Basic HTML Version
1.
(
# &
, 2068) signifies “to eat” (as distinct from
, “to drink”); it is a
lengthened form from
(Lat.,
;
cf. Eng., “edible”); in Heb. 10:27, metaphorically,
“devour”; it is said of the ordinary use of food and drink, 1 Cor. 9:7; 11:22; of partaking
of food at table, e.g., Mark 2:16; of reveling, Matt. 24:49; Luke 12:45. Cf. the
strengthened, form
, and the verb
$
, below. See
DEVOUR
.
2.
(
1
, 5315), “to eat, devour, consume,” is obsolete in the present and
other tenses, but supplies certain tenses which are wanting in No. 1, above. In Luke 8:55
the
KJV
has “(to give her) meat,” the
RV
“(that something be given her) to eat.” The idea
that this verb combines both “eating” and “drinking,” while No. 1 differentiates the one
from the other, is not borne out in the NT The word is very frequent in the Gospels and is
used eleven times in 1 Cor. See also No. 3. See
MEAT
.
3.
(
$0
, 5176), primarily, “to gnaw, to chew,” stresses the slow process; it is
used metaphorically of the habit of spiritually feeding upon Christ, John 6:54, 56-58 (the
aorists here do not indicate a definite act, but view a series of acts seen in perspective); of
the constant custom of “eating” in certain company, John 13:18; of a practice unduly
engrossing the world, Matt. 24:38.
In John 6, the change in the Lord’s use from the verb
<
=
to the stronger
verb
, is noticeable. The more persistent the unbelief of His hearers, the more
difficult His language and statements became. In vv. 49 to 53 the verb
is used; in
54, 58,
(in v. 58 it is put into immediate contrast with
). The use of
in
Matt. 24:38 and John 13:18 is a witness against pressing into the meaning of the word the
sense of munching or gnawing; it had largely lost this sense in its common usage.¶
4.
$
(
"
, 1089), primarily, “to cause to taste, to give one a taste of,” is used
in the middle voice and denotes (a) “to taste,” its usual meaning; (b) “to take food, to
eat,” Acts 10:10; 20:11; 23:14; the meaning to taste must not be pressed in these
passages, the verb having acquired the more general meaning. As to whether Acts 20:11
refers to the Lord’s Supper or to an ordinary meal, the addition of the words “and eaten”
is perhaps a sufficient indication that the latter is referred to here, whereas v. 7, where the
single phrase “to break bread” is used, refers to the Lord’s Supper. A parallel instance is
found in Acts 2:43, 46. In the former verse the phrase “the breaking of bread,”
unaccompanied by any word about taking food, clearly stands for the Lord’s Supper;
whereas in v. 46 the phrase “breaking bread at home” is immediately explained by “they
did take their food,” indicating their ordinary meals. See
TASTE
.
5.
(
$0
, 977), “to eat,” is derived from a root,
, “to devour”
(likewise seen in the noun
, “food, meat”; cf Eng., “carnivorous,” “voracious,”
from Lat.
2 @
). This verb is found in John 6:13. The difference between this and
, No. 2, above, may be seen perhaps in the fact that whereas in the Lord’s question
to Philip in v. 5,
intimates nothing about a full supply, the verb
, in v. 13,
indicates that the people had been provided with a big meal, of which they had partaken
eagerly.¶