ἐπείνασεν

epeinasen

from the same as πένης (through the idea of pinching toil; "pine"); to famish (absolutely or comparatively); figuratively, to crave:--be an hungered.

G3983

Matthew 21:18 · Word #7

Lexicon G3983

Lemmaπεινάω
Transliterationpeináō
Strong'sG3983

Morphology V AOR ACT IND 3P SG All morphology codes

Part of Speech V — Verb — An action or state of being
Tense AOR — Aorist — Simple occurrence, often past
Voice ACT — Active — The subject performs the action
Mood IND — Indicative — States a fact or reality
Person 3P — 3rd person — The one spoken about ("he/she/it/they")
Number SG — Singular — One

Lexical Info

Lemmaπεινάω
Strong'sG3983

SIBI-P1 G3983-03

he/she/it was hungering

Rootπεινάω (peinaō)
Core Meaningsto hunger, to famish, to crave, to feel want
Semantic Rangeto experience physical hunger, to suffer want, to crave or long for something (literal or figurative), to be in need
Conceptual SignificanceIn biblical usage, hunger can denote literal physical need as well as spiritual longing (e.g., hunger for righteousness). The term often underscores human dependence, vulnerability, and the contrast between earthly need and divine provision.
Morphological NotesVerb; imperfect tense, active voice, indicative mood, 3rd person singular (Gr,V,IAA3,,S,). The imperfect indicates past continuous or repeated action.
Rendering RationaleThe verb πεινάω denotes the experience of hunger or craving. The imperfect active indicative (3rd person singular) expresses ongoing or continuous action in past time, so "was hungering" preserves the progressive aspect rather than a simple past "was hungry."

AI-generated (openai/gpt-5.2-chat-latest)

Words from Root πεινάω (to hunger, to famish, to crave, to feel want)

SILEX Code Transliteration SIBI-P1
G3983-01 epeinasa I was hungering
G3983-02 epeinasan they were hungering
G3983-06 peinase he/she might hunger

Word Usage (23 occurrences of G3983)

Location Form Transliteration Meaning
Matthew 4:2 ἐπείνασεν epeinasen
Matthew 5:6 πεινῶντες peinontes
Matthew 12:1 ἐπείνασαν epeinasan