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Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary: The New Testament Greek word: ερειδω

Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/DictionaryG/e/e-r-e-i-d-om.html

ερειδω

Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary

ερειδω

The verb ερειδω (ereido) means to fix firmly and occurs in the New Testament in Acts 27:41 only. But there's quite a lot more going on in this particular scene, too much even to allow a paint-by-number explanation. But here are some hints:

The word ανεμος (anemos) means wind but also spirit, and relates to large people movements as much as large air movements. Likewise, the sea was not merely a lot of water, but also a lot of thought (see our article on the noun νεφελη, nephele, cloud, for a look at the cognitive equivalent of the hydrological cycle). Moreover, the word for ship, namely ναυς (naus), closely resembles the word for temple, namely ναος (naos). From the verb κυβερναω (kubernao), to steer (a ship), came the English words government and cybernetics (i.e. the study of control).

Our verb ερειδω (ereido) is of obscure pedigree, but the Semitic root ערד ('arad), certainly jumps to mind. This root commonly describes a being wild and free, but commonly of animals like the wild ass, who were rather proverbially tamed and subsequently used to transport goods and people (not wholly unlike ships, and note the ostentatious role of the foal in Jesus' triumphal entry; Matthew 21:2).

Our verb is also often cited to relate to the Latin noun ridica, and its diminutive ridicula, which described props or stakes for fixing and supporting vines. These words in turn are suspiciously similar to the verb rideo, to laugh or mock, from which comes the familiar adjective ridiculus, which was absorbed into English as the adjective ridiculous. The origins (and thus possible relations) of these words are formally obscure, but any polyglottal poet would have had a field day with them. Jesus, the famous victim of both ridicule and mortal fixation, called himself the vine (John 15:5, also see Isaiah 5:1).

In our article on πνευμα (pneuma), which means both wind and spirit, we point out that words and thought relate like particles (or "dust") and energy (or "light" or "water"), and the two relate through the process of polarization, or καταλαμβανω (katalambano), to take down (John 1:5). The verb ερεω (ereo) means to verbally convey, and is not dissimilar to our verb ερειδω (ereido), to fix firmly.