
| we 1st person plural | peinanoiō | peinanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | peinavoiō | peinavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | peinaloiō | peinaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | peinarō1×πεινᾶν | peinari | peinara | peinarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 5 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | peinarōntos5× | peinarintos | peinarantos | peinarēntos |
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
pein 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
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
23 occurrences, every one of them listed
peinatō“hungry”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular2×
1 Corinthians 11:21… en te esthiara, kai hos men peinatō, hos de methuatō.… sharing his meal. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk.
1 Corinthians 11:34ei tinos peinatō, en oiko esthiatōr, hina mē eis …If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so …
peinanō“hungry”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
1 Corinthians 4:11achri tau arti hōrau kai peinanō kai dipsanō kai gumniteuanō kai kolafizonō …To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed …
peinavi“hungry”will happen · yefuture active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Luke 6:25“hungry”ouai vi, tois empimplēorēntoir nun, hoti peinavi. ouai, tois gelarōntoir nun, hoti penthavi …Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
peinali“hunger”will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Revelation 7:16ouk peinali ēti oude dipsali ēti, oude mē …‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor …
peinama“hungry”happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular2×
Matthew 25:35peinama gar kai dōava mi esthiara, dipsama …For I was hungry and you gave Me something to …
Matthew 25:42peinama gar kai ouk dōava mi esthiara, …For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to …
peinata“hungry”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular7×
Matthew 4:2… hēmerain tesserakonta kai nuktain tesserakonta husterem peinata.… days and forty nights, He was hungry.
Matthew 12:3… Ouk anagnōskava tinem poiata David hote peinata kai tois meta autou?… when he and his companions were hungry?
Matthew 21:18Prōi de epanagarōntos eis tan polan peinata.… returning to the city, He was hungry.
Mark 2:25… poiata David hote chreian echata kai peinata autos kai tois meta autou?… when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
Mark 11:12… ta epaurion exercharantoiu autoiu apo Bēthaniau peinata.… they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
Luke 4:2… tai hēmerai ekeinai, kai suntelirantaiu autaiu peinata.… when they had ended, He was hungry.
Luke 6:3… houtem anagnōskava hem poiata David hopote peinata autos kai tois meta autou arōntois?… when he and his companions were hungry?
peinala“hungry”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Matthew 12:1… teiu sporimeiu; tois de mathētois autou peinala kai archela tillarō stachuoin kai esthiarō.… on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads …
peinateiō“hungry”happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
Romans 12:20alla ean peinateiō tos echthros su, psōmizasōr auton; ean …… the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty …
peinateia“hunger”happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
John 6:35… tos erchorōntos pros min ouk mē peinateia, kai tos pisteuarōntos eis min ouk …… Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will …
peinarō“hungry”happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive1×
Philippians 4:12… en pantei muomē, kai chortazorō kai peinarō, kai perisseuarō kai husterorō;… secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need.
peinarōnton“hungry”happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative singular masculine2×
Matthew 25:37… dikaiois legarōntois; Kurior, pote sin horana peinarōnton kai trefana, ē dipsarōnton kai potizana?… Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and …
Matthew 25:44… autois legarōntois; Kurior, pote sin horana peinarōnton ē dipsarōnton ē xenon ē gumnon …… Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or …
peinarōntois“hunger”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine2×
Matthew 5:6makariois tois peinarōntois kai dipsarōntois tan dikaiosunan, hoti autois …Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they …
Luke 6:21“hungry”makariois tois peinarōntois nun, hoti chortazivi. makariois tois klaiarōntois …Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will …
peinarōntoin“hungry”happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative plural masculine1×
Luke 1:53peinarōntoin empimplēata agatheiu kai ploutarōntoin exapostelata kenoin.He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent …