Principally such as represent more than one word in the Greek.
Ask.
Two distinct words are frequently translated by the one word “ask.” One is aiteo, the other erotao. Both occur in John 16:23, “In that day ye shall ask (erotao) nothing: verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask (aiteo) the Father in my name He will give it you.”
There is not here as would at first sight appear, a contrast between asking the Father and the Son, but the first “ask” refers to verse 19, and means that they should be so taught of the Spirit as no longer to have to inquire (the force of the word) anything from Him. The second “ask” means request, and is a word always used by an inferior when addressing a superior, as in Matthew 7:7, 9; Luke 11:1;1 Acts 3:2; 12:20; James 1:5; 1 John 3:22; whereas erotao means more to interrogate, to ask questions. It is remarkable that aiteo is never used in the requests of the Son to the Father (as from an inferior to a superior), but the word used is always erotao, John 14:16, &c. Erotao, however, is never a right word to use for the request of a creature to God, though we have seen (ver.19) that it was used to Christ, when on earth as man. It is interesting to remark in John 4 that the word used by the woman of Samaria in verse 9, shows clearly that she had no conception who it was that spoke to her, “How is it that thou being a Jew, askest (aiteo) drink,” &c. The Lord in reply speaks of Himself as having said unto her, “Give me to drink.” The only other passage where the word is applied to the Lord is in John 11:22, where Martha says “Whatsoever thou wilt ask (aiteo) of God,” and here again the speaker betrays her ignorance of the dignity of the person of the One to whom she spoke. Nowhere is Christ said to ask anything from man.
Assembly or Churchapter
There are three words used for this in the New Testament, Ecclesia, sunagoge, and paneguris. The first, &desist, is used in three senses, a heathen, a Jewish, and a Christian. It means “called out;” and a heathen ecclesia consisted of those who were called out of the population to confer on public affairs. Among the Jews two words were in use, ecclesia, or assembly, and sunagoge, or synagogue; the former, however, gradually became almost exclusively Christian, the latter almost exclusively Jewish: we say almost exclusively, because the word assembly is used in a Jewish sense in Acts 7:38, and the word synagogue was occasionally used by the early fathers for the Christian assembly. The distinction between the two appears to be that the former is applied to any large or small number that are banded together by laws or other bonds, the latter only implies that such are assembled together; the one means convoked or called together, the other means simply congregated. The word ecclesia was thus not only more appropriate for Christian use, but being familiar to the Greeks, which synagogue was not, was far more adapted to an assembly composed of both Jews and Greeks.
“The ecclesia which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:22, 23.
The third word, paneguris differs from ecclesia in signifying a festival, hence the term panegyric, which was a discourse delivered on such an occasion. It is peculiarly appropriate in Hebrews 12:23, the only place in the New Testament where it occurs.
Bear.
Of the eleven words thus translated in the New Testament, we may notice two as an instance of the wonderful accuracy of Scriptural language, phoreo and phero. The former is defined by the Greeks as meaning to bear or carry habitually, and hence is peculiarly applicable to clothes, to which it is applied in the six instances where it occurs (Matthew 11:8; John 19:5; Romans 13:4; 1 Corinthians 15:49 twice, James 2:3), whereas the latter means to carry on any special occasion, hence to bring (see Mark 2:3), and is never applied to what was worn habitually. This accuracy is all the more remarkable, inasmuch as the distinction was not always observed, even among the Greeks.
Corrupt, Handle deceitfully.
These are represented by two corresponding Greek words of which the history and distinction are rather interesting. Each word occurs only once in the New Testament; “corrupt” (kapeleuo) is in 2 Corinthians 2:17, while “handle deceitfully” (doloo) occurs in 2 Corinthians 4:2, both being applied to the Word of God. The first (kapeleuo) originally meant a small retail dealer, but particularly a small wine dealer, a trade peculiarly exposed to the temptation of fraud, either in adulteration or in selling short measure (Isaiah 1:22). Thus the word came to mean making any shameful profit, or following any improper trade. It therefore evidently means, not only to deceive, but to deceive for the purpose of gain, whereas the other word (doloo) simply means to falsify. All false teachers therefore can be accused of falsifying (doloo), but when Paul earnestly says he does not corrupt (kapeleuo) the word, he refers to perverting it for the sake of gain or advantage. See Acts 20:33; 2 Corinthians 12:14; Philippians 3:18,19; Titus 1:1 2 Peter 2:3,14,15; Jude 12., 16.