Greek word · G399

ἀναφέρω

anapherō

to carry up

(1) To carry or bring up. (2) To offer up a sacrifice, literally carrying it up onto the altar. (3) To bear or take on oneself a burden or penalty (BDAG s.v.).

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀνα-φέρω

[in LXX chiefly for עָלָה hi., also for קָטַר hi., etc. ;]

1. to carry or lead up: with accusative of person(s), Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:2; pass., Luke 24:51 (WH, rejects, R, mg. omits); ἀ. τ. ἁμαρτίας ἐπί τ. ξύλον (see Deiss., 135, 88 f.; ICC, in l; MM, VGT, see word): 1 Peter 2:24.

2. In LXX and NT, to bring to the altar, to offer (see Hort on 1Pe, l.with): θυσίας, etc., Hebrews 7:27 13:15, 1 Peter 2:5; ἐπί τ. θυσιαστήριον, James 2:21 (see Mayor, in l).

3. to bear, sustain (cf. Numbers 14:33, Isaiah 53:12): Hebrews 9:28.†

(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 Hebrews 9:28

Range of meaning

(1) To carry or bring up. (2) To offer up a sacrifice, literally carrying it up onto the altar. (3) To bear or take on oneself a burden or penalty (BDAG s.v.).

Against the English

"Bear" (BSB, KJV, NIV) captures the burden-carrying sense but misses the altar sense. "Take away" (NLT) captures the result but loses the picture of carrying. The Greek holds both senses together.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 53:12 LXX: καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν, "and he himself bore the sins of many". Hebrews quotes this almost word for word. The verb is used for offering sacrifices in Heb 7:27 and 13:15, Jas 2:21, and often in the LXX of Leviticus. 1 Peter 2:24 uses it in the same double sense: "he himself bore our sins in his body onto the tree."

From the study of James 2:21

Range of meaning

Literally to carry or bring up. It is used of leading people up a mountain (Matt 17:1; Mark 9:2), of being carried up into heaven (Luke 24:51), and, most often in the Greek Old Testament, as a technical term for offering a sacrifice: bringing it up onto the altar (Gen 8:20; Lev 14:20; Heb 7:27; 1 Pet 2:5).

Against the English

BSB, KJV and NIV have 'offered'. ESV, NASB and WEB have 'offered up', which keeps the 'up' (onto the altar, up the mountain). YLT's 'having brought up' is the most literal.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Gen 22:2: 'offer him up (ἀνένεγκον) there as a whole burnt offering.' Gen 22:13: Abraham 'offered it up (ἀνήνεγκεν) as a whole burnt offering instead of Isaac his son.' Hebrews 11:17 tells the same event with the related verb προσφέρω in the perfect tense: 'he has offered up Isaac.'

From the study of Hebrews 13:15

Range of meaning

Literally 'carry up, bring up'. In sacrificial language it is the technical word for bringing an offering up onto the altar. More broadly it can mean 'bear (sins)' or 'refer (a matter) to someone'.

Against the English

'Offer' (KJV, BSB) is accurate but loses the picture of carrying something up to the altar. WEB and YLT's 'offer up' keep more of it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in the LXX for bringing up burnt offerings (e.g., Lev 14:20; Isa 57:6). In Hebrews: priests 'offer up' daily sacrifices, and Jesus 'offered up himself' once for all (7:27); Christ was 'offered to bear (anenenkein) the sins of many' (9:28). Compare James 2:21 (Abraham 'offered up' Isaac on the altar) and 1 Pet 2:5 ('to offer up spiritual sacrifices… through Jesus Christ').

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 17:1 ἀναφέρει brings up

    After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

    Here: Again a vivid present: 'he brings them up'. Here it just means leading them up the slope. Jesus leads and they follow.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 9:2 ἀναφέρει brings up

    After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them.

    Here: Another vivid present: "leads them up." The usual sense here is plain physical going up a slope. In the Greek Old Testament the same verb often means "offer up" a sacrifice, but here that is at most a faint undertone.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 24:51 ἀνεφέρετο was carried up

    While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.

    Here: Imperfect passive: 'was being carried up'. The tense shows a movement in progress that the disciples watch. The passive shows that someone else, by implication God, does the carrying.

Hebrews · 4

  1. Hebrews 7:27 ἀναφέρειν ἀνενέγκας. to offer up, having offered up.

    Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

    Here: A present infinitive, so it pictures the repeated act of 'carrying up' offerings onto the altar. This is the Greek Old Testament's regular verb for sacrifice (Genesis 8:20; 22:2).

  2. Hebrews 9:28 ἀνενεγκεῖν to bear

    so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

    Here: "To bear" or "carry up". It is the verb of Isaiah 53:12 in Greek, and it is also used for lifting a sacrifice up onto the altar (Heb 7:27; 13:15). The picture is of carrying the sins and taking them away by offering them up.

  3. Hebrews 13:15 ἀναφέρωμεν we may offer

    Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

    Here: The standard word for bringing a sacrifice up onto the altar. The form is a present-tense 'let us…', which suggests an ongoing habit: 'let us keep offering up.'

James · 1

  1. James 2:21 ἀνενέγκας having offered

    Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

    Here: The standard Greek Old Testament word for bringing a sacrifice up onto the altar. It is the same verb God uses in Genesis 22:2 (Greek), 'offer him up there'. The participle says when or how the verdict happened: in the act of offering. Isaac was not killed, but James counts the offering as done.

1 Peter · 2

  1. 1 Peter 2:5 ἀνενέγκαι to offer

    you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    Here: An aorist infinitive of purpose: 'in order to offer up.' In the Greek Old Testament this is the standard verb for bringing a sacrifice up onto the altar. The letter uses it again in 2:24, where Christ 'bore up' our sins onto the tree.

  2. 1 Peter 2:24 ἀνήνεγκεν bore

    He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”

    Here: A single, completed act. The verb draws on two backgrounds at once: Isaiah's servant who "bore" sins, and the temple word for "bringing up" a sacrifice onto the altar.

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