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Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary: The New Testament Greek word: ικω
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Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/DictionaryG/i/i-k-om.html

ικω

Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary

ικω

The verb ικω (iko) means to come or bring, but wasn't very common in the dialect in which the New Testament was written, which instead used the verb ερχομαι (erchomai). Slightly more common, but also not used in the New Testament is the lengthened form of ικω (iko), namely ικνεομαι (hikneomai), also meaning to come or bring, either of people or things or feelings (that "come upon" someone), or situations and even objectives that are attained. It may also be used in the sense of to come close to a certain standard; to be fitting or adequate.

As mentioned, the verb ικνεομαι (hikneomai) is not used independently in the New Testament but does appear as element in the following compounds and derivatives:

  • Together with the preposition απο (apo), meaning from: the verb αφικνεομαι (aphikneomai), meaning to arrive; to come somewhere from some other place (Romans 16:19 only). From this noun in turn derives:
    • The noun αφιξις (aphixis), meaning arrival (Acts 20:29 only). Commentators generally struggle with this word since Paul uses it here where one's learned intuition might suggest that he meant to discuss his departure. Others might note that Paul probably knew what he was talking about, and invite commentators to understand our word to indeed mean arrival. By the time Paul was on his way to be tried in Jerusalem, he had become such a celebrity that two Roman procurators, namely Felix and Festus, took time out of their busy days to hear him out. The latter involved king Agrippa, who in turn sent Paul on his way to Rome to be heard by emperor Nero, a man who ruled 50 million people. Here at Abarim Publications, we suspect that Paul tried to inform the elders of Ephesus that his rising stardom would surely attract pretenders such as the magicians Elymas and Simon of Samaria, and that he used our noun either indeed to literally say that his arrival at Ephesus long ago (see 20:18) would eventually attract leeches, or perhaps as an expression akin the adjective ικανος (okanos; see below), to describe his having become famous enough to generate such traffic.
  • Together with the preposition δια (dia), meaning through or throughout: the verb διικνεομαι (diikneomai), meaning to come through in the sense of to go through (Hebrews 4:12 only). Since this scene describes the sword of God that pierces a human, the sword indeed "comes" and then goes wholly through the person.
  • Together with the preposition επι (epi), meaning on or upon: the verb επικνεομαι (epikneomai), meaning to come upon or arrive at (2 Corinthians 10:13 and 10:14 only).
  • The adjective ικανος (ikanos), which taps into the parent verb's meaning of to approach or reach a certain standard. It means sufficing or adequate in having reached a proper standard of ability or competence — and not some level of formal loftiness: John the Baptist couldn't bear Jesus' footwear (Matthew 3:11), not because John was an unworthy peasant but because he was not equipped; he wasn't able. Likewise, the centurion apologized to Jesus, probably not for being "unworthy" but because his facilities couldn't handle Jesus and the "great multitudes" that followed him (Matthew 8:8, see 8:1). When our adjective applies to things, situations or conditions it tends to describe "generously sufficient" in quantity or "generously adequate" in quality, usually in order to obtain some kind of objective (Mark 15:15) or not (Luke 23:9). On occasion it is used to express an impressively sized crowd (Mark 10:46, Luke 7:11), or an impressively long time (Luke 8:27), similar to our English colloquial expression: "wow, that's big enough!" or "a pretty long time". Sometimes it denotes an adequate period or a suitable number of days (Acts 9:43). In Acts 22:6 Paul uses our adjective to describe the light that shone about him, but it isn't clear if he meant that it was bright enough in a wow-sense, or actually bright enough to knock him over. In Acts 20:37 Paul describes the wailing of the elders of Ephesus with this word, from which the reader might be tempted to taste a hint of tongue-in-cheek facetiousness on the part of the author. Since Paul had been in Ephesus first, he had become a rock star, and despite all the grief, the Sprit was clearly winning. Perhaps a similar sense of humor is deployed in Jesus' enigmatic appraisal of the mere two swords (Luke 22:38). Our adjective is used 41 times, see full concordance, and from it in turn come:
  • The noun ικετης (hiketes), which describes someone who comes looking for aid or protection: a suppliant. In Homer this word occurs frequently in descriptions of murderers looking for forgiveness and purification (Il.24.158). Post Homer, this word came to describe a class of pilgrims, specifically those who traveled to healing shrines looking for medical aid. This noun is not used in the New Testament but from it comes:
    • The noun ικετηρια (hiketeria), which describes an act or instance of supplication, or an object associated to that: in particular an olive branch that was carried by the supplicants and which was offered to the target deity as an embodiment of their ailment. This ancient European custom is obviously commented upon in the Hebrew story of Noah and the dove (see the name Jonah) who first couldn't find footing in the wet mud (see the name Javan), which was slowly getting drier and wider (see the name Japheth), until it found a fresh olive leaf (see זית, zayit, olive, and the name Olivet). For a more detailed discussion of these patterns, see our article on the term εφφαθα (ephphatha). Our noun ικετηρια (hiketeria) occurs in the New Testament in Hebrews 5:7 only.
  • Together with (1) the preposition παρα (para), meaning near or nearby, and (2) the pronoun αυτος (autos), meaning self: the adverb παραυτικα (parautika), literally meaning "arriving almost this self-same moment" or instantaneously, but used to mean momentarily or temporarily (as in "gone pretty much this self-same moment"). In the classics, there is also the variant παραυτα (parauta), which has a similar meaning but lacks the kinetic portent of our verb ικω (iko). Our adverb παραυτικα (parautika) occurs in 2 Corinthians 4:17 only.
ικμας

The noun ικμας (ikmas) means wetness (Luke 8:6 only). The "-mas" part is very common in Greek and mostly corresponds to "-ness" in English. The rest of our word is thought to stem from the widely attested Proto-Indo-European root "seykw-", meaning to moisten (hence the crude but ever useful Dutch verb zeiken, to piss, as well as the English noun "sea"). But alternatively, our noun may share its root with the above, which would be the similar but distinct (and rather poorly attested root) "seyk-", probably meaning something like to reach for or set foot on. But in that case, our noun ικμας (ikmas) may have been named after the sudden coming of most forms of water: whether rain or dew or a river coming down the mountains.

A second alternative theory (which appears to be unique to us here at Abarim Publications) is that the verb ικω (iko), to come or bring (see above) plus all its derivatives, were considered expressive of a kind of liquidity, which in this case would be a large people movement. This is an enticing idea because many of the famous "Sea" Peoples who flooded the Egyptians territories just prior to the Bronze Age Collapse didn't come by sea but by land, namely via Canaan. It may be, or so we here propose, that these peoples were not called after the terrain they approached from but rather after the internal (political and cultural) consistency they lacked.

ιχνος

The noun ιχνος (ichnos) means track or trace (Romans 4:12, 2 Corinthians 12:18 and 1 Peter 2:21 only). In the classics this word is mostly used to refer to a visible series of footsteps or hoof tracks of people (soldiers), horses or wild game. It was also used metaphorically, in the sense of seeing no trace of something or someone elusive, or hitting upon the trail of something or someone. On occasion, our word could be used to refer to the physical foot (as in "we hoofed it"), or to a trail or established route through a desert.

The etymology of our noun ιχνος (ichnos) is formally unknown. Some (like Spiros Zodhiates) declare it part of the cluster of words that derived from the verb ικω (iko), to come or bring (see above). Others (Robert Beekes, Emile Boisacq) reject this but offer no further ideas to this word's pedigree. Here at Abarim Publications we don't know either, of course, but we are rather struck by its similarity with the Hebrew verb כנן (kanan) or כון (kun), meaning to set or establish (and see our article on the many Hebrew roots of Greek). From this noun derives:

  • Together with the familiar particle of negation α (a), meaning without, and the preposition εκ (ek), meaning out or from: the adjective ανεξιχνιαστος (anexichniastos), meaning unable to be tracked out (Romans 11:33 and Ephesians 3:8 only). This word appears to be coined by the Septuagint translators of Job 5:9, and does not appear anywhere until Paul's epistles.