Greek word · G5044
τεκνοτροφέω
teknotropheō
to raise children
To rear, nurture or bring up children: feeding, caring for and raising them. Used of animals rearing young as well as of humans. It describes raising children, not bearing them.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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 1 Timothy 5:10
- Range of meaning
To rear, nurture or bring up children: feeding, caring for and raising them. Used of animals rearing young as well as of humans. It describes raising children, not bearing them.
- Against the English
All major versions say '(has) brought up children'. NLT's 'her children' adds a possessive the Greek does not have.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found only here in the NT. In secular Greek it appears in Aristotle's writings on animals and in Epictetus (Discourses 1.23), where he criticises Epicurus for discouraging people from rearing children. The related noun teknotrophia also occurs.
Where it appears
1 Timothy · 1
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1 Timothy 5:10 ἐτεκνοτρόφησεν, she has brought up children,
and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.
Here: Aorist: looks back over her life as a completed whole: she has raised children. Only here in the NT. The word means bringing children up (feeding, nurturing, raising), not simply giving birth, and does not by itself specify whose children.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.