StrongerBible

agalliaō

ἀγαλλιάω

GreekG0021“rejoice, be glad, ...”

Appears 11 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 5:12Luk 1:47Luk 10:21Jhn 5:35Jhn 8:56Act 2:26Act 16:341Pe 1:61Pe 1:81Pe 4:13Rev 19:7
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeah-gal-lee-AH-ohverb

What agalliaō means

to exult: to break out in loud, exuberant joy, above all at what God has done

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is rejoicing with the volume turned up. Greek-speaking Jews seem to have built the word to carry the loudest joy of the Hebrew Psalms, the joy that whirls in a dance (גִּיל) or rings out in a shout (רָנַן), and the New Testament writers inherited it from them. So it does not describe a quiet good mood. It describes joy that shows: sung, shouted, danced, or leapt.

In the New Testament it belongs to the great moments of rescue, and the same word covers all of these:

  • Mary's spirit exults in God her Savior
  • Jesus exults in the Holy Spirit as his Father reveals himself to the childlike
  • Abraham exulted at the prospect of seeing Christ's day
  • a jailer in Philippi exults with his whole household once he has come to faith
  • the church is summoned to exult at the wedding feast of the Lamb

Its most striking use is under pressure. Peter tells Christians who are being slandered and tested that they are exulting right now, and Jesus tells the persecuted to be glad out loud, because of what is coming to them. That is why this word carries a joy that does not wait for circumstances to improve: it is the joy of the end already spilling backward into the present.

One passage is quieter than the rest. In John 5:35 the crowds "were willing to rejoice for a while" in the light John the Baptist shed, a passing enthusiasm rather than worship, which shows that even a word trained for festival can relax into ordinary gladness.

Nuances

1ato exult in God for what he has done or is about to do: jubilant, worshipful rejoicing
Luk 1:47Luk 10:21Jhn 8:56Act 2:26Act 16:34Rev 19:7
1bto exult in the middle of suffering, with a coming glory in view
Mat 5:121Pe 1:61Pe 1:81Pe 4:13
1Pe 1:6

Whether the exulting of 1 Peter 1:6 and 1:8 is a joy the readers already have in the middle of their trials, or a joy still to come at the revealing of Christ.

  • majorityThe present tense is meant: the joy of the last day has already begun and has transformed the readers' present suffering.; P. Achtemeier, 1 Peter (Hermeneia; Fortress, 1996), 100-101; J. H. Elliott, 1 Peter (AYB 37B; Yale, 2000), 338-342; K. Jobes, 1 Peter (BECNT; Baker, 2005), 92-95; J. R. Michaels, 1 Peter (WBC 49; Word, 1988), 27-29
  • minorityThe verbs should be read with future reference, as most interpreters before Calvin took them, since grief and this kind of joy were held to be incompatible states.; T. W. Martin, "The Present Indicative in the Eschatological Statements of 1 Peter 1:6, 8," JBL 111 (1992): 307-312
1Pe 1:8

Whether the exulting of 1 Peter 1:8 (with 1:6) is a joy the readers already have while unable to see Christ, or a joy still to come at his revealing.

  • majorityThe readers exult now: unseen love and faith already yield a glory-laden joy in the present.; P. Achtemeier, 1 Peter (Hermeneia; Fortress, 1996), 100-101; J. H. Elliott, 1 Peter (AYB 37B; Yale, 2000), 338-342; R. Feldmeier, The First Letter of Peter (Baylor, ET 2008), 67-69
  • minorityThe present forms carry future reference, so the joy belongs to the revealing of Christ rather than to the readers' present grief.; T. W. Martin, "The Present Indicative in the Eschatological Statements of 1 Peter 1:6, 8," JBL 111 (1992): 307-312
1cto be glad about something, to enjoy it for a time: a lighter, passing gladness
TranslatabilityDirect
Jhn 5:35

Disputed

Whether this word always names a heightened, festal, end-time joy distinct from the ordinary Greek word for rejoicing, or whether that content should not be read into every occurrence.

  • majorityIt is a specifically religious word for intense, outwardly expressed, festal exultation, more demonstrative than the general word for joy, with its center of gravity in God's decisive saving act.; BDAG (Danker, ed.), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed. (2000), s.v. ἀγαλλιάομαι; J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (1988), 25.133; R. Bultmann, "ἀγαλλιάομαι, ἀγαλλίασις," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 1:19-20; C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (TLNT), vol. 1, s.v.
  • minoritySuch content cannot be assumed in every instance: the word is regularly coordinated with the general word for joy, which is at least as consistent with near synonymy, and John 5:35 is plainly ordinary.; J. Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Language (Oxford, 1961); M. Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), vol. 1, s.v.; N. K. Gupta, 15 New Testament Words of Life (Zondervan Academic, 2022)

What scholars say about agalliaō

The ‑ιάω formation ἀγαλλιάω / ἀγαλλιάομαι is absent from classical and secular Greek: LSJ labels it a late form of ἀγάλλομαι ("adorn, glorify"; middle "plume oneself, delight in") and cites only the Septuagint, the New Testament, one Christian papyrus, and later ecclesiastical writers, while Moulton-Milligan found no pre-Christian documentary evidence. Bultmann (TDNT 1:19-20) therefore called it "a new biblical construct," a Hellenistic-Jewish reformation of ἀγάλλομαι recalibrated for religious use; Spicq (TLNT) and Abbott-Smith concur, and the derivation from ἄγαν plus ἅλλομαι ("jump for joy") popularized by Strong is rejected by Frisk, Chantraine, BDAG, and LSJ as folk etymology. In the Septuagint the verb occurs roughly seventy times, concentrated in the Psalter, rendering the vigorous joy roots גִּיל (circling, dancing joy), רָנַן (piel, a ringing cry), שׂוּשׂ, עָלַץ and עָלַז, while the calmer שָׂמַח more often goes to εὐφραίνω. The New Testament has eleven occurrences (Matt 5:12; Luke 1:47; 10:21; John 5:35; 8:56; Acts 2:26; 16:34; 1 Pet 1:6, 1:8, 4:13; Rev 19:7), overwhelmingly Lukan and Petrine and wholly absent from Paul, who uses χαρά and χαίρω for comparable work. The voice is usually middle or passive, with an active in Luke 1:47 (ἠγαλλίασεν) and a passive infinitive in John 5:35 (ἀγαλλιαθῆναι); Acts 2:26 and Rev 19:7 are Septuagint quotations or allusions (Ps 15:9 LXX; Ps 117:24 LXX), and Luke 1:47 draws on Hab 3:18 LXX and 1 Sam 2:1. Louw-Nida (25.133) rate the word above χαίρω in intensity, "often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement," and BDAG renders 1 Pet 4:13 "shout for joy"; EDNT and NIDNTTE agree it is the most demonstrative member of the joy cluster, and Morrice classes it as "exultant joy." Since Barr's Semantics of Biblical Language (1961), scholarship has been more cautious about importing loud or eschatological content into each instance, noting the frequent coordination with χαίρω and the more ordinary use in John 5:35, which Bultmann himself conceded is "a more secular joy." The heaviest exegetical debate concerns 1 Pet 1:6, 8, where Achtemeier, Elliott, Jobes, Michaels, and Feldmeier read present eschatological joy amid suffering, and Martin (JBL 111 [1992]) argues for present indicatives with future reference on the basis of consolation rhetoric and ancient emotional physiology.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG (Danker, ed.), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed. (2000), s.v. ἀγαλλιάομαιlexicon
  • Liddell-Scott-Jones (LSJ), A Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ἀγαλλιάω / ἀγάλλομαιlexicon
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (1988), 25.133-134lexicon
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (1930), s.v.lexicon
  • G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (T&T Clark, 1937), s.v.lexicon
  • R. Bultmann, "ἀγαλλιάομαι, ἀγαλλίασις," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 1:19-20theological-dictionary
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (TLNT), vol. 1, s.v.theological-dictionary
  • H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT) 1:7-8theological-dictionary
  • M. Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), vol. 1, s.v.theological-dictionary
  • J. Barr, The Semantics of Biblical Language (Oxford, 1961)monograph
  • W. G. Morrice, Joy in the New Testament (1984)monograph
  • J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (AB 28; Doubleday, 1981), 325-326, 363-365commentary
  • P. Achtemeier, 1 Peter (Hermeneia; Fortress, 1996), 100-101commentary
  • J. H. Elliott, 1 Peter (AYB 37B; Yale, 2000), 338-342commentary
  • K. Jobes, 1 Peter (BECNT; Baker, 2005), 92-95commentary
  • J. R. Michaels, 1 Peter (WBC 49; Word, 1988), 27-29commentary
  • D. E. Aune, Revelation 17-22 (WBC 52C; Word, 1998), 1027-1029commentary
  • T. W. Martin, "The Present Indicative in the Eschatological Statements of 1 Peter 1:6, 8," JBL 111 (1992): 307-312journal-article

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of ἀγαλλιάω

aorist middle indicative 3s

ἠγαλλιάσατο

Luk 10:21, Jhn 8:56, Act 2:26, Act 16:34

present middle-or-passive indicative 2p

ἀγαλλιᾶσθε

1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:8

aorist active indicative 3s

ἠγαλλίασεν

Luk 1:47

aorist passive infinitive

ἀγαλλιαθῆναι

Jhn 5:35

present active subjunctive 1p

ἀγαλλιῶμεν

Rev 19:7

present middle-or-passive imperative 2p

ἀγαλλιᾶσθε

Mat 5:12

present middle-or-passive participle nominative m p

ἀγαλλιώμενοι

1Pe 4:13