Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary

αιτεω

• The noun αιτημα (aitema), meaning request or petition (Luke 23:24, Philippians 4:6 and 1 John 5:15 only).
• The noun αιτια (aitia), meaning requirement in the sense of something required or demanded by a code of conduct, common sense, a formal logical progression, a legal procedure, a formal introduction, a provoking occasion, and so on. Often the context of this noun implies that the requirement is not met, in which case it's used synonymously with a sustained default, charge, shortcoming, guilt or even crime. An often occurring idiom is "charge of death," which describes a requirement which, when it is not met and thus when it is sustains, calls for the execution of the one who sustains it. This noun occurs 20 times, see full concordance, and from it in turn derives:
  • The noun αιτιαμα (aitiama), meaning a thing required or charged: a legal complaint (Acts 25:7 only). This noun stems from the intermediate (and unused) verb αιτιαομαι (aitiaomai), a common legal term meaning to allege as cause, to impute or add to the charge, or allege by way of accusation.
  • The adjective αιτιος (aitos), meaning cause, condition or principle: something required for something else to exist. Or in legal terms: some legal principle (a rule, a command, a precedent) to apply to a situation at hand, so that a person under scrutiny can be found at odds with it. One can only be found guilty if such a principle can be found to apply, and a violation of that principle is demonstrated (which also means that one is guilty not when commits a crime but when one is found at odds with a specified rule).
    In the classics this adjective is frequently used substantively, meaning cause or condition. In the New Testament it's used to describe a quality of Christ: something Pilate couldn't detect (a reason to kill him) but which is the very fabric of reality of those who can (namely the death of self). Translations of Hebrews 5:9 often speak of Christ being the "author" of salvation, but that's too simple an image, as if Christ is penning our salvation, sentence by sentence, as a reality that slowly accumulates outside himself. Instead, Christ embodies the Word of God (John 1:18, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3), which sums up the whole of natural law by which the entire universe ticks (Colossians 1:16-17). God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:6-7, Romans 8:28), and the key to monotheism is the understanding that the singularity from which the whole of reality burst forth was never compromised, and still governs reality today and will forever govern everything that comes next. This is why what goes up must come down, and why things like momentum, electrical charge and baryon number are preserved: the universe is a closed system, and the balance of all things is what makes it run (Matthew 6:33, 7:12). Without an intimate comprehension of that singularity, one is not within the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15:6), and one is certainly not in Christ (Galatians 3:7). Salvation begins with understanding the harmonic Oneness of all things, from which all things came, which continues to govern all relations and all interactions, and which directs the whole of natural evolution toward a future of everlasting unity (Revelation 1:8). Our adjective occurs 5 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.
  • Together with the particle of negation α (a), meaning not or without: the adjective αναιτιος (anaitios), meaning uncharged in a legal sense. This word does not so much denote a being guiltless in some absolute sense, but rather a being without formal charge in a legal context. This implies having one's deeds assessed by someone knowledgeable of the law, which in turn leaves open the question whether one is anaitios because one has committed no sin or because one was not detected or there is nobody around who knows the law. Our word is used in Matthew 12:5 and 12:7 only. The former discusses priests who are without formal charge, the latter discusses self-appointed judges who condemn people against whom no formal charge was deposited.
  • Together with the preposition προ (pro), meaning before: the verb προαιτιαομαι (proaitiaomai), meaning to charge before, or to accuse earlier (Romans 3:9 only). This word occurs nowhere else in extant Greek literature.
• Together with the preposition απο (apo), meaning from: the verb απαιτεω (apaiteo), meaning to request from (Luke 6:30 and 12:20 only). In the classics this verb describes the request of something out from where it is kept: improper custody (to ask something back), someone's purse (to ask to be paid), information in someone's head, and so on. This verb is similar to the next:
• Together with the preposition εκ (ek), meaning out or from: the verb εξαιτεω (exaiteo), meaning to request out of. This verb expresses a similar action as the previous: to request something that exists in some kind of custody. It's used in Luke 22:31 only.
• Together with the preposition επι (epi) meaning on or upon: επαιτεω (epaiteo), meaning to request upon, to request something in addition to something else, whether a previous request or perhaps an event that has occurred and which prompted the request. This verb occurs only in Luke 16:3, where a house-manager reflects not merely on being forced to beg, but rather on having to beg upon having been fired from a harshly executed management role (the implication being that he would have to beg from the folks he had first mistreated).
• Together with the preposition παρα (para) meaning near or next to: the challenging verb παραιτεομαι (paraiteomai), which describes action involving a distance between requester and requestee. The effect of our verb may either be a release or discharge from some duty, but more often it simply describes the resistance of the requestee for whatever the requestor is trying to achieve: to deny, to defy, to reject, to make excuses. Our verb is used 11 times; see full concordance.
• Together with the prefix προς (pros), which describes a motion toward: the verb προσαιτεω (prosaiteo), meaning either to approach someone and request, or to request something for a specified purpose. In the New Testament this verb occurs in Mark 10:46, Luke 18:35 and John 9:8 only, and only to describe the activities of Bartimaeus or similar blind men. Translations usually suggest that Bartimaeus was begging, but begging was a common practice in the old world and Bartimaeus is the only character in the New Testament to whom this verb applies. It's thus implied that Bartimaeus was engaged in a unique activity, which in turn explains why Jesus would ask him what he might do for him (Mark 10:51). This may seem like a somewhat insensitive question but asking such questions is really rather common in Scriptures and appear to be designed specifically to help the interviewee make up their mind or understand the dealio of their own situation (Genesis 3:9, John 21:15). The wisdom tradition of the old world even seems to be firmly founded on the practice of posing challenging questions (Judges 14:12, 1 Kings 10:1, Luke 2:46). It appears that the story of blind Bartimaeus also tells of how the celebrated Jewish wisdom tradition had forgotten how to ask useful questions (Psalm 81:10).