αἰτέω
aiteō
to ask
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word αἰτέω, as found in the Bible, is a verb that means "to ask". This simple yet versatile word is employed in a variety of situations, resulting in 70 occurrences within the biblical text. Its meaning is straightforward, encompassing a range of questions and requests from informal inquiries to formal petitions. The usage of αἰτέω spans different genres, including dialogue, prayers, and narrative descriptions of human interaction. This frequency and diversity suggest that asking is an essential aspect of human communication, and the concept is fundamental to relationships, problem-solving, and seeking guidance. The occurrence of this verb in numerous contexts underscores the importance of asking in various aspects of life. In essence, the data on αἰτέω in the Bible reveals that asking is a universal and essential human activity. Its prominence in the text highlights the significance of inquiry, dialogue, and seeking information or assistance, which are vital components of personal and social interaction. The prevalence of αἰτέω emphasizes the value of asking as a means of connection, growth, and problem-solving.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
70 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.
Matthew 6:8Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
Matthew 7:7“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
Matthew 7:8For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:9Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Matthew 7:10Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent?
Matthew 7:11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 14:7Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she should ask.
Matthew 27:58This man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up.
Matthew 18:19Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 20:20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
Matthew 20:22But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to him, “We are able.”
Matthew 21:22All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Matthew 27:20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
Mark 6:22When the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.”
Mark 6:23He swore to her, “Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
Mark 6:24She went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” She said, “The head of John the Baptizer.”
Mark 6:25She came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.”
Mark 10:35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask.”
Mark 10:38But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
Mark 11:24Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them.
Mark 15:8The multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do as he always did for them.
Mark 15:43Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body.
Luke 1:63He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled.
Luke 6:30Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again.
Luke 11:9“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
Luke 11:10For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Luke 11:11“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Luke 11:12Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he?
Luke 11:13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Luke 12:48but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
Luke 23:23But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the voices of the chief priests prevailed.
Luke 23:25He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus up to their will.
Luke 23:52this man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body.
John 4:9The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
John 4:10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
John 11:22Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”
John 14:13Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:14If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.
John 15:7If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
John 15:16You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
John 16:23“In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
John 16:24Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
John 16:24Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
John 16:26In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you that I will pray to the Father for you,
Acts 3:2A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple.
Acts 3:14But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
Acts 7:46who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
Acts 9:2and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 12:20Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus, the king’s personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.