StrongerBible

megalunō

μεγαλύνω

GreekG3170“magnify, enlarge, ...”

Appears 8 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 23:5Luk 1:46Luk 1:58Act 5:13Act 10:46Act 19:172Co 10:15Php 1:20
Root family
Word studyResearch-grademeg-al-OO-noverb

What megalunō means

1

to make something great: to enlarge or lengthen it, or to make it loom large by acting

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

This is the plainest, most physical side of the word. At its simplest it means to make a thing bigger: to lengthen a tassel, to widen a border. From there it stretches naturally to size of every kind, so it can describe a mission that grows in reach or an influence that spreads.

The word also has a special use where God is the one doing the enlarging. When God "makes great" his mercy toward a person, the point is not that he talks it up but that he acts, pouring out kindness so generously that it stands out and cannot be missed. English often smooths this into "showed great mercy," which captures the result but hides the picture of something being made to loom large.

What holds these together is the idea of increase: taking something and making it larger, fuller, or more prominent than it was.

Nuances

1ato enlarge or lengthen a physical thing
Mat 23:5
1bto extend or enlarge the reach of something, such as a sphere of work
2Co 10:15
2Co 10:15

Whether the verb here means the enlargement of Paul's missionary sphere or the magnifying of his own reputation among the Corinthians.

  • majorityPaul's apostolic sphere of work will be enlarged in scope and extent as the Corinthians' faith grows.; M. E. Thrall, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, ICC (T&T Clark, 2000), 2:646-48; M. J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 2005), 720-22
  • minorityThe verb also carries a nuance of Paul's own reputation or honor being magnified, alongside the extension of his territory.; C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, BNTC (A. & C. Black, 1973), 264-66
1cto make one's kindness great by acting, said of God showing abundant mercy
Luk 1:58
2

to declare or acknowledge someone as great: to exalt, extol, or hold in high honor, above all in praising God

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is the side of the word that shaped biblical worship. Here you do not make a person or God literally bigger; you recognize and proclaim the greatness that is already there. It runs from public admiration of people to the full-throated praise of God in song.

This worship sense grew up mainly in the Greek Old Testament, where the word became the go-to term for celebrating how great God is. The New Testament writers, especially Luke, inherited it: when Mary says her soul "magnifies" the Lord, or when new believers speak in tongues and "magnify" God, the word means to declare his greatness out loud. It can also be used of a name or a person being lifted high in people's esteem.

English has no single word that covers this whole span. Translators reach for magnify, exalt, glorify, praise, extol, or honor depending on the verse, and each catches only part of it.

Nuances

2ato hold a person in high public honor; to extol
Act 5:13
2bto declare God or Christ to be great in praise and worship; to be exalted
Luk 1:46Act 10:46Act 19:17Php 1:20

What scholars say about megalunō

The major lexica map a coherent range for this verb. BDAG distinguishes physical enlargement (Matt 23:5), a doxological "exalt, glorify, extol" (Luke 1:46; Acts 5:13; 10:46; 19:17; Phil 1:20), and a Semitism "show great" of divine action (Luke 1:58, reproducing Hebrew higdil hesed). Louw-Nida spread it across the domains of praise, size, and status/honor; LSJ gives the classical base "make great, exalt" and "make great by word, extol," already flexible in Thucydides, Euripides, and Xenophon before the Septuagint. In the Septuagint the verb becomes the standard rendering of the root gadal (roughly 170 of some 215 occurrences), fixing it as the key doxological word for declaring God great in cultic praise, a trajectory traced by Grundmann (TDNT 4:543-44), Muraoka (GELS), and Silva (NIDNTTE). Luke wrote five of the eight New Testament occurrences and uses the word as a marker of his Septuagint-saturated hymnic style; Paul uses it twice on opposite sides of the map, the spatial 2 Cor 10:15 and the doxological Phil 1:20.

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

  • Bauer, W., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed., ed. F. W. Danker (Chicago, 2000), 623lexicon
  • Liddell, H. G., R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed. (Oxford, 1996), s.v.lexicon
  • Louw, J. P., and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (UBS, 1989), §§33.358, 79.124, 87.15lexicon
  • Muraoka, T., A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Peeters, 2009), s.v.lexicon
  • Grundmann, W., "μέγας κτλ.," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 4 (Eerdmans, 1967), 543-44theological-dictionary
  • Silva, M., ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, 2nd ed. (Zondervan, 2014), s.v. μέγας κτλ.theological-dictionary
  • O'Brien, P. T., The Epistle to the Philippians, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 1991), 113-17commentary
  • Fitzmyer, J. A., The Gospel According to Luke I-IX, AB 28 (Doubleday, 1981), 359-67commentary

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

All attested forms of μεγαλύνω

aorist active indicative 3s

ἐμεγάλυνεν

Luk 1:58

aorist passive infinitive

μεγαλυνθῆναι

2Co 10:15

future passive indicative 3s

μεγαλυνθήσεται

Php 1:20

imperfect active indicative 3s

ἐμεγάλυνεν

Act 5:13

imperfect passive indicative 3s

ἐμεγαλύνετο

Act 19:17

present active indicative 3p

μεγαλύνουσιν

Mat 23:5

present active indicative 3s

μεγαλύνει

Luk 1:46

present active participle genitive m p

μεγαλυνόντων

Act 10:46