noun · feminine
epangelias
Strong’sG1860
a promise
stem epangeli-52 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books8 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
ἐπαγγελία means a promise, especially a promise made by God 124. In the New Testament it is used above all of the divine promises — what God has pledged to give or do, whether spoken of in general terms or in specific formulas such as "the promise made to the fathers," "the promise of the Spirit," or "the land of promise" 1. It can also refer, by an extension of meaning parallel to how "hope" itself can mean the thing hoped for, to the blessing that has been promised, i.e. the promised gift itself rather than the act of promising it 1. More broadly, apart from this biblical emphasis, the word can simply mean an announcement or message 2.
In classical usage the same word also served as a legal term for a summons — an official notice calling someone to appear or account — and could denote an offer, undertaking, or public notification of various kinds, none of which occurs in the biblical text 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἐπ-αγγελία, -ας, ἡ
(< ἐπαγγέλλω), [in LXX: Ps 55(56):8 (סֵפֶר), etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1860 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidep-ang-el-ee'-ah
an announcement (for information, assent or pledge; especially a divine assurance of good)
Fromfrom G1861;
King Jamesmessage, promise.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
command, summons, Refs 2nd c.BC+
b announcement, notice, Refs 3rd c.BC+; τοῦ ἀγῶνος LXX; variant in NT
2 as law-term, ἐ. (i.e. δοκιμασίας) summons to attend a δοκιμασία τῶν ῥητόρων (see. ἐπαγγέλλω Refs 4th c.BC+: generally, notification, summons, Refs 2nd c.AD+
3 offer, promise, profession, undertaking, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἐν ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ καταλιπών having left it as a promise, Refs; τὴν ἐ. ἐπὶ τέλος ἀγαγεῖν Refs 3rd c.BC+; ὤμων ἐπαγγελίᾳ the promise of his shoulders, Refs 2nd c.AD+; ἐξ ἐ., ={ἐπαγγειλάμενος}, Refs; ἐ. ποιησάμενος ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων Refs; ἐβεβαίωσεν τὴν ἐ. Refs
4 indication, τοῦ ἐσομένου Refs 2nd c.AD+
5 plural, canvassing, = Latin ambitus, probably falsa lectio for{παρ-}, Refs 1st c.AD+
6 ={ἐπάγγελμα} 2, subject of a treatise, Refs 2nd c.AD+
7 the curative property claimed for prescriptions or drugs, ταῖς τῶν φαρμάκων ἐ. their advertised properties, Refs 1st c.AD+; ἐ. ἐπιτηδεύματος public exercise of a profession, Men.Prot.p.1D.
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | epangelias6×ἐπαγγελία | epangeliais3×ἐπαγγελίαι |
| object accusative | epangelian16×ἐπαγγελίαν | epangeliain6×ἐπαγγελίας |
| direct address vocative | epangeliar | epangeliair |
| of, belonging to genitive | epangeliau17×ἐπαγγελίας | epangeliaiu2×ἐπαγγελιῶν |
| to, for dative | epangelia1×ἐπαγγελίᾳ | epangeliai1×ἐπαγγελίαις |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
epangelia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
52 occurrences, every one of them listed
epangelias“promise”subjectnominative singular6×
Acts 2:39vi gar atō tas epangelias kai tei teknei vu kai pantoi …This promise belongs to you and your children …
Romans 4:13Ouk gar dia nomou tas epangelias to Abraam ē te sperme autou, …For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that …
Romans 4:14… kenotē tas pistias kai katargotē tas epangelias;… heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,
Galatians 3:22… teim panteim hupo hamartan hina tas epangelias ek pistiau Iēsu Christou dōiteia toi …… by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who …
2 Peter 3:4kai legarōntois; Pou atō tas epangelias tau parousiau autou? apo hau gar …“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask …
1 John 2:25kai houtas atō tas epangelias han autos epangeleta ni, tan zōan …And this is the promise that He Himself made to us …
epangelian“promise”objectaccusative singular16×
Luke 24:49kai idou mis exapostelamō tan epangelian tou patrou mu epi vin; vis …And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But …
Acts 1:4“promise”… Hierosolumeiu mē chōrizorō, alla perimenarō tan epangelian tou patrou han akouava mu;… them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss.
Acts 2:33“promise”… oun tou theou hupsirantos tan tē epangelian teu pneumeu teu hagieu labarantos para …Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured …
Acts 13:23… tos theos apo teu spermeu kata epangelian agata to Israēl sōtēron Iēsun,… Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.
Acts 13:32“promise”… vin euangelizonō tan pros toin patroin epangelian generantan… we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers
Acts 23:21… alō hetoimois prosdechorōntois tan apo su epangelian.… they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”
Romans 4:16… charitan, eis tem arō bebaian tan epangelian pante te sperme, ouk te ek …Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it …
Romans 4:20eis de tan epangelian tou theou ouk diakrinita ta apistia …… not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in …
Galatians 3:14… geneteia en Christo Iēso, hina tan epangelian teu pneumeu labaneia dia tau pistiau.… by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Galatians 3:17… ouk akuratō, eis tem katargara tan epangelian.… God, so as to nullify the promise.
Galatians 3:29… ara tou Abraam spermem avō, kata epangelian klēronomois.… seed and heirs according to the promise.
1 Timothy 4:8… de eusebeias pros panteim ōfelimas atō, epangelian echarōntas zōau tau nun kai tau …… is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for …
2 Timothy 1:1… Christou Iēsu dia thelēmeu theou kata epangelian zōau tau en Christo Iēso… will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 9:15“promise”… epi ta prōta diathēka parabasiaiu tan epangelian labaleia tois kalorēntois tau aiōniau klēronomiau.… Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 10:36“what was promised”… thelēmem tou theou poiarantois komizeveia tan epangelian;… you have done the will of God, you will receive what He …
Hebrews 11:39… dia tau pistiau ouk komizela tan epangelian,… faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
epangeliau“promise”of, belonging togenitive singular17×
Acts 7:17Kathōs de engizate tos chronos tau epangeliau hau homologata tos theos to Abraam, …… near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt …
Acts 26:6… elpida tau eis toin patroin nu epangeliau generantau hupo tou theou stēamē krinorōntos,… because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,
Romans 9:8… tou theou, alla teim tekneim tau epangeliau logizotō eis spermem;… it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.
Romans 9:9epangeliau gar tos logos houtos; Kata ton …For this is what the promise stated: “At the appointed time I …
Galatians 3:18… ek nomou tas klēronomias, ouketi ek epangeliau; to de Abraam dia epangeliau charizotē …… it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to …
Galatians 3:18… ek epangeliau; to de Abraam dia epangeliau charizotē tos theos.… granted it to Abraham through a promise.
Galatians 4:23… tos de ek tau eleutherau dia epangeliau.… free woman was born through the promise.
Galatians 4:28vis de, adelfoir, kata Isaak epangeliau tekneim avō;… brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Ephesians 1:13… kai pisteuarantois sfragiziva te pneume tau epangeliau te hagie,… salvation — you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 2:12… Israēl kai xenois taiu diathēkaiu tau epangeliau, elpidan mē echarōntois kai atheois en …… strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in …
Ephesians 3:6… sunklēronomeim kai sussōmeim kai summetocheim tau epangeliau en Christo Iēso dia teu euangelieu,… body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:1Fobineia oun mēpote kataleiporōntau epangeliau eiserchara eis tan katapausian autou dokateiō …Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands …
Hebrews 6:15kai houtōs makrothumarantos epitunchanata tau epangeliau.… Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.
Hebrews 6:17… tos theos epideikara toi klēronomoi tau epangeliau tem ametathetem tau boulau autou mesiteuata …… clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.
Hebrews 11:9“promise”pistia paroikata eis gēan tau epangeliau hōs allotrian, en skēnai katoikarantos meta …By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of …
Hebrews 11:9… Isaak kai Iakōb toiu sunklēronomoiu tau epangeliau tau autau;… heirs with him of the same promise.
2 Peter 3:9ouk bradunatō kurios tau epangeliau, hōs tinois bradutan hēgolō, alla makrothumatō …… is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is …
epangelia“promise”to, fordative singular1×
Ephesians 6:2… mētēran, hotinas atō entolas prōtas en epangelia,… is the first commandment with a promise),
epangeliais“promises”subjectnominative plural3×
Romans 9:4… nomothesias kai tas latreias kai tais epangeliais,… law, the temple worship, and the promises.
2 Corinthians 1:20hosais gar epangeliais theou, en auto tem Nai; dio …For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ …
Galatians 3:16to de Abraam legila tais epangeliais kai te sperme autou; ouk legatō; …The promises were spoken to Abraham and to …
epangeliain“promises”objectaccusative plural6×
Romans 15:8… alētheiau theou, eis tem bebaiara tain epangeliain toiu patroiu,… of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,
2 Corinthians 7:1houtain oun echarōntois tain epangeliain, agapētoir, katharizaneia heautoin apo pantou molusmou …Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything …
Hebrews 6:12“promises”… dia pistiau kai makrothumiau klēronomarōntoiu tain epangeliain.… those who through faith and patience inherit what has …
Hebrews 7:6… dekatatē Abraam, kai ton echarōnton tain epangeliain eulogatē.… and blessed him who had the promises.
Hebrews 11:13“promises”… apothnēskala houtois pantois, mē labarantois tain epangeliain, alla porrōthen autain horarantois kai aspazerantois, …All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them …
Hebrews 11:17… kai ton monogenon prosferate tos tain epangeliain anadecherantos,… altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one …
epangeliaiu“promises”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Galatians 3:21Tos oun nomos kata taiu epangeliaiu tou theou? mē genetoia; ei gar …… the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if …
Hebrews 11:33“promises”… pistiau katagōnizela basileiain, ergazela dikaiosunan, epitunchanala epangeliaiu, frassala stomeim leontoiu,who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
epangeliai“promises”to, fordative plural1×
Hebrews 8:6… atō diathēkau mesitos, hotinas epi kreittonai epangeliai nomothetotē.… better and is founded on better promises.