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epididōmi

ἐπιδίδωμι

GreekG1929give, hand, ...

Appears 10 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 7:9Mat 7:10Luk 4:17Luk 11:11 (2×)Luk 11:12Luk 24:30Luk 24:42Act 15:30Act 27:15
Compound of
Word studyep-ee-DEE-doh-meeverb

What epididōmi means

1

to hand something over: to put a thing straight into the hands of the person it is meant for

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary Greek verb for giving, δίδωμι, with a prefix that aims the act at whoever is receiving. The picture is a handoff: the thing passes out of one person's hands into another's, with both of them present.

Most of its appearances sit in scenes of food. Jesus asks what sort of father, asked by his son for bread, would hand him a stone instead, or a snake in place of a fish, or a scorpion in place of an egg. On the road to Emmaus he breaks the bread and keeps passing it to his two companions. Back in Jerusalem the disciples hand him a piece of cooked fish. The word itself says nothing about the giver's motive; it simply names the passing over, and the scene supplies the warmth or the cruelty.

The other use is more formal. Everyday Greek used this verb for handing in an official document, and Luke uses it that way twice: the scroll of Isaiah is handed to Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth, and the letter from the Jerusalem leaders is delivered to the assembled church at Antioch. The act is public and deliberate, and the document reaches exactly the people it was written for.

Its near neighbors pull in other directions. The verb for handing over, παραδίδωμι, usually puts a person into someone else's power, and the verb for giving back, ἀποδίδωμι, returns what is owed. This word makes no such claim: it is the plain act of passing something to the one standing in front of you.

Nuances

1ato put an object straight into another person's hands, as food is passed to someone at a meal
TranslatabilityDirect
Mat 7:9Mat 7:10Luk 11:11 (2×)Luk 11:12Luk 24:30Luk 24:42
1bto deliver a written document to the person or group it is meant for
Luk 4:17Act 15:30
2

to give way: to stop resisting a force and let it carry you along

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

This use turns up once, in the storm at sea in Acts 27. The ship is caught by the wind and cannot head into it, so the crew give way and are carried along. Nothing is said to be handed to anyone; the sailors simply stop fighting and let the ship run before the weather.

Greek writers outside the Bible use the verb in this way of yielding, and sailors used it of surrendering a ship to wind or current. Some read the sentence as leaving an object unstated, so that the crew hand the ship (or themselves) over to the wind. Either way the English comes out much the same: "we gave way to it and were driven along."

Act 27:15

What scholars say about epididōmi

BDAG treats ἐπιδίδωμι under two heads: transitively "give, hand over, deliver, surrender" (Matthew 7:9, 10; Luke 4:17; 11:11, 12; 24:30, 42; Acts 15:30), and intransitively "give way" of a ship yielding to the wind at Acts 27:15, where an ellipsis of an object such as τὸ πλοῖον or ἑαυτούς is sometimes posited instead. LSJ registers both the transitive "give over, deliver" (used especially of letters and documents) and an intransitive "give in, give way," alongside the classical "give besides" that the New Testament does not attest. Moulton and Milligan document the verb as a standard term in the papyri for handing in a petition or official document, which supports the formal coloring of Luke 4:17 and Acts 15:30; Fitzmyer takes the passive ἐπεδόθη at Luke 4:17 of the attendant's handing the Isaiah scroll to Jesus in the synagogue service. Barrett discusses the participle ἐπιδόντες at Acts 27:15 as a nautical usage and weighs whether an object is to be supplied.

Where scholars disagree about epididōmi

Whether ἐπιδίδωμι has a genuinely intransitive "give way" use at Acts 27:15, or whether the verb stays transitive there with an unexpressed object (the ship, or the crew themselves) surrendered to the wind.

  • majorityThe verb is used intransitively at Acts 27:15 in a nautical sense, "give way, yield," and is listed as a separate lexical head.; BDAG, s.v. ἐπιδίδωμι; LSJ, s.v. ἐπιδίδωμι
  • minorityThe verb remains transitive, with an object such as τὸ πλοῖον or ἑαυτούς understood from context, so the construction is elliptical rather than a distinct intransitive sense.; C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles (ICC)

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ἐπιδίδωμιlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἐπιδίδωμιlexicon
  • EDNT, s.v. ἐπιδίδωμιdictionary
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testamentlexicon
  • C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles (ICC)commentary
  • J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (Anchor Bible)commentary

All attested forms of ἐπιδίδωμι

future active indicative 3s

ἐπιδώσει

Mat 7:9, Mat 7:10, Luk 11:11, Luk 11:11, Luk 11:12

aorist active indicative 3p

ἐπέδωκαν

Luk 24:42, Act 15:30

aorist passive indicative 3s

ἐπεδόθη

Luk 4:17

imperfect active indicative 3s

ἐπεδίδου

Luk 24:30

second-aorist active participle nominative m p

ἐπιδόντες

Act 27:15