the Third Week of Advent
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #2770 - κερδαίνω
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- to gain, acquire, to get gain
- metaph.
- of gain arising from shunning or escaping from evil (where we say "to spare one's self", "be spared")
- to gain any one i.e. to win him over to the kingdom of God, to gain one to faith in Christ
- to gain Christ's favour and fellowship
- Book
- Word
- Parsing
did not use
this Strong's Number
κερδ-αίνω,
fut. - ᾰνῶ A. Pr. 876, Lys. 8.20, etc.; Ion. - ανέω Hdt. 1.35, 8.60. γ; κερδήσω AP 9.390 (Menecr.), Ephesians 4:13, κερδήσομαι Hdt. 3.72: aor. 1 ἐκέρδᾱνα Pi. I. 5(4).27, And. 1.134 codd., etc.; Ion. - ηνα Hom. Epigr. 14.6, Hdt. 8.5, also ἐκέρδησα Id. 4.152, Hld. 4.13, etc.: pf. κεκέρδαγκα D.C. 53.5, κεκέρδᾰκα Aristid. 1.366 J., Ach.Tat. 5.25, Phalar. 81.2, etc., κεκέρδηκα D. 56.30 (προς -), J. BJ 1.20.2: — Pass., aor. part. κερδανθείς Phld. Oec. p.67 J.: pf. κεκερδημένος J. AJ 18.6.5: (κέρδος): —
I
1. gain, derive profit or advantage, κακὰ κ. make unfair gains, Hes. Op. 352; μέγιστα ἐκ φορτίων Hdt. 4.152; τί κερδανῶ; what shall I gain ? Ar. Nu. 259; κ. τινί gain by a thing, E. HF 604; σμικρὰ κερδανῶ φυγῇ A. Ag. 1301; κέρδος κ. S. OT 889 (lyr.); κ. ἓξ τάλαντα And. l. c.; τὸν χρόνον κερδαίνει ὃν ἔζη οὐ προσῆκον αὐτῷ Lys. 13.84; κ. λόγον win fame, Pi. I. 5(4).27; χρηστὰ κ. ἔπη receive fair words, S. Tr. 231: c. part., gain by doing.., εἰ δὲ κερδανῶ λέγων E. Hel. 1051 (prob.); πολεμοῦντες οὐ κερδαίνομεν Ar. Av. 1591, cf. Th. 5.93; οὐδὲν ἐκμαθοῦσα κερδανεῖς A. Pr. 876; Μεγάροισι κερδανέομεν περιεοῦσι we shall gain by Megara's preservation, Hdt. 8.60. γ; also κ. ὅτι.. Hp. Art. 46: — Pass., τὰ κερδανθέντα Phld.l.c.
2. abs., make profit, gain advantage, Hdt. 8.5, Ar. Pl. 520; τοῦ κ. ἔχου S. Fr. 28, cf. 354; ἐξ ἅπαντος, ἀπὸ παντός, Id. Ant. 312, X. Mem. 2.9.4; παρά τινων Lys. 20.7; πρὸς σοῦ S. Tr. 191; opp. τὸ τιμᾶσθαι, Th. 2.44; traffic, make merchandise, S. Ant. 1037.
II in bad sense, reap disadvantage from a thing, διπλᾶ δάκρυα κ. E. Hec. 518; κερδᾶναι τὸν πολὺ χείρω βίον ἀντὶ θανάτου X. Revelation 9:1-21.
III save or spare oneself, avoid, μεγάλα κακά Philem. 92.10; ὕβριν Acts 27:21; τὸ μὴ μιανθῆναι τὰς χεῖρας J. AJ 2.3.2; ἐνόχλησιν D.L. 7.14, cf. Him. Or. 2.26, AP 10.59 (Pall.).
κερδαίνω: (future κερδήσω, James 4:13 Rec.bez elz L T Tr WH; see also below); 1 aorist ἐκέρδησα (an Ionic form from κερδάω, which later writers use for the earlier ἐκερδανα, see Lob. ad Phryn., p. 740; Alexander Buttmann (1873) Ausf. Sprchl. ii., p. 215; Winers Grammar, 87 (83); (Veitch, under the word)), once 1 aorist subjunctive κερδάνω (1 Corinthians 9:21 L T Tr (but WH (cf. also Griesbach note) read the future κερδάνω, cf. Buttmann, 60 (53); § 139, 38)); 1 future passive κερδηθήσομαι (the subjunctive κερδηθήσωνται, 1 Peter 3:1 R G is a clerical error (cf. references under the word καίω, at the beginning), for which L T Tr WH have restored κερδηθήσονται (cf. Buttmann, § 139, 38)); (from Hesiod down); (from κέρδος); to gain, acquire; (Vulg. passimlucrifacio (alsolucro, etc.));
a. properly: τόν κόσμον, Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25; money, Matthew 25:16 (L T WH),17,20,22; absolutely, to get gain, James 4:13.
b. metaphorically, α. with nouns signifying loss, damage, injury, it is used of the gain arising from shunning or escaping from the evil (where we say to spare oneself, be spared): τήν ὕβριν ταύτην καί ζημίαν, Acts 27:21; τό γέ μιανθῆναι τάς χεῖρας κερδαίνειν, to avoid the crime of fratricide, Josephus, Antiquities 2, 3, 2; ζημίαν, to escape a loss, Euripides, Cycl. 312; other examples in Kypke, Observations, ii., p. 139f β. τινα, to gain anyone i. e. to win him over to the kingdom of God, which none but the placable enter, Matthew 18:15; to gain one to faith in Christ, 1 Peter 3:1; 1 Corinthians 9:19-22; Χριστόν, to gain Christ's favor and fellowship, Philippians 3:8. Not found in the O. T.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights rserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com
** κερδαίνω ,
[in Sm.: Job 22:3 *;]
to gain: c. acc, Matthew 25:16-17; Matthew 25:20; Matthew 25:22; τ . κόσμον , Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36, Luke 9:25; absol., to make profit, get gain: James 4:13. Metaph., c. acc rei, to save oneself from, avoid: Acts 27:21 (Field, Notes, 145); c. acc pers., to gain, win: Matthew 18:15, 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, Philippians 3:8; pass., 1 Peter 3:1.†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
κερδαίνω is used absolutely, as in James 4:13, in P Oxy XII. 1477.10 (question to an oracle—iii/iv A.D.) εἶ κερδαίνω ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματ [ος; ";am I to profit by the transaction?"; (Edd.). Cf. Aristeas 270 ἐπανάγουσι πάντα πρὸς τὸ κερδαίνειν. For the translation ";and so have been spared this injury and loss"; in Acts 27:21 κερδῆσαί τε τὴν ὕβριν ταύτην καὶ τὴν ζημίαν, see Field Notes, p. 145.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.