Let me give you a taste of the insights that can be found in Cremer's Biblico-theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek.
Bebaioo - "to make firm or reliable"
Cremer helpfully points out that in Classical Greek the verb typically takes an impersonal object, e.g., to confirm laws or promises. This usage is known in the NT as well. But in the NT it is also used in a way that is hardly known in Classical usage, namely, with a personal object:
"... our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:8 NASB).
"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ" (2 Cor 1:21 ESV).
"... rooted and built up in him and established in the faith ..." (Col 2:7 ESV).
"... it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them" (Heb 13:9 ESV).
Cremer writes:
The union of bebaioun with a personal object, hardly known in classical Greek,--certainly not at all in the manner of the N.T.,--is distinctive of the N.T. ... The N.T. bebaioun with personal object does not refer to the character or bearing of the object; it signifies a confirming of the person's state of salvation, preservation in a state of grace ... He confirms us in Christ, so that we become ever more assured and certain of Him ... This combination of bebaioun with a personal object was anticipated by the LXX. Ps xli.13.
Were one confined to Thayer or BDAG, one would not gain this insight about the difference between the Classical and Biblical (LXX + NT) usage of this theologically important verb.
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