Affirm

"to say, utter an affirmation, speak." The word is a verbal form of the verb na’am, which occurs only once in the entire Old Testament: "Behold, I am against the prophets, saith [ne’um] the Lord, that use their tongues, and say [na’am], He saith [word ne’um]" (Jer 23:31). The word ne’um appears as many as 361 times and, because of the frequency in the prophetical books, it is characteristic of prophetic speech.

Ne’um is an indicator which generally appears at the end of the quotation: "What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor saith [ne’um] the Lord God of hosts" (Isa 3:15). The word may also be found in the middle of an argument: "And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel saith [ne’um] the Lord. but ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not" (Amos 1:2-12).

"utterance; saying." The use of ne’um is rare at the beginning of a statement: "The Lord said unto my Lord [literally, "a statement of Jehovah to my Lord"], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Psa 110:1).

With one exception (Prov 30:1) in the sayings of Agur, the usage throughout the Old Testament is virtually limited to a word from God. In Numbers the utterances of Balaam are introduced with the formula "and he uttered his oracle": "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened" (Num 24:3, rsv; cf. v. Num 24:15). David's concluding words begin with these words: "Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel" (2Sam 23:1, rsv). Apart from these instances there are a few more examples, but as a rule ne’um is a prophetic term, which even beyond the prophetical literature is associated with a word from God. The Septuagint gives the following translation(s): legein ("utterance in words") and hode (used with reference to what follows, e.g., "this is what… says").

dia, intensive, and bebaioo, to confirm, make sure, denotes to assert strongly, "affirm confidently," 1Ti 1:7, Tit 3:8 (AV, "affirm constantly").

as in No. 1, and ischurizosai, "to corroborate" (ischuros "strong;" see ABILITY, A, No. 2 and C, No. 2 note), primarily signifies "to lean upon," hence, "to affirm stoutly, assert vehemently," Luk 22:59, Act 12:15.

a frequentative form of the verb phemi (No. 4), denotes "to allege, to affirm by way of alleging or professing," Act 24:9 (RV, "affirming," AV, "saying"); Act 25:19, Rom 1:22, "professing." Some mss. have it in Rev 2:2, instead of the verb lego, "to say." See PROFESS, SAY.

"to say" (primarily by way of enlightening, explaining), is rendered "affirm" in Rom 3:8. See SAY.