αἴνιγμα

αἴνιγμα — aínigma

αἴνιγμα, (τος, τό (common from (Pindar fragment 165 (190)) Aeschylus down; from αἰνίσσομαι or αἰνίττομαι τί, to express something obscurely (from αἶνος, which see));

1. an obscure saying, an enigma, Hebrew חִידָה (Jdg 14:13, the Sept. πρόβλημα).

2. an obscure thing: 1Co 13:12, where ἐν αἰνίγματι is not equivalent to αἰνιγματικῶς, i. e., ἀμαυρῶς obscurely, but denotes the object in the discerning of which we are engaged, as βλέπειν ἐν τίνι, Mat 6:4; cf. DeWette at the passage; the apostle has in mind Num 12:8 the Sept.: ἐν εἴδει καί οὐ δἰ αἰνιγμάτων. (Others take ἐν locally, of the sphere in which we are looking; others refer the passage to 1. and take ἐν instrumentally.)