G142 — αἴρω (aírō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G142
Original: αἴρω
Transliteration: aírō
Pronunciation: ah'-ee-ro
Part of Speech: Verb (primary root)
Root: Primary root; no derived etymology
Occurrences: 98 unique verses (110 tokens) in NT
First Occurrence: Matt 4:6 — "in [their] hands they shall bear (aírō) thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primary root; to lift up; by implication, to take up or away.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 15.024 — Carry, Bear
Other Domains:
20.003 — Destroy
20.004 — Kill
24.006 — Pain, Suffering
30.001 — To Think, Thought
57.017 — Lend, Loan, Interest, Borrow, Bank
90.014 — To Cause To Experience
Glosses: to carry (away), to carry off, to remove

Domain Neighbors (15.024 — Carry, Bear)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Primary Translation
G71	ἄγω	lead, bring
G321	ἀνάγω	bring up, lead up
G353	ἀναλαμβάνω	take up, receive up
G399	ἀναφέρω	bear, offer up, carry up
G667	ἀποφέρω	carry away, bring
G941	βαστάζω	bear, carry
G2507	καθαιρέω	take down, pull down
G4014	περιαιρέω	take away, remove
G5342	φέρω	bring, bear, carry

Morphological Distribution (101 parsed forms)¶

Category	Breakdown
Tense	Aorist 74 (68%), Present 21 (19%), Future 11 (10%), Perfect 2 (2%)
Voice	Active 90 (83%), Passive 18 (17%)
Mood	Indicative 53 (49%), Imperative 27 (25%), Participle 13 (12%), Subjunctive 8 (7%), Infinitive 7 (6%)

Note: The high imperative count (25%) reflects the frequency of direct commands ("take up thy bed," "take up his cross," "away with him"). The aorist dominance (68%) indicates punctiliar action — decisive removal or lifting rather than ongoing process.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
take up / Take up / took up / to take up / taking up / took ye up	27	28%
Take / to take / take / took / he took / and take / let him take	24	24%
taketh away / take away / taken away / shall be taken away / was taken away	18	18%
Away with / away / away with	9	9%
shall be taken / is taken / was taken up	5	5%
bear / they shall bear / which was borne	5	5%
lifted up / lifted	3	3%
Be thou removed	2	2%
Other (loosing, dost thou make, be put away, to carry)	5	5%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Mark	21	3.1
John	23	2.6
Matthew	20	1.9
Luke	20	1.7
Colossians	1	1.1
1 John	1	1.0
Acts	8	0.8
Ephesians	1	0.6
Revelation	2	0.5
1 Corinthians	1	0.2

Overwhelmingly Gospel-concentrated: 84 of 98 verses (86%) appear in the four Gospels. John has the highest absolute count (23), Mark the highest density (3.1 per 100 verses). Outside the Gospels, Acts accounts for most of the remaining uses (8). The epistles use it only 4 times total. Absent from Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1-2 Thessalonians, Pastorals, Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2-3 John, Jude.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Lifting / Carrying / Bearing Up¶

Matt 4:6 — "in [their] hands they shall bear thee up" (angels lifting)
Luke 4:11 — "in [their] hands they shall bear thee up" (parallel)
Matt 27:32 — "him they compelled to bear his cross" (Simon of Cyrene)
Mark 2:3 — "bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four"

2. Picking Up / Gathering Objects¶

John 5:8 — "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk"
John 5:9–12 — healed man "took up his bed, and walked" — Sabbath controversy centered on aírō
Mark 6:43 — "they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments"
Matt 14:20 — "they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full"
Matt 17:27 — "take up the fish that first cometh up"

3. Taking Up One's Cross (Discipleship)¶

Matt 16:24 — "let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me"
Mark 8:34 — "Whosoever will come after me... take up his cross"
Luke 9:23 — "take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke adds "daily")

4. Removal / Taking Away¶

Matt 13:12 — "from him shall be taken even that he hath" (parable of stewardship)
Matt 21:43 — "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you"
John 15:2 — "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away"
Luke 11:52 — "ye have taken away the key of knowledge"
Eph 4:31 — "Let all bitterness... be put away from you"
Col 2:14 — "took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross" (handwriting of ordinances)

5. Taking Away Sin¶

John 1:29 — "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world"
1 John 3:5 — "he was manifested to take away our sins"
1 Cor 5:2 — "that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you" (related: removal of the wicked)

6. Hostile Removal / "Away With!" (Demand for Death)¶

Luke 23:18 — "Away with this [man], and release unto us Barabbas"
John 19:15 — "Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him"
Acts 21:36 — "the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him"
Acts 22:22 — "Away with such a [fellow] from the earth"

7. Lifting Up (Voice, Eyes, Hand)¶

Luke 17:13 — "they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy"
Acts 4:24 — "they lifted up their voice to God with one accord"
Rev 10:5 — "the angel... lifted up his hand to heaven"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
κράββατος (krabbatos)	G2895	8x (8%)	"take up thy bed" — healing command
σταυρός (stauros)	G4716	8x (8%)	"take up his cross" — discipleship
κλάσμα (klasma)	G2801	7x (7%)	"took up fragments" — feeding miracles
λίθος (lithos)	G3037	7x (7%)	"took up stones" / "be thou removed" — stones lifted or moved
ἱμάτιον (himation)	G2440	7x (7%)	"take his garment/clothes" — urgency sayings
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous)	G2424	13x (13%)	Jesus as speaker or subject of aírō
δίδωμι (didōmi)	G1325	12x (12%)	"take from... give to" — redistribution pattern
τίθημι (tithēmi)	G5087	7x (7%)	"take up... lay down" — contrasting pair (John 10:18)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G522 ἀπαίρω (apaírō) — to lift off, remove (compound: apo + aírō; 3v)
G1808 ἐξαίρω (exaírō) — to remove out, put away (compound: ek + aírō)
G1869 ἐπαίρω (epaírō) — to raise up, lift up (compound: epi + aírō; 19v)
G3332 μεταίρω (metaírō) — to depart (compound: meta + aírō; 2v)
G4868 συναίρω (synaírō) — to reckon together (compound: syn + aírō; 3v)
G5229 ὑπεραίρω (hyperaírō) — to exalt beyond measure (compound: hyper + aírō; 3v)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
λαμβάνω (lambánō)	G2983	"take," "took"	lambánō = receive/grasp; aírō = lift/remove
βαστάζω (bastázō)	G941	"bear," "took up"	bastázō = carry a sustained weight/burden; aírō = initial lifting or decisive removal
φέρω (phérō)	G5342	"bear," "carry"	phérō = bring/convey toward; aírō = lift up or take away from
ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō)	G851	"taketh away," "take away"	aphairéō = specific removal/stripping off; aírō = broader: lift, carry, or remove
παραλαμβάνω (paralambánō)	G3880	"shall be taken," "taketh," "took"	paralambánō = take along/receive alongside; aírō = remove entirely
ἀναφέρω (anaphérō)	G399	"bear," "offer up"	anaphérō = carry upward / offer sacrificially; aírō = lift or remove without sacrificial connotation

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
נָשָׂא (nāśāʾ)	H5375	164	24.47	Primary OT equivalent — to lift, bear, carry, take away; same semantic breadth
אָרוֹן (ʾārôn)	H727	31	14.52	Ark (of covenant) — aírō used for "bearing" the ark
מַשָּׂא (massāʾ)	H4853	13	11.82	Burden, oracle — cognate of nāśāʾ
נֵס (nēs)	H5251	8	11.73	Banner, standard — "lift up a banner"
בְּרִית (berîṯ)	H1285	16	7.49	Covenant — "bear/carry the ark of the covenant"

The dominant Hebrew source is H5375 nāśāʾ (164 co-occurrences, PMI 24.47), which shares the same broad semantic range: physical lifting, bearing a burden, carrying away, and bearing/forgiving sin. The LXX translators chose aírō as the primary Greek rendering for nāśāʾ, creating a direct bridge between OT sin-bearing language and NT usage in John 1:29.