Word Summary
nai: yes (indeed), certainly
Original Word: ναίTransliteration: nai
Phonetic Spelling: (nahee)
Part of Speech: Particle, Disjunctive Particle
Short Definition: yes (indeed), certainly
Meaning: yes (indeed), certainly
Strong's Concordance
truly, yes
A primary particle of strong affirmation; yes -- even so, surely, truth, verily, yea, yes.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3483: ναίναί, a particle of assertion or confirmation (akin to
νή; cf. Donaldson, Cratylus § 189), from
Homer down,
yea, verily, truly, assuredly, even so:
Matthew 11:26;
Luke 10:21;
Philemon 1:20;
Revelation 1:7;
Revelation 16:7;
Revelation 22:20;
ναί,
λέγω ὑμῖν κτλ.,
Matthew 11:9;
Luke 7:26;
Luke 11:51;
Luke 12:5;
ναί,
λέγει τό πνεῦμα,
Revelation 14:13; it is responsive and confirmatory of the substance of some question or statement:
Matthew 9:28;
Matthew 13:51;
Matthew 15:27;
Matthew 17:25;
Matthew 21:16;
Mark 7:28;
John 11:27;
John 21:15;
Acts 5:8 (
); ; Romans 3:29; a repeated ναί, most assuredly (A. V. yea, yea), expresses emphatic assertion, Matthew 5:37; ἤτω ὑμῶν τό ναί ναί, let your ναί be ναί, i. e. let your allegation be true, James 5:12 (Buttmann, 163 (142); Winer's Grammar, 59 (58)); εἶναι or γίνεσθαι ναί καί οὐ, to be or show oneself double-tongued, i. e. faithless, wavering, false, 2 Corinthians 1:18f; ἵνα παῥ ἐμοί τό ναί ναί καί τό οὐ οὐ, that with me should be found both a solemn affirmation and a most emphatic denial, i. e. that I so form my resolves as, at the dictate of pleasure or profit, not to carry them out, ibid. 17 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 460 (429)); ναί ἐν αὐτῷ γέγονεν, in him what was promised has come to pass, 2 Corinthians 1:19; ἐπαγγελίαι ἐν αὐτῷ τό ναί namely, γεγόνασιν, have been fulfilled, have been confirmed by the event, 2 Corinthians 1:20 (cf. Meyer at the passage). It is a particle of appeal or entreaty, like the (English yea) (German ja): with an imperative, ναί ... συλλαμβάνου αὐταῖς, Philippians 4:3 (where Rec. has καί for ναί); ναί ἔρχου, Revelation 22:20 Rec.; so ναί ναί, Judith 9:12. (A classification of the uses of ναί in the N. T. is given by Ellicott on Philippians 4:3; cf. Green, 'Grit. Note' on Matthew 11:26.)