Strong’s G4441 · Greek

πυνθάνομαι
pynthánomai

Definition

to question, i.e. ascertain by inquiry (as a matter of information merely; and thus differing from G2065 (ἐρωτάω), which properly means a request as a favor; and from G154 (αἰτέω), which is strictly a demand for something due; as well as from G2212 (ζητέω), which implies a search for something hidden; and from G1189 (δέομαι), which involves the idea of urgent need); by implication, to learn (by casual intelligence)

Etymology

middle voice prolonged from a primary (which occurs only as an alternate in certain tenses);

Where the KJV renders it

  • ask
  • demand
  • enquire
  • understand

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.