ἐπαγγ-έλλω G1861
promise (divine or solemn commitment); profess, claim, lay claim to
Senses
1. promise (divine or solemn commitment) — The primary NT sense of ἐπαγγέλλω (middle voice), meaning to promise, especially of God's solemn, covenantal promises. This is overwhelmingly the dominant usage, covering God's promise to Abraham (Acts 7:5; Heb 6:13; 11:11), the promise of eternal life (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25; Jas 1:12; 2:5), the promise of the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:19), the promise of a coming kingdom (Heb 12:26), the chief priests promising money to Judas (Mark 14:11), and false teachers promising freedom (2 Pet 2:19). All inflectional variants -- aorist indicative middle ἐπηγγείλατο (3S and 3P), perfect indicative middle ἐπήγγελται, aorist participle middle ἐπαγγειλάμενος/ἐπαγγειλάμενον, present participle ἐπαγγελλόμενοι -- share this core promise semantics. Multilingual glosses are remarkably uniform: Arabic وَعَدَ (promised), Hebrew הִבְטִיחַ (promised, Hiphil of בטח), Korean 약속했다/약속하셨다 (promised), Spanish prometió/ha prometido (promised), French promettre (to promise), Hindi प्रतिज्ञा की/वायदा किया (made a promise/vow), German verheissen (promised). Even the 2 Pet 2:19 occurrence ('promising them freedom') uses the same promise vocabulary, though the agent is false teachers rather than God. 13×
AR["قد-وُعِدَ","واعِدينَ","وَاعِد","وَعَدَ","وَعَدَ-بِهِ","وَعَدَنا","وَعَدَهُ","وَعَدُوا"]·ben["তিনি-প্রতিজ্ঞা-করেছিলেন,","তিনি-প্রতিজ্ঞা-করেছেন","প্রতিজ্ঞা-করলেন","প্রতিজ্ঞা-করে","প্রতিজ্ঞা-করেছিলেন","প্রতিজ্ঞা-করেছেন","প্রতিজ্ঞা-দেওয়া-হয়েছে,","প্রতিশ্রুতি-দিলেন","প্রতিশ্রুতি-দেয়"]·DE["verheissen","ἐπηγγείλατο"]·EN["having-promised","he-has-promised","he-promised","it-has-been-promised","promised","promising"]·FR["promettre"]·heb["הִבְטִיחַ","הִבְטִיחוּ","הֻבְטַח","מַבְטִיחִים","מַבְטִיחַ"]·HI["प्रतिज्ञा-करते-हुए,","प्रतिज्ञा-करने-वाला;","प्रतिज्ञा-करने-वाले।","प्रतिज्ञा-की","प्रतिज्ञा-की-है","वअद-किय-गय,","वचन-दिय","वादा-करते-हुए","वायदा-किया"]·ID["Dia-janjikan","Ia-berjanji,","berjanji","dijanjikan","dijanjikan,","menjanjikan","menjanjikan,","menjanjikan.","setelah-berjanji","telah-berjanji;"]·IT["epeggeilanto","promettere"]·jav["dipunjanjekaken,","ingkang-sampun-prajanji","janji","njanjikaken","njanjikaken,","sami-janji","sampun-dijanjèkaken","sampun-dipun-janjekaken,","sampun-janji","sampun-prajanji","sampun-prasetya"]·KO["그-가-약속하셨다","약속되었느니라,","약속하며,","약속하셨다","약속하셨으니","약속하신-이가","약속하신-이를","약속하였다","약속했다"]·PT["foi-feita-a-promessa","prometendo","prometeram","prometeu","que-prometeu","tendo-prometido"]·RU["Обещавшего","Обещавший","Он-обещал","обещавший","обещал","обещано","обещающие","пообещали"]·ES["ha-prometido","ha-sido-prometido","habiendo-prometido","prometiendo","prometieron","prometió","que-prometió"]·SW["aliahidi","aliahidiwa","alichoahidi","alituahidi","aliyeahidi","ameahidi","wakamwahidi","wakiwaahidi"]·TR["söz-verdiler","vaat-eden","vaat-edeni","vaat-edenler","vaat-edildi","vaat-etti","vadetmişti"]·urd["اُس-نے-وعدہ-کیا-تھا","وعدہ-دیتے-ہوئے،","وعدہ-کرنے-والا","وعدہ-کرنے-والے","وعدہ-کرنے-والے-کو","وعدہ-کیا","وعدہ-کیا-گیا-تھا","وعدہ-کیا-ہے"]
2. profess, claim, lay claim to — A secondary sense of ἐπαγγέλλω (middle voice, present participle) meaning to profess, make a public claim about oneself, or lay claim to a quality or status. Distinct from the promise sense in that the subject is not committing to a future action but rather asserting a present claim or qualification. Used in the Pastoral Epistles: of those who profess knowledge falsely (1 Tim 6:21, ἐπαγγελλόμενοι -- 'professing' what is falsely called knowledge), and of women who profess godliness (1 Tim 2:10, ἐπαγγελλομέναις -- 'professing' reverence for God, which should be demonstrated through good works). The Arabic glosses shift to ادَّعَوْها/يَدَّعينَ (they claimed/they claim), Korean uses 공언하며/공언하는 (publicly declaring), and Spanish has profesando/que profesan (professing). This contrasts with the promise sense where glosses use وَعَدَ/약속 (promise) vocabulary. The distinction is between a promissory speech act (binding oneself to a future action) and a declarative speech act (asserting a present state or quality). 2×
AR["إِذِ-ادَّعَوْها","يَدَّعينَ"]·ben["দাবি-করে,","প্রতিজ্ঞাকারী"]·DE["verheissen"]·EN["professing"]·FR["promettre"]·heb["מַבְטִיחִים","מַבְטִיחוֹת"]·HI["दव-करते-हुए","दव-करने-वअलि"]·ID["mengaku","yang-mengaku"]·IT["promettere"]·jav["ngaku","ngaku,"]·KO["공언하는-자들에게","공언하며,"]·PT["professando","que-professam"]·RU["исповедующим","исповедуя"]·ES["profesando","que-profesan"]·SW["wakidai","wanaodai"]·TR["iddia-eden","iddiasında-olanlar"]·urd["دعوٰی-کرتے-ہوئے","دعوٰی-کرنے-والی"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἐπαγγ-έλλω, aorist passive -ηγγέλθηνRefs—tell, proclaim, announce, Refs 8th c.BC+; especially proclaim by authority, notify publicly, ἐ. [τὴν ἐκεχειρίαν] Refs 5th c.BC+:— passive, to be proclaimed, Refs 5th c.BC+; βουλῆς -θείσης a meeting having been summoned, Refs 2nd c.AD+:—middle, cause proclamation to be made, Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 give orders, command, absolutely, Refs: c.accusative et…