To famish (absolutely or comparatively); figuratively, to crave
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Πεινάω (peinaō) means to hunger, experience lack of food, or strongly long for what is needed. Jesus becomes hungry after fasting, affirming His genuine bodily weakness within faithful resistance to temptation.
Reader summary
Full entry for πεινάω (G3983) · Open the biblical lexicon
Πεινάω (peinaō) means to hunger, experience lack of food, or strongly long for what is needed. Jesus becomes hungry after fasting, affirming His genuine bodily weakness within faithful resistance to temptation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include were hungry (4), He was hungry (3), hungry (2), I was hungry (2), is hungry (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (9), Luke (5), 1 Corinthians (3), Mark (2).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Πεινάω (peinaō) means to hunger, experience lack of food, or strongly long for what is needed. Jesus becomes hungry after fasting, affirming His genuine bodily weakness within faithful resistance to temptation. He appeals to David's hunger when answering accusations against His disciples, placing human need within scriptural interpretation of Sabbath and sacred bread.
Mary's song says God fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty, celebrating a kingdom reversal. Jesus names Himself the bread of life and promises that those coming to Him will not hunger, using bodily need to describe the lasting satisfaction found in believing union with Him. Romans commands feeding a hungry enemy, turning enemy love into concrete provision.
Literal hunger and spiritual longing must be distinguished without despising either.
Πεινάω describes hunger and need. Jesus hungers physically, David's hunger informs mercy, God fills the hungry, Christ satisfies those who come to Him, and believers feed hungry enemies.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
After forty days of fasting Jesus is genuinely hungry, yet He refuses to use sonship to escape obedient dependence on God's word.
Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
Jesus recalls David and his companions hungry and in need, challenging Sabbath accusation through Scripture's treatment of necessity and mercy.
He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
Mary praises God for filling hungry people with good things while sending the rich empty, announcing reversal under God's covenant mercy.
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
Jesus identifies Himself as the bread of life and promises enduring satisfaction to those who come and believe, without denying believers' later bodily need.
On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Paul commands feeding an enemy who is hungry, making nonretaliation active mercy rather than passive refusal to harm.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Physical hunger and spiritual craving for righteousness use the same verb, emphasizing their parallel intensity.
Physical hunger and spiritual craving for righteousness use the same verb, emphasizing their parallel intensity.
to hunger, be hungry: Mat.4:2 12:1, 3 21:18 25:35, 37 25:42, 44, Mrk.2:25 11:12, Luk.1:53 4:2 6:3, Rom.12:20" (LXX), 1Co.4:11 11:21 11:34 Php.4:12, Rev.7:16; metaphorically, Mat.5:6, Luk.6:21, 25, Jhn.6:35.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 23 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
Read verseI am hungry, needy
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.
How this verb appears across 21 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)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 23 lexical occurrence verses.
πεινάω is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Hunger names dependence that pride tries to conceal. Jesus' empty stomach in the wilderness confirms true humanity, while His refusal of the tempter shows that bodily urgency does not authorize disobedience. David's hunger helps Jesus expose interpretation that protects rules while neglecting mercy and need. Mary's song announces that God sees hungry people and overturns the self-confidence of the rich.
John 6 uses hunger's recurring ache to reveal Christ as the bread whose life finally satisfies believers, though the Gospel never turns that promise into denial of physical care. Romans brings theology to the enemy's table: feeding a hungry opponent refuses vengeance and imitates God's mercy. Churches should address real food insecurity, resist shaming need, proclaim Christ as life, and treat hungry enemies as neighbors to feed rather than threats to punish.
Matt.4.2
Πεινάω is a verb for being hungry or lacking food and can extend metaphorically to strong desire. Complements and explicit food or righteousness language identify the object of longing.
God feeds Israel in the wilderness, laws protect hungry neighbors, prophets promise abundance, Jesus feeds crowds and offers Himself as bread, and disciples feed even enemies.