Greek word · G1593

ἐκνεύω

ekneuō

to withdraw

Literally 'to nod or turn the head away', and from that, 'to turn aside, withdraw, avoid, slip away'. Ancient grammarians and BDAG also note that the aorist form exeneusa matches the aorist of a different verb, ekneō, 'to swim out, escape', so the word could carry a sense of escaping.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐκ-νεύω

[in LXX: Judges 4:18 (סוּר) Judges 18:26, 2 Kings 2:24 (פָּנָה), Micah 6:14 (סוּג hi.), 3Ma.3:22 * ;]

1. to bend the head aside (Xen.).

2.

(a) to shun, avoid (Diod.);

(b) to withdraw: John 5:13†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 5:13

Range of meaning

Literally 'to nod or turn the head away', and from that, 'to turn aside, withdraw, avoid, slip away'. Ancient grammarians and BDAG also note that the aorist form exeneusa matches the aorist of a different verb, ekneō, 'to swim out, escape', so the word could carry a sense of escaping. Either way it describes an ordinary physical movement away from a place or person.

Against the English

BSB and NASB: 'slipped away'. WEB and ESV: 'withdrawn'. YLT: 'did move away'. KJV: 'conveyed himself away'. NIV and NLT add 'into the crowd' or say Jesus 'disappeared' into it. The Greek has no word for 'into'.

How it drifted

KJV's 'conveyed himself away' and NLT-style 'disappeared' can sound to modern ears like a supernatural vanishing. In 1611 'convey' simply meant to remove or carry off. The Greek verb is everyday and non-miraculous.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hapax legomenon in the NT, meaning it occurs only once. The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) uses it for ordinary turning: the Danites 'turned away' (Judg 18:26) and Elisha 'turned around' (2 Kgs 2:24). Josiah 'turned' and saw the tombs (2 Kgs 23:16). It also appears in 3 Maccabees. Classical writers use it for dodging a blow or avoiding something.

Where it appears

John · 1

  1. John 5:13 ἐξένευσεν moved away

    But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.

    Here: It appears only here in the New Testament. It describes an ordinary, unnoticed turning aside or slipping off, not a miraculous vanishing. The aorist presents it as a single completed act.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.