A defective verb supplying the aorist (past tense) forms of legō (to say). The form eipen ('he said') appears hundreds of times in the Gospels, introducing Jesus' words. While legō provides the present tense, epō provides the past: 'he said.'
Nearly every recorded statement of Jesus is introduced by a form of this verb. The repetition of 'he said' (eipen) throughout the Gospels is a literary heartbeat, emphasizing that Christianity rests on spoken, historical words — not myths or philosophies. 'Jesus said' is the most frequent narrative formula in the NT, grounding theology in actual speech acts of a real person.