Greek word · G5229

ὑπεραίρω

hyperairō

be haughty

Active: to lift something over or above. Middle/passive: to rise above, be lifted up beyond the proper level, and so to exalt oneself, be overbearing, be puffed up.

Appears 3 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

ὑπερ-αίρω

[in LXX: 2 Chronicles 32:23 (נָשָׂא ni.), etc. ;]

to lift or raise over. Mid., to uplift oneself: 2 Corinthians 12:7; before ἐπί, with accusative, of person(s), 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (cf. 2Ma.5:23).†

(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 12:7

Range of meaning: Active: to lift something over or above. Middle/passive: to rise above, be lifted up beyond the proper level, and so to exalt oneself, be overbearing, be puffed up.
Against the English: KJV/WEB/YLT 'exalted above measure / excessively / overmuch' keeps the vertical picture. BSB/NIV/ESV 'becoming conceited' and NLT 'becoming proud' make it a personality flaw. NASB's 'exalting myself' sits in between.
Used elsewhere in the period: 2 Thess 2:4: the 'man of lawlessness' who 'exalts himself above every so-called god'. In the Greek Old Testament it is used of things rising above or surpassing others. Classical and papyrus usage includes physically going beyond a mark.

From the study of 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Range of meaning: "To lift up over". In the middle voice, "to raise oneself above, be overbearing, exalt oneself". It describes arrogance that oversteps its place.
Against the English: "Exalt himself" is a good rendering. NLT splits the phrase ("exalt himself and defy"). WEB's "against" brings out the hostility that ἐπί can carry.
Used elsewhere in the period: Paul uses it of himself in 2 Corinthians 12:7: the thorn was given "so that I would not exalt myself". The phrase it sits in, "over every god", echoes Greek Daniel 11:36, where a king "will exalt himself and magnify himself over every god". That prophecy described Antiochus IV, who desecrated the temple in 167 BC.

From the study of Sirach 36:22

Range of meaning: To raise above; in the middle form, to rise above, surpass, or exalt oneself.
Against the English: KJV and WEB turn the man into the subject ('a man loveth / desires nothing more'). In the Greek the beauty is the subject: it rises above every human desire. The sense comes out about the same, but the original sentence is built around the woman's beauty, not the man's wanting.
Used elsewhere in the period: 2 Corinthians 12:7 uses this verb for Paul being kept from being 'exalted above measure'. In the Septuagint it describes things rising above or exceeding something else.

Similar words

ὑπεράνω hyperanō · above

Where it appears

2 Corinthians · 2

2 Corinthians 12:7 ὑπεραίρωμαι, ὑπεραίρωμαι. I may become conceited,, I may become conceited.

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Here: 'Be lifted up over' the proper level. The present tense points to a continuing danger, an ongoing tendency to rise above measure, not one moment of vanity. It is a spatial picture of someone carried 'up' into heaven who might stay inflated.

2 Thessalonians · 1

2 Thessalonians 2:4 ὑπεραιρόμενος exalting himself

He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

Here: Middle voice, so the action is done to himself: "raising himself up over". This is self-promotion, not a rank anyone gives him. The present tense describes his ongoing character.

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