Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary
αντι
The preposition αντι (anti) expresses substituting, or replacing one thing with another. As such it may be translated with "instead" (James 4:15), "instead of" (Luke 11:11) or even "for/upon" (as in "grace for/upon grace"; John 1:16, or "a coin for you and me"; Matthew 17:27, or "evil for evil", Romans 12:17).
Since substitution is the basis of economy, our word is also used to describe barter or the exchange of goods for money (Hebrews 12:16). It also frequently describes the exchange of a motivation or circumstance for actual action, in which case it can usually be translated as "because of" or "on account of" (Luke 12:3, Ephesians 5:31). By itself, our preposition is used 22 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.
In compound words, the prefix αντι (anti-) emphasizes otherness and particularly previousness (as in our words "antique" and "antipasto") and substitution (as in the familiar term Antichrist).
Secondarily our prefix reflects opposition or contrariness (as in the verb αντιλεγω, antilego, to speak against). But it may just as well describe a formal and proper substitution (as in the word ανθυπατος, anthupateuo, meaning proconsul, a deputy governor who acted in the stead of a consul).
Our prefix features in a vast list of compound words, but its true derivations, or compounds that consists of other common prefixes, are:
- The verb ανταω (antao), meaning to come opposite to or meet face to face (when combined with a dative), or to meet with (either friendly or in battle) or take part in (when combined with a genitive). This verb is not used in the New Testament, but from it come:
- Together with the preposition απο (apo), meaning from: the verb απανταω (apantao), meaning to go to meet: move away from a place in order to meet someone somewhere else. This term was frequently used as a military term (to march out to engage some enemy army), or as a legal term (to leave one's home in order to meet one's opponent in court). It is used 7 times, see full concordance, and from it in turn comes:
- The noun απαντησις (apantesis), meaning a meeting, a rendezvous, a planned encounter. It occurs 4 times; see full concordance.
- Together with the preposition κατα (kata), meaning down from, down upon: the verb κατανταω (katantao), to arrive at some sort of anticipated encounter or confrontation. But rather than describing a mere arriving, this verb emphasizes the resulting encounter at the end of some process or journey. In rhetoric and narrative, this verb served to describe arriving at some anticipated point or grand unveiling. It's used 13 times; see full concordance.
- Together with the preposition συν (sun), meaning together or with: the verb συνανταω (sunantao), meaning to get together; to jointly meet a third party (Luke 9:37), or to meet in order to be joined or united (Acts 10:25). This verb is used 6 times, see full concordance, and from it comes:
- The noun συναντησις (sunantesis), meaning a meeting (Matthew 8:34 only).
- Together with the preposition υπο (hupo), meaning under or beneath: the verb υπανταω (hupantao), meaning to meet "under", which either literally means underneath something (like a particular constellation), or else under the stipulations of a plan, contract, obligation, hunch, provocation, correspondence (to some fashion or rule), or other such compelling reasons. This verb is used 5 times, see full concordance, and from it comes:
- The noun υπαντησις (hupantesis), meaning a meeting under some plan or obligation or some authority (John 12:13 only).
- Together with the preposition απο (apo), meaning from: the verb απανταω (apantao), meaning to go to meet: move away from a place in order to meet someone somewhere else. This term was frequently used as a military term (to march out to engage some enemy army), or as a legal term (to leave one's home in order to meet one's opponent in court). It is used 7 times, see full concordance, and from it in turn comes:
- The adverb αντικρυ (antikru), meaning opposite to or over against (Acts 20:15 only).
- The adjective and adverb αντιος (antios), which describes (or modifies the description of) a thing which is anti or that acts anti. It's not used in the New Testament, but from it derives:
- Again together with the preposition εν (en), meaning in, on, at: the adjective εναντιος (enantios), which, like the adverb εναντι (enanti), describes a thing that is within the space or characteristic or entity that is opposite, in place of, in reaction to, and so on. It's used 8 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, and from it in turn derive:
- The adverb εναντιον (enantion), which is the neutral form of the previous, and is used in the meaning of in-front-of. This neutral form occurs 5 times, see full concordance, and from it comes:
- Together with the neutral definite article το (to): the adjective or adverb τουναντιον (tounantion), meaning contrarily, obstinately (2 Corinthians 2:7, Galatians 2:7 and 1 Peter 3:9 only).
- Again together with the preposition υπο (hupo) meaning under: the adjective υπεναντιος (hupenantios), meaning opposed but in some secret or covert or stealthily way (Colossians 2:14 and Hebrews 10:27 only).
- The adverb εναντιον (enantion), which is the neutral form of the previous, and is used in the meaning of in-front-of. This neutral form occurs 5 times, see full concordance, and from it comes:
- Again together with the preposition εν (en), meaning in, on, at: the adjective εναντιος (enantios), which, like the adverb εναντι (enanti), describes a thing that is within the space or characteristic or entity that is opposite, in place of, in reaction to, and so on. It's used 8 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, and from it in turn derive:
- Together with the preposition εν (en), meaning in, on, at: the adverb εναντι (enanti), which literally describes a presence within the space directly in front of something else, or within an opposite room, or within something that represent something else, and so on. It's used in the New Testament in Luke 1:8 only, where it relates to space directly adjacent (anti) the inner sanctum (the "of-God" or "the room of God"). From it in turn come:
- Again together with the preposition απο (apo), meaning from: the adverb απεναντι (apenanti), meaning from being in the opposite, or from in front [of something specified]. The use of these adverbs in the speak-talk of Koine Greek was probably not governed by too strict a set of rules, but in general it would describe the first degree of separation away from being within the space directly adjacent something else — i.e. when the Mary's sat down, they did so not smack at the tomb of Jesus but just a step or so away (Matthew 27:61). This adverb is used 6 times; see full concordance.
- Again together with the preposition κατα (kata), meaning down from, down upon: the adverb κατεναντι (katenanti), meaning down in the opposite, down-in-front. As with the previous adverb, this adverb is rather a kind of verbal shorthand than a precise locator. It's used 5 times; see full concordance.
πρηνης
The adjective πρηνης (prenes) means forward or headlong, but there's more to that. It's used in the New Testament in Acts 1:18 only, in the description of the manner of Judas' fall, which was such that his inward parts came out.
Our adjective πρηνης (prenes) is part of a cluster of -enes words whose meanings derive from movements in a specified direction or relative to an observer. For instance, together with απο (apo), meaning from, the adjective απηνης (apenes) means stubborn or strict. Together with προς (pros), which describes a motion toward, the adjective προσηνης (prosenes) means soft or gentle.
In the classics, our adjective πρηνης (prenes) is mostly used with verbs that describe a falling flat to the ground, which immediately reflects failure and even comedy. It describes a failure to stand on one's feet and hence one's instability and immaturity and one's lack of dignity. In that sense, our adjective is rather alike our English word "backwards" and comparable to the Hebrew verb אחר ('ahar), to come after, hence the nickname Acher or Backward One (see our article on the verb περπερευομαι, perpereuomai, to be a silly windbag, from the Latin perperus, to be wrong or erroneous).
It's thought that this curious cluster of -enes words also includes the Latin adjective pronus, meaning "prone to", from προ (pro), meaning before. It is hence possible that our adjective πρηνης (prenes) is like pronus, and that it indeed means before-wards, expressive of a fall into what is directly before someone and hence most easily accessible: the path of least resistance, or even into a before time, so that our word describes a regression to a former state of foolishness.
However, our adjective πρηνης (prenes) is the Ionic variant of the Attic πρανης (pranes), whose core element rather appears to derive from παρα (para), near or nearby or to the side of. That means that our adjective rather means sideways, and that not in a strict directional sort of way but rather in a not-in-order sort of way: Judas fell sideways, away from what's OK. He went off kilter, with the implication that he went mad.
It's not clear whether the -enes part is just an abstract suffix or that it derives from something and has actual meaning. A candidate would be a PIE noun "enos", meaning face (and note the similarity with the Hebrew name Enosh, meaning social man; see our article on the many Hebrew roots of Greek).