Greek word · G426

ἀνετάζω

anetazō

to question

To examine thoroughly or investigate, especially in a judicial setting. When used of a prisoner it regularly implies coercion. BDAG glosses it 'to give a judicial hearing, examine', usually with torture. In the New Testament it appears only here and in v. 29 ('those who were about to examine him').

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 07, 2026

What it means

ἀν-ετάζω

(ἀνά, ἐτάζω, to examine; see MM, VGT, see word), [in LXX: Judges 6:29 (דָּרַשׁ), Esther 2:23 (בָּקַשׁ), Da TH Su 1:14 * ;]

to examine judicially: Acts 22:24, 29..†

(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 Acts 22:24

Range of meaning: To examine thoroughly or investigate, especially in a judicial setting. When used of a prisoner it regularly implies coercion. BDAG glosses it 'to give a judicial hearing, examine', usually with torture. In the New Testament it appears only here and in v. 29 ('those who were about to examine him').
Against the English: KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB keep the formal word 'examined'. BSB and NIV say 'interrogated', which is closer. Today 'examined' suggests a doctor's check-up or an exam paper, so the brutality fades.
How it drifted: English 'examine' once commonly meant judicial interrogation, torture included. That legal sense has dropped out of everyday speech.
Used elsewhere in the period: The word is rare in Greek literature. It appears in the Septuagint at Judges 6:29 (in some manuscripts) for 'investigating' who tore down Baal's altar, and in papyri for official inquiries into suspects. Roman practice of the period (quaestio per tormenta, 'questioning through torments') routinely used torture on slaves and free non-citizens to get testimony. Roman citizens were legally exempt: Digest 48.6.7 on the Julian law about public violence, and the Sentences of Paulus 5.26.1.

Where it appears

Acts · 2

Acts 22:24 ἀνετάζεσθαι to be examined

the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.

Here: A formal legal word for questioning a suspect. Here, combined with 'by scourges', it means interrogation under torture: getting the truth out of someone by pain.
Acts 22:29 ἀνετάζειν. to examine.

At once those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

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