To straighten up
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Anakypto means to straighten up, rise from a bent position, or stand upright. Luke uses it for a woman who cannot straighten herself because of a long affliction and for disciples commanded to rise and lift their heads as redemption draws near.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀνακύπτω (G352) · Open the biblical lexicon
Anakypto means to straighten up, rise from a bent position, or stand upright. Luke uses it for a woman who cannot straighten herself because of a long affliction and for disciples commanded to rise and lift their heads as redemption draws near.
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include stand up (2), He straightened up (1), straightened up (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 13:11. Its strongest book concentrations include John (2), Luke (2).
Anakypto means to straighten up, rise from a bent position, or stand upright. Luke uses it for a woman who cannot straighten herself because of a long affliction and for disciples commanded to rise and lift their heads as redemption draws near. The received account in John 8 uses the verb when Jesus straightens after bending down, though that passage's well-known textual history requires explicit caution and prevents it from serving as the sole basis for doctrine.
The physical movement can contribute to a scene of restoration or hope, but the verb does not mean dignity, healing, or redemption by itself. Teachers should honor embodied suffering without ableist metaphor, let Jesus' words and actions govern application, and distinguish the lexical motion from the theological meaning supplied by each passage.
Anakypto means to straighten up, rise upright, or lift oneself from a bent posture, functioning in physical movement, healing context, and an eschatological command of hope.
When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
Within the received account, Jesus straightens up before answering the accusers with a searching challenge.
Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”
Within the received account, the repeated action marks Jesus turning His attention to the woman after the accusers leave.
And a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight.
The inability to straighten describes the woman's long embodied affliction before Jesus frees and restores her.
When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Jesus commands an upright posture of hope as His disciples recognize that redemption is drawing near.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. to straighten up
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I raise myself, look up
Read verseI raise myself, look up
Read verseI raise myself, look up
Read verseI raise myself, look up
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
ἀνακύπτω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Anakypto brings bodily posture into view, but the passage tells us what that posture means. Luke 13 describes a woman who has been unable to stand upright for eighteen years. Jesus sees her, calls her, frees her, and she glorifies God; the pastoral center is His compassionate authority, not a moral judgment on disability. Luke 21 commands disciples to stand and lift their heads because redemption is drawing near, so the posture expresses hope grounded in Jesus' promise.
John 8 uses the verb for Jesus straightening up within a received and beloved account, yet responsible teaching must acknowledge that passage's textual history and avoid building doctrine on it alone. Faithful application honors bodies, refuses shame, and rests hope in Christ rather than posture itself.
Luke.21.28
Anakypto is a motion verb for straightening or rising from a bent posture. Negation in Luke 13:11 describes inability, while the imperative in Luke 21:28 commands a hopeful response.
Scripture often portrays God as the One who raises the bowed and calls His people to hope, but those themes should be connected through explicit passages rather than read into posture alone.