To take up (literally or figuratively)
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.
G399 describes carrying or bringing something upward and, in sacrificial settings, offering it; the verb can also describe bearing sins or taking someone up a mountain. Its meaning depends strongly on the object and setting, so physical carrying, priestly offering, Christ bearing sins, and believers offering praise must remain related but distinct uses.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀναφέρω (G399) · Open the biblical lexicon
G399 describes carrying or bringing something upward and, in sacrificial settings, offering it; the verb can also describe bearing sins or taking someone up a mountain. Its meaning depends strongly on the object and setting, so physical carrying, priestly offering, Christ bearing sins, and believers offering praise must remain related but distinct uses.
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include led them up (2), bear (1), bore (1), let us continually offer (1), offering (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 17:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (4), 1 Peter (2), James (1), Luke (1).
G399 describes carrying or bringing something upward and, in sacrificial settings, offering it; the verb can also describe bearing sins or taking someone up a mountain. Its meaning depends strongly on the object and setting, so physical carrying, priestly offering, Christ bearing sins, and believers offering praise must remain related but distinct uses. In 1Pet.
2. 5, Peter describes believers as a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In 1Pet. 2. 24, peter declares that Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that believers might live to righteousness. G399 opens teaching on biblical offering language from priestly sacrifice to the unique sin-bearing work of Christ and the grateful praise of his people.
It corrects preaching that transfers Christs unique burden to victims, treats every hardship as a required offering, or makes Christian service a payment for acceptance. G399 moves through distinct sacrificial claims: believers are built into a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices, Christ bears sins in his body on the tree, and the church continually offers praise through him.
For G399, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable. The verb does not make every loss holy, authorize human sacrifice, or allow leaders to place Christs redemptive burden onto wounded people and exhausted servants.
G399 appears across passages that develop sacrificial offering, priestly service, Christ bearing sins, worship, embodied self-giving, and ascent. For G399, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Peter describes believers as a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
Peter declares that Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that believers might live to righteousness.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
Hebrews calls the community to offer a continual sacrifice of praise to God through Jesus.
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 offer sacrificially or bear burdens; distinctively means bringing something before God at altar.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer up
Read verseI carry up, lead up, offer 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 10 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 2 selected witnesses from 10 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀναφέρω is built from these roots:
Highlights sacrificial language pointing to substitutionary atonement.1 Peter 2:18-25
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G399 moves through distinct sacrificial claims: believers are built into a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices, Christ bears sins in his body on the tree, and the church continually offers praise through him. G399 describes carrying or bringing something upward and, in sacrificial settings, offering it; the verb can also describe bearing sins or taking someone up a mountain.
The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: 1Pet. 2. 5 shows that peter describes believers as a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. , while 1Pet. 2. 24 shows that peter declares that Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that believers might live to righteousness.. Heb. 13. 15 adds that hebrews calls the community to offer a continual sacrifice of praise to God through Jesus..
G399 opens teaching on biblical offering language from priestly sacrifice to the unique sin-bearing work of Christ and the grateful praise of his people. It corrects preaching that transfers Christs unique burden to victims, treats every hardship as a required offering, or makes Christian service a payment for acceptance. A church teaching G399 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support.
The verb does not make every loss holy, authorize human sacrifice, or allow leaders to place Christs redemptive burden onto wounded people and exhausted servants.
1Pet.2.5
G399 is a Greek verb for carrying up, leading up, or offering; sacrificial senses arise from cultic contexts, while other passages retain ordinary movement or load-bearing meanings.
Old Testament priests bring offerings within covenant worship, while Isaiah and the sacrificial system shape New Testament language about sin and atonement. G399 then distinguishes Christs once-for-all work from responsive praise and holy service.