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G1902 · Greek · New Testament
ἐπενδύομαι
ependuomai
Verb (middle voice)
to put on over, to clothe oneself upon — additional covering

Definition

Ependuomai means to put on clothing over what one already wears — to be additionally clothed upon, not stripped and re-dressed. It appears only twice in the NT, both in 2 Corinthians 5 in Paul's profound reflection on embodiment, resurrection, and the believer's longing for the heavenly body.

Usage & Theological Significance

Paul's use of ependuomai is theologically precise. He does not long to be stripped of his body (Greek body-hating dualism) but to be "further clothed" — to have the resurrection body put on over the mortal one. "For we who are in this tent groan, longing to put on [ependusasthai] our heavenly dwelling." This is the biblical vision of resurrection: not escape from matter but its transformation and glorification. The mortal is "swallowed up by life" — consumed from without by resurrection power, not destroyed from within.

Key Bible Verses

2 Corinthians 5:2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed upon [ependusasthai] with our heavenly dwelling.
2 Corinthians 5:4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed upon [ependusasthai], so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
1 Corinthians 15:53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
Philippians 3:21 ...who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Romans 8:23 We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

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