ἰδού

ἰδού demonstrative or presentative particle that draws attention to what follows (Soph.+). It is actually the aor. mid. impv. of εἶδον, ἰδοῦ, except that it is accented w. the acute when used as a particle (Schwyzer I 799) ‘(you) see, look, behold’ (for var. renderings see e.g. ESiegman, CBQ 9, ’47, 77f, fr. RKnox’s transl.).

① prompter of attention, behold, look, see. Like הִנֵּה it somet. serves to enliven a narrative

ⓐ by arousing the attention of hearers or readers (in 1 Cl, 2 Cl, and B only in quots. fr. the OT) Lk 22:10; J 4:35; 1 Cor 15:51; 2 Cor 5:17; Js 5:9; Jd 14; Rv 1:7; 9:12; 11:14; Hv 1, 3, 4 al.

ⓑ by introducing someth. new or unusual

α. after a gen. abs., in order to introduce someth. new, which calls for special attention in the situation generally described by the gen. abs.: Mt 1:20; 2:1, 13; 9:18; 12:46; 17:5; 26:47; 28:11.

β. with other constructions: καὶ ἰδού Mt 2:9; 3:16; 4:11; 8:2, 24, 29, 32, 34; 9:2, 3, 20 al.; Lk 1:20, 31, 36; 2:25; 9:30, 38; 10:25 al.; Ac 12:7; 16:1; PEg² 32. Also someth. quite extraordinary and yet ὡς ἀποθνῄσκοντες κ. ἰδοὺ ζῶμεν 2 Cor 6:9; cp. Mt 7:4; Ac 27:24 (contrary to all appearances).

γ. introducing whole stories: Mt 13:3.

δ. in the middle of a statement, and at the same time enlivening it Mt 23:34; Ac 2:7; 13:11; 20:22, 25.

ε. w. emphasis on the size or importance of someth. (freq. omitted in transl., but w. some loss of mng.) ἰ. ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν πάντα Mt 19:27; Mk 10:28. ἰ. δέκα κ. ὀκτὼ ἔτη eighteen long years Lk 13:16 (cp. BGU 948, 6 ἡ μήτηρ σου ἀσθενεῖ, ἰδοὺ δέκα τρεῖς μῆνες; Dt 8:4); vs. 7; 15:29; 19:8; 2 Cor 12:14.—καὶ ἰ. ἐγὼ μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας Mt 28:20; cp. 20:18; 23:38; Lk 2:34; 6:23; 13:30 al.

ⓒ as a call to closer consideration and contemplation remember, consider, etc. Mt 10:16; 11:8; 22:4; Mk 14:41; Lk 2:48; 7:25; Hv 2, 3, 4. Likew. ἰδοὺ γάρ Lk 1:44, 48; 2:10; Ac 9:11; 2 Cor 7:11; AcPl Ha 6, 19. The citing of examples Js 3:4f; 5:4, 7, 11 belongs here. Variants in 3:3 include ἴδε (q.v.) and ἰδοῦ; the text has εἰ δέ.

② marker of strong emphasis, see used w. a noun without a finite verb, as in our colloquial ‘see!’ ‘what do you know!’ ‘of all things!’ ‘wonder of wonders!’ The term can be rendered here or there is (are), here or there was (were) or there comes (came), but oral rendition requires emphasis so as to express the nuance in the source text (old Attic ins in Meisterhans³-Schw. p. 203 ἰδοὺ χελιδῶν; Epict. 4, 11, 35; UPZ 78, 25 [159 B.C.]; LXX) καὶ ἰ. φωνὴ ἐκ τ. οὐρανῶν and, see, a voice came from heaven or and a voice came right from heaven Mt 3:17. καὶ ἰ. ἄνθρωπος and there was a man Mt 12:10. ἰ. ἄνθρωπος φάγος Look! A glutton! 11:19; Lk 7:34; cp. 5:12, 18; 7:37; 11:31; 13:11; 17:21a; 19:2, 20; 22:38, 47; 23:50; Ac 8:27 (WCvanUnnik, ZNW 47, ’56, 181–91), 36; 2 Cor 6:2; Rv 12:3; 21:3. ἰ. ὁ νυμφίος here is the bridegroom Mt 25:6. ἰ. ὁ ἄνθρωπος here is the man J 19:5. In Rv as a formula εἶδον κ. ἰδού 4:1; 6:2, 5, 8; 7:9; 14:14; cp. 19:11. The godly pers. answers ἰ. ἐγώ here I am to the divine call, in order to signify willingness to obey God’s command (1 Km 3:4; TestJob 3:2) Ac 9:10. (In Mt ἰ. is found 62 times, in Mk 7 times [and also as v.l. Mk 13:23 and 15:35], in Lk 57 times, in J 4 times [including once in a quot.], in Ac 23 times, in Paul 9 times [including once in a quot.], Hb 4 times in quotations, Js 6 times, Jd once, 1 Pt once in a quot., Rv 26 times; it is not found at all in 1–3J, 2 Pt, Eph, Phil, Col, 1 and 2 Th, Pastorals, Phlm, Dg, Ign, Pol). S. Mlt. 11, w. note 1; MJohannessohn, ZVS 64, ’37, 145–260; 66, ’39, 145–95; 67, ’40, 30–84 (esp. on καὶ ἰδού); PVannutelli, Synoptica 2, ’38, xlvi–lii: ἰδού in the Syn. Gosp.; PFiedler, D. Formel ‘Und Siehe’ im NT: Studien z. A. u. NT 20, ’69; AVargas-Machucha, (καὶ) ἰδού en el estilo narrativo de Mt, Biblica 50, ’69, 233–44. See ἴδε.—DELG s.v. ἰδεῖν. M-M.