Understanding the Significance of Hairetizo in Greek

αἱρετίζω means “to choose,” and it appears in the New Testament in the citation of God’s servant in Matthew 12:18. In that setting it describes a deliberate selection that stands at the head of the servant’s mission.

Root and Related Words

αἱρετίζω is related to the verb haireomai (αἱρέω), “to choose” (Strong’s G138). The relationship signals that αἱρετίζω belongs to the same choosing-word group and expresses selection as an action.

Occurrences

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations.” (Matthew 12:18)

Here “I have chosen” identifies the servant as one singled out by the speaker. The choosing is not presented as a bare preference but as the foundation for everything that follows in the sentence: the servant is also called “my beloved,” the one “in whom my soul is well pleased.” The wording makes the choosing personal and evaluative—an act that sets the servant in a unique relationship to the chooser.

The verse then links that prior choice to two forward-looking actions. First, “I will put my Spirit on him” describes an endowment that fits the servant for the task ahead. Second, “He will proclaim justice to the nations” describes the servant’s outward activity and its scope. Within this tightly connected sequence, the choosing functions as the opening marker of authorization: the servant’s role, divine pleasure, spiritual appointment, and worldwide proclamation are portrayed as coherent parts of one commissioned identity. The verb therefore contributes a sense of intentional appointment that stands behind the servant’s public work.

Sense and Usage

The sense “to choose” in this passage is expressed in a way that highlights initiative and purpose. The chooser speaks in the first person—“whom I have chosen”—placing the selection entirely in the chooser’s action rather than in the servant’s self-assignment. The servant is introduced with “Behold,” which draws attention to him as the chosen one; in other words, the act of choosing establishes him as the figure to be regarded.

The immediate apposition “my beloved” and the clause “in whom my soul is well pleased” show that the choosing is accompanied by affection and approval. Choosing, in this literary frame, is not an isolated administrative decision; it is a selection that carries relational closeness and satisfaction. The verb thus participates in a cluster of expressions that present the servant as welcomed and embraced, not merely employed.

The future statements that follow show how this choosing is oriented toward a vocation. “I will put my Spirit on him” depicts a bestowal that equips, and “He will proclaim justice to the nations” depicts the servant’s resulting mission. The choice, then, is not only about identifying who the servant is, but also about setting the direction of what the servant will do. The choosing does not itself name the proclamation, yet it introduces the one who will carry it out; the servant’s authority to proclaim justice is framed as flowing from being chosen and endowed.

The reach of the servant’s work—“to the nations”—adds another shade to the usage. The choice concerns an individual (“my servant”) whose commission extends beyond a local or private sphere. In this way, “to choose” stands at the beginning of a movement from divine initiative to worldwide announcement. The verb marks a decisive start-point: the servant’s identity is grounded in being selected, and that selection is portrayed as sufficient to underwrite an expansive public mission.

Imagery

Matthew 12:18 presents choosing with a courtroom-and-mission atmosphere: justice is to be proclaimed, and the chosen servant is the appointed herald. The image is of a servant set forward under divine favor and divine Spirit, then sent outward with a message that reaches “the nations.”

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).