Understanding the Meaning of Airo in Greek

αἴρω expresses the concrete action “to take up,” whether lifting, carrying, removing, or receiving something taken up. In the passages below it is heard in commands, narrative descriptions, and proverbial statements where something is borne, picked up, or taken away.

Occurrences

Matthew 4:6 — and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Here αἴρω appears in the promise that angels will “bear you up.” The action is protective lifting: the person is taken up onto supportive hands so the foot is not struck. The focus is not on where the person is moved, but on the act of being held up and carried so harm is avoided.

Matthew 9:6 — But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins-” (then he said to the paralytic), “Get up, and take up your mat, and go to your house.”

αἴρω is used in a direct command to the paralytic: he is to “take up” his mat. The word ties the healing to an observable act of lifting and carrying something that previously marked his condition. The command makes the restoration public and practical: the former bed is now an item he can pick up and transport as he goes home.

Matthew 9:16 — No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made.

In this saying about a patch on an old garment, αἴρω describes what the patch does: it “tear[s] away,” i.e., it is taken up from the garment rather than staying attached. The taking up is not purposeful carrying but removal caused by mismatch; the result is damage, “a worse hole,” because what is taken up leaves loss behind.

Matthew 11:29 — Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.

αἴρω is framed as an invitation: “Take my yoke upon you.” The action is deliberate acceptance of a load—taking up something placed “upon” oneself. The verb communicates a chosen act of lifting into position and bearing what is offered, paired here with learning and promised rest.

Matthew 13:12 — For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

αἴρω appears in the passive idea “will be taken away,” portraying loss by removal. What someone “has” is pictured as something that can be lifted off and removed from them. The taking up is figurative but still concrete in imagery: possession is treated like an object that can be picked up and carried away from its holder.

Matthew 14:12 — His disciples came, and took the body, and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Here αἴρω describes the disciples’ handling of a corpse: they “took the body” in order to bury it. The verb bears the weight of physical lifting and carrying in a solemn context. It marks the transition from death to burial by focusing on the act of taking up the body for the next necessary task.

Matthew 14:20 — They all ate, and were filled. They took up twelve baskets full of that which remained left over from the broken pieces.

αἴρω is used for gathering leftovers: “They took up twelve baskets full.” The action is collecting what is scattered (“broken pieces”) and lifting it into containers. The verb makes the abundance tangible by describing the aftermath in terms of what can be picked up and measured as carried-away baskets.

Matthew 15:37 — They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

As in the earlier feeding scene, αἴρω expresses the cleanup and collection: “They took up seven baskets full.” The word again depicts lifting what remains and carrying it off, emphasizing that fullness is followed by a surplus that can still be taken up.

Matthew 16:24 — Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

αἴρω is joined to discipleship: “take up his cross.” The verb retains its concrete sense of lifting and bearing, now applied to an object associated with suffering and public identification. The command places the act of taking up alongside self-denial and following, making the physical imagery serve a life-direction demand.

Matthew 17:27 — But, lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that, and give it to them for me and you.”

αἴρω occurs twice in this scene. First, it is used for the fisherman’s act: “take up the first fish that comes up,” a straightforward lifting from the sea once it is caught. Then it is used again for the coin: “Take that, and give it to them,” describing the receipt of the found coin and its transfer onward as payment. In both uses the verb links discovery to possession through the act of taking up.

Matthew 20:14 — Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.

Here αἴρω is part of a dismissal: “Take that which is yours, and go your way.” The taking up is the act of receiving what belongs to someone—lifting it into one’s possession and departing. The verb’s concreteness supports the scene’s fairness dispute by casting the payment as something one can pick up and leave with.

Matthew 21:21 — Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith, and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done.

αἴρω appears in the passive command directed at the mountain: “Be taken up and cast into the sea.” The verb depicts the mountain as an object that can be lifted from its place. The imagery is extreme—something immovable treated as liftable—so that the taking up itself becomes the vivid picture of what is commanded.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, αἴρω consistently contributes the picture of an object or person brought up from where it lies or stands and carried, borne, removed, or received. The range can be traced by watching what is taken up: a person supported (“bear you up,” Matthew 4:6), an everyday object carried as proof of healing (a mat, Matthew 9:6), material detached by strain (a patch that “tear[s] away,” Matthew 9:16), and a yoke accepted as something to bear (Matthew 11:29). Even where the object is intangible in the immediate setting—what someone “has” in Matthew 13:12—the verb still imagines it as graspable and removable.

Narrative uses emphasize physical handling and movement. Taking up a body for burial (Matthew 14:12) is weighty and purposeful; taking up fragments into baskets (Matthew 14:20; 15:37) is practical and measuring, turning scattered remnants into carried fullness. In Matthew 17:27, the verb bridges two linked actions—lifting a fish from the sea and then taking up the coin from its mouth—so that provision is expressed as something literally picked up and handed over. In Matthew 20:14 the command to take what is one’s own treats the wage as something received in hand and carried away, fitting the scene’s emphasis on entitlement and departure.

Several sayings use αἴρω to intensify moral or spiritual instruction through concrete burden-language. “Take up his cross” (Matthew 16:24) is phrased as a physical lifting, so following is imagined as bearing something real and heavy. “Be taken up and cast into the sea” (Matthew 21:21) heightens the imagery further: if even a mountain could be lifted, then the act of taking up becomes a vivid way to speak of commanded change. In each case, αἴρω supplies the action-image of lifting into movement—whether the movement is onto hands, onto one’s shoulders, away from a garment, out of the sea, into baskets, out of one’s possession, or off the landscape itself.

Imagery

The repeated scenes of taking up build a world where outcomes are made visible by what is lifted and carried. Healing is shown by a mat taken up (Matthew 9:6); abundance is shown by baskets taken up (Matthew 14:20; 15:37). Loss is expressed by what is “taken away” (Matthew 13:12) or “tear[s] away” (Matthew 9:16). Support and safety are pictured as being borne up on hands (Matthew 4:6), while commitment is pictured as a yoke taken upon oneself (Matthew 11:29) and a cross taken up while following (Matthew 16:24). Even the mountain image (Matthew 21:21) depends on the same simple motion: to take up is to shift what seemed fixed into carried movement.

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).