μᾰκᾰρ-ιος G3107
blessed, happy, fortunate — pronounced favored by God, a term of divine congratulation rather than mere emotion
Makarios opens Jesus' most famous sermon: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' (Matt 5:3). Across 50 occurrences, it functions not as emotional happiness but as a divine declaration of privileged status — a macarism pronouncing someone enrolled in God's favor. The Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-11; Luke 6:20-22) form its theological epicenter, complemented by James 1:12, Revelation's seven beatitudes, and Paul's citation of Psalm 32 (Rom 4:7-8). Classical Greek reserved makarios for the gods and the prosperous dead; the New Testament redirects it toward those the world would least call fortunate. German 'selig' and French 'heureux' each capture a different nuance the Greek holds together.
Senses
1. blessed / happy / fortunate — An adjective of divine pronouncement declaring someone favored, blessed, or privileged in God's eyes, used in macarisms (beatitude formulas) that reverse worldly expectations. The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3-11) establishes the pattern: those who mourn, hunger for righteousness, and suffer persecution are declared makarios because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Extended through Pauline theology (Rom 4:7-8, citing Ps 32:1-2), Johannine apocalyptic (seven beatitudes of Revelation), and wisdom instruction (Jas 1:12, 25). All 50 occurrences share this core sense of divinely conferred blessedness, though the classical overtone of enviable prosperity occasionally surfaces (as in the congratulatory sense of Luke 1:45, 'blessed is she who believed'). 50×
AR["طوبى", "طُوبَى"]·ben["ধন্য"]·DE["selig"]·EN["Blessed", "blessed"]·FR["heureux"]·heb["אַשְׁרֵי", "אַשְׁרֵיכֶם", "אַשְׁרֶיךָ"]·HI["धअन्य", "धन्य"]·ID["Berbahagialah", "berbahagialah"]·IT["beato"]·jav["Begja", "Rahayu", "begja", "rahayu"]·KO["복이-있는-자", "복이-있다", "복이-있도다", "복있다"]·PT["Bem-aventurado", "Bem-aventurados", "bem-aventurada", "bem-aventurado", "bem-aventurados"]·RU["Блажен", "Блаженны", "блажен", "блаженна", "блаженны"]·ES["Bienaventurado", "Bienaventurados", "bienaventurada", "bienaventurado", "bienaventurados"]·SW["-", "Heri", "Umebarikiwa", "Wamebarikiwa", "amebarikiwa", "heri", "yamebarikiwa"]·TR["Mutlu", "Ne-mutlu", "mutlu", "mutludur", "mutlusunuz", "ne-mutlu"]·urd["تم", "مبارک", "مبارک-ہے"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μᾰκᾰρ-ιος, α, ον, also ος, ον Refs 5th c.BC+, mostly used in Prose, but also in Poets, as Refs 5th c.BC+, __1 mostly of men, blessed, happy, Refs 5th c.BC+: frequently in phrases such as μ. ὅστις.. νοῦν ἔχει Refs 4th c.BC+ W.: superlative, Refs my good sir, my dear sir, Refs 5th c.BC+ O happy you for.., Refs 5th c.BC+; ὦ μ. σὺ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅτι.. Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 prosperous, οἱ μ.,…