Greek word · G2427

ἱκανόω

hikanoō

to qualify

To make sufficient, qualify, make adequate or fit for a task. It appears in the NT only here and Col 1:12. It is related to hikanos ('sufficient, competent') and hikanotēs ('sufficiency').

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἱκανόω, -ῶ

(ἱκανός), [in LXX chiefly for רַב ;]

to make sufficient, render fit: with dupl. accusative, 2 Corinthians 3:6; with accusative of person(s) before εἰς, Colossians 1:12.†

(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 2 Corinthians 3:6

Range of meaning

To make sufficient, qualify, make adequate or fit for a task. It appears in the NT only here and Col 1:12. It is related to hikanos ('sufficient, competent') and hikanotēs ('sufficiency').

Against the English

'Qualified' (BSB), 'competent' (NIV), 'sufficient' (ESV, WEB), 'able' (KJV) all fit. The point is that the qualification is given, not earned or certified by credentials.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word thread runs 2:16 ('who is sufficient [hikanos] for these things?'), 3:5 ('not that we are sufficient [hikanoi] of ourselves... our sufficiency [hikanotēs] is from God'), 3:6 ('who made us sufficient'). Many scholars (e.g. Hafemann) hear an echo of Moses' protest in Exod 4:10 LXX, 'I am not sufficient' (ouch hikanos eimi). That echo would fit the Moses comparison that follows in vv.7-18. It is a probable allusion, not a certain one.

From the study of Colossians 1:12

Range of meaning

To make ἱκανός, meaning sufficient, adequate, competent, fit. With a person as object it means to authorize someone, make them eligible, or equip them for a role or a benefit. BDAG gives 'make sufficient, qualify'.

Against the English

BSB/ESV/NIV 'qualified'; KJV/YLT 'made us meet' (archaic 'meet' = fit, suitable); WEB 'made us fit'; NLT 'enabled'. To a modern reader 'qualified' can suggest credentials you earned or a test you passed. 'Meet' in the KJV is now mostly misheard. The Greek stresses that the Father did the qualifying: the eligibility is something he conferred.

How it drifted

The Latin Vulgate rendered it 'dignos nos fecit' ('made us worthy'), and the Douay-Rheims followed with 'made us worthy'. That pulled the sense toward moral worthiness. The Greek is about adequacy and entitlement granted by God.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only here and 2 Cor 3:6 in the NT ('who made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant'), where Paul has just said 'our sufficiency [hikanotēs] is from God' (3:5). The related adjective hikanos renders the divine name Shaddai in the Greek Old Testament ('ho hikanos', Ruth 1:20–21; Job 21:15). The verb is rare in the Septuagint.

Similar words

Where it appears

2 Corinthians · 1

  1. 2 Corinthians 3:6 ἱκάνωσεν has made competent

    And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

    Here: 'Made us sufficient / up to the task.' It answers the question of 2:16, 'Who is sufficient (hikanos) for these things?' The past tense points to a definite act, most likely Paul's call and commissioning.

Colossians · 1

  1. Colossians 1:12 ἱκανώσαντι having qualified

    giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

    Here: Aorist participle: a single completed act of God in the past. He made them adequate and entitled to receive a share, the way someone with authority declares a person eligible. It is not something they earned.

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