to praise God: to voice glad, public praise to God for who he is and what he has done
In the New Testament this verb means one thing: to praise God. That single focus is the result of a long narrowing. In older Greek the word ranged widely, covering telling a story, approving a plan, giving advice, even politely declining an offer, but by the time of the New Testament almost all of that had fallen away, leaving only praise directed to God.
The word gained this worshipful sense in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, where it became the standard rendering of the Hebrew הלל, the root behind the word "hallelujah" and the shouted, festival praise of the Psalms. Because of that history the word carries the flavor of Israel's temple worship: the congregation's glad, public, sung praise of God, not private reflection or quiet gratitude.
This is why the word is spread so unevenly across the New Testament. Most of its occurrences fall in Luke and Acts, whose author writes in a style that deliberately echoes the Old Testament and places praise at the high points of his story: the angels and shepherds at Jesus' birth, the disciples entering Jerusalem, the first believers, and the healed man at the temple gate. Outside Luke and Acts the word appears only when a writer is quoting or echoing the Psalms, as Paul does in Romans and John does in Revelation.
It sits among several words for honoring God, each with its own angle. To δοξάζω is to glorify, ascribing honor in a broader way than words alone; to εὐλογέω is to bless, said both of God blessing people and people blessing God; to εὐχαριστέω is to give thanks for benefits received; to ὑμνέω is to praise in song. This word's own note is the festival, Psalm-shaped shout of praise for who God is.
Whether αἰνέω stood in the original text of Luke 24:53, where the manuscripts diverge among "blessing God" (εὐλογοῦντες), "praising God" (αἰνοῦντες), and the conflate "praising and blessing God".
- majorityThe original read only εὐλογοῦντες ("blessing God"); the reference to praising is a later scribal addition, and the conflate reading is a harmonization, perhaps drawn to Luke 2:20. This is printed by the modern critical editions.; B. M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (1994), ad Luke 24:53; J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV (AB 28A, 1985), ad loc.
- minorityThe original included the reference to praising, since "to praise God" is characteristically Lukan language that could easily have dropped out by scribal accident.; H. A. W. Meyer, Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar uber das Neue Testament: Luke, ad 24:53