What does ἐπαγγελία (epangelía) mean in the Bible?
G1860 is the noun for a promise, pledged commitment, or promised thing. The local evidence is broad and cannot be reduced to one covenant formula.
Greek · G1860
ἐπαγγελία
Promise
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἐπαγγελία G1860
Pronunciation epangelía
What does ἐπαγγελία (epangelía) mean in the Bible?
G1860 is the noun for a promise, pledged commitment, or promised thing. The local evidence is broad and cannot be reduced to one covenant formula.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπαγγελία (G1860) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1860?
The BSB source-word alignment has 52 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include promise (19), promises (7), promised (6), [the] promise (3), a promise (2).
Where does ἐπαγγελία (epangelía) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 24:49. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (14), Galatians (10), Acts (8), Romans (8).
Are there verse guides for ἐπαγγελία (epangelía)?
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
G1860 is the noun for a promise, pledged commitment, or promised thing. The local evidence is broad and cannot be reduced to one covenant formula. Acts uses it for the Father's promised Spirit, promises to the fathers, and even a human pledge connected with the plot against Paul. Romans and Galatians concentrate on God's promise to Abraham, the relation of promise to faith and law, and the identity of the promised seed and heirs.
Ephesians speaks of the promised Spirit and Gentile participation in the promise in Christ. Hebrews stresses patient inheritance, covenant promises, and faithful life before full reception. Second Peter names the promised coming, while 1 John names eternal life as what Christ promised. The noun identifies a promise; the speaker, content, recipients, timing, and reliability must come from each passage.
How the Bible Uses It
The local Greek index counts about 52 occurrences for exact Strong's ID G1860 across Luke-Acts, Paul, Hebrews, 2 Peter, and 1 John. Major clusters concern the Father's promised Spirit, God's commitments to Abraham and the fathers, inheritance by faith rather than law, Gentile participation in Christ, covenant mediation, patient endurance, the promised coming, and eternal life.
Acts 23:21 also uses the noun for a human pledge, demonstrating that the lexical item does not make a promise divine or reliable by itself. Each occurrence must identify who promises, what is promised, and how the surrounding argument applies it.
- Gal.3.18
For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.
This is the structural key to Galatians 3's argument. Paul sets law and promise in antithesis not as two competing paths to the same inheritance, but as two incompatible logics: if inheritance is earned by law-observance, it is no longer a gift; if it is a promise (epangelia), it is pure gift from God. The word 'granted' (kecharistai; 'graced') reinforces that the promise is an act of grace, not a contract based on merit.
- Gal.3.22
But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
The promise is received through faith in Jesus Christ, not through law-compliance. Paul's logic is that the law's role was to demonstrate universal imprisonment under sin, not to provide the escape route. The escape route is epangelia received through pistis. The promise thus sets the horizon: it is what the whole Scriptural narrative has been building toward, and faith is how individuals enter into what God has promised.
- Gal.3.29
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
The logical conclusion of the chapter: union with Christ is how Gentile believers enter the Abrahamic promise-stream. They do not receive a separate promise; they receive the same promise that was made to Abraham, because they are in the one Seed who is Christ. The phrase 'according to promise' (kat' epangelian) closes the chapter by anchoring identity and inheritance in God's sovereign word, not in ethnicity or law-status.
- Acts.2.39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Peter's Pentecost sermon extends epangelia to every generation and every nation; 'all who are far off.' This is the promise's own logic breaking out of its narrower OT context into the eschatological fullness that Paul also argues for in Galatians 3. The promise was always for all nations (Gen. 12:3; 22:18), and Acts 2:39 announces that its hour of universal application has arrived.
- Heb.11.13
All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Hebrews frames the whole patriarchal narrative as a life lived toward epangelia; promise not yet received, but trusted from a distance. This is the posture that defines the people of God across both testaments: they live in the space between the promise given and the promise delivered, and faith is what sustains them there. The NT church occupies the same space, having received the firstfruits (the Spirit) but awaiting the fullness.
Passage contextBook contextCanonical parallel
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It promise 19× Luke 24:49, Acts 2:39, Romans 4:13, Romans 4:14
promises 7× Romans 9:4, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Galatians 3:16, Galatians 3:21
promised 6× Acts 1:4, Acts 2:33, Ephesians 1:13, Hebrews 9:15
[the] promise 3× Romans 9:9, Galatians 3:29, 2 Timothy 1:1
a promise 2× Galatians 3:18
[ while ] the promise 1× Hebrews 4:1
[it] 1× Romans 4:16
[the] promises 1× 2 Corinthians 1:20
[to fulfill] His promise 1× Acts 7:17
[What God] promised 1× Acts 13:32
a promise) 1× Ephesians 6:2
consent 1× Acts 23:21
He has promised 1× Hebrews 10:36
He promised 1× Acts 13:23
of promise 1× Galatians 4:28
promise [that] 1× Acts 26:6
promises made 1× Romans 15:8
they were promised 1× Hebrews 11:13
what has been promised 1× Hebrews 6:12
what was promised 1× Hebrews 11:33
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 24:49 ἐπαγγελίαν to promise Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 1:4 ἐπαγγελίαν to promised Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 2:33 ἐπαγγελίαν to promised Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 2:39 ἐπαγγελία to promise Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Acts 7:17 ἐπαγγελίας to [to fulfill] His promise Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Acts 13:23 ἐπαγγελίαν to He promised Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 13:32 ἐπαγγελίαν to [What God] promised Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 23:21 ἐπαγγελίαν to consent Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 26:6 ἐπαγγελίας to promise [that] Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Romans 4:13 ἐπαγγελία to promise Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 24:49
Aligned rows 52
Books represented 11
Luke 1 Acts 8 Romans 8 2 Corinthians 2 Galatians 10 Ephesians 4 1 Timothy 1 2 Timothy 1 Hebrews 14 2 Peter 2 1 John 1
Source forms
ἐπαγγελίας 23x epangelias Acts 7:17, Acts 26:6, Romans 9:8, Romans 9:9
ἐπαγγελίαν 16x epangelian Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, Acts 2:33, Acts 13:23
ἐπαγγελία 6x epangelia Acts 2:39, Romans 4:13, Romans 4:14, Galatians 3:22
ἐπαγγελίαι 3x epangeliai Romans 9:4, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 3:16
ἐπαγγελιῶν 2x epangeliōn Galatians 3:21, Hebrews 11:33
ἐπαγγελίᾳ 1x epangelia Ephesians 6:2
ἐπαγγελίαις 1x epangeliais Hebrews 8:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 17x Acts 7:17, Acts 26:6, Romans 9:8, Romans 9:9
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 16x Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, Acts 2:33, Acts 13:23
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 6x Romans 15:8, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Hebrews 6:12, Hebrews 7:6
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 6x Acts 2:39, Romans 4:13, Romans 4:14, Galatians 3:22
Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural 3x Romans 9:4, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 3:16
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural 2x Galatians 3:21, Hebrews 11:33
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural 1x Hebrews 8:6
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 1x Ephesians 6:2
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Promise-based preaching can be misread as unconditional guarantees of material blessing or earthly outcomes. The Abrahamic epangelia is about the inheritance of God himself, justification, the Spirit, and the new creation, not a prosperity contract. Hebrews 11:13 is the corrective: the patriarchs died without receiving the promises in full, and they were commended for their faith precisely because they trusted without demanding immediate delivery. Preachers should be careful to frame promise-confidence as grounded security in God's character, not as expectation of specific earthly outcomes.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Paul's contrast between promise and law in Galatians 3 means the Mosaic law was a mistake or a failed experiment; Paul explicitly says the law was 'ordained by angels' (Gal. 3:19) and served as a guardian/tutor until Christ came (Gal. 3:24). The law had an essential role; it simply was never intended to be the path to inheritance, which was always the function of the promise.
- Do not claim that 'the promise is to you and your children' (Acts 2:39) establishes a specific doctrine of infant baptism; while that verse is used in paedobaptist arguments, its primary context is the universal scope of Pentecost's blessing reaching all generations and nations, not a specific teaching about the mode or recipients of baptism.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Evidence Summary
CovenantMessiah
Greek word. Divine commitment to future blessing, not mere human word but binding covenantal assurance
Source Gloss
promise
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 52 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Acts 1:4 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Acts 2:33 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Acts 2:39 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελία, epaggelia
a promise
Read verse Acts 7:17 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίας epaggeliav
a promise
Read verse Acts 13:23 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Acts 13:32 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Acts 23:21 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν. epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Acts 26:6 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίας epaggeliav
a promise
Read verse Romans 4:13 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελία epaggelia
a promise
Read verse Romans 4:14 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελία· epaggelia
a promise
Read verse Romans 4:16 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Romans 4:20 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαν epaggelian
a promise
Read verse Romans 9:4 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
ἐπαγγελίαι, epaggeliai
a promise
Read verse Romans 9:8 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίας epaggeliav
a promise
Read verse Romans 9:9 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐπαγγελίας epaggeliav
a promise
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 8 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 8 Aligned forms 52 Case pattern Accusative (22) Number pattern Singular (40)
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Acts 2:39 · Rom 4:13 · Rom 4:14 · Gal 3:22 · 2 Pet 3:4 · 1 John 2:25 6×
Nominative · Plural · Feminine Rom 9:4 · 2 Cor 1:20 · Gal 3:16 3×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Acts 7:17 · Acts 26:6 · Rom 9:8 · Rom 9:9 · Gal 3:18 · Gal 4:23 · Gal 4:28 · Eph 1:13 · Eph 2:12 · Eph 3:6 · Heb 4:1 · Heb 6:15 · Heb 6:17 · Heb 11:9 · 2 Pet 3:9 17×
Genitive · Plural · Feminine Gal 3:21 · Heb 11:33 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Eph 6:2 1×
Dative · Plural · Feminine Heb 8:6 1×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Luke 24:49 · Acts 1:4 · Acts 2:33 · Acts 13:23 · Acts 13:32 · Acts 23:21 · Rom 4:16 · Rom 4:20 · Gal 3:14 · Gal 3:17 · Gal 3:29 · 1 Tim 4:8 · 2 Tim 1:1 · Heb 9:15 · Heb 10:36 · Heb 11:39 16×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Rom 15:8 · 2 Cor 7:1 · Heb 6:12 · Heb 7:6 · Heb 11:13 · Heb 11:17 6×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
A pledged commitment from God that guarantees a future blessing.
a pledged commitment, promise, assured pledge
Assured pledge or promise.
A pledged commitment or divine assurance.
Promise, pledge.
Promise, pledged commitment.
Additional Occurrences
1-john Promise epangelía
declared assurance of future blessing
Showing 7 selected witnesses from 52 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐπαγγελία is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
The inheritance depends on God’s promise rather than human performance. 1 John 2:24-27
Defines true covenant identity as grounded in God’s promise. 2 Timothy 1:1-7
Anchors Paul’s hope in God’s covenant faithfulness. Acts 26:1-8
The unfolding events occur as the time of God’s covenant promise draws near. Acts 7:17-34
Paul frames his apostleship around God’s pledged gospel reality. Timothy’s courage is rooted in what God has promised, not in shifting circumstances. Romans 4:13-25
Centers hope in the guaranteed gift of eternal life through the Son. Romans 9:1-13
Eternal life is not earned but received as God’s faithful promise in Christ.
Canonical Themes
Covenant Messiah
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G1860 helps a teacher preach promise by attending first to the promiser and the promised content. The noun itself does not guarantee divine origin, unconditional form, immediate fulfillment, or material benefit. Acts 23 includes a human pledge, while the dominant theological uses describe commitments made by God. Galatians 3 distinguishes inheritance granted through promise from inheritance based on law and locates the promised blessing in Christ and reception by faith.
Luke and Acts connect the Father's promise with the gift of the Spirit. Hebrews teaches patience between promise and reception, including saints who trusted without receiving the promised fullness during their lives. Second Peter answers scoffing about apparent delay by appealing to the Lord's character and purpose. A sermon can therefore ground assurance in the faithful God without converting every biblical desire into a personal guarantee.
It should name the actual promise in its passage, respect its recipients and timing, and preserve both already-received gifts and still-awaited fulfillment.
Anchor passage
Gal.3.18
Doctrinal connections
- G4690 Sperma; seed/offspring, the channel through whom the promise flows, in Gal 3:16 Paul argues the promise was made to one seed, singular, who is Christ
- G2818 Kleronomos; heir; epangelia produces kleronomos, the promise creates heirs, which is the whole point of Gal 3-4
- G4102 Pistis; faith, the instrument through which epangelia is received; promise and faith are correlates, a promise requires trust, not performance
- G5485 Charis; grace, the promise to Abraham is described as 'graced' (kecharistai, Gal 3:18); epangelia and charis belong to the same theological family
- H1285 Bĕrît; covenant (Hebrew), the OT backbone of epangelia; what Paul calls the promise, the OT calls the Abrahamic covenant
- 2Cor.1.20; all of God's promises find their Yes in Christ, the fullest NT statement of promise-christology
Epangelia is built from epi (upon/toward) + angellō (to announce, declare). The compound suggests a declaration directed toward someone, a commitment made in the direction of another person. The related verb epangellomai means to announce, commit, or promise, and it is used of both God's and human promises in the NT. The noun form epangelia in the LXX translates various Hebrew terms but becomes the NT's preferred word for the divine commitment to Abraham.
Paul uses it without the definite article in some passages (Gal. 3:18, 'by promise'), which emphasizes the character of the action (gift-promise) rather than a specific promise-event.
From Old to New Testament
Epangelia is the NT's translation of the Abrahamic covenant's inner logic. In Genesis, God makes an unconditional declaration to Abraham: I will give you land, I will multiply your offspring, I will bless all nations through you (Gen. 12:1-3; 15; 17; 22:15-18). These promises are repeated to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4) and Jacob (Gen. 28:13-14) without being negotiated; they are sovereign commitments, not contracts.
Paul reads this promise-structure in Galatians 3 as the antecedent of the gospel: the law that came later (at Sinai) could not annul a promise made 430 years earlier, because a confirmed covenant cannot be unilaterally rewritten. The promise was always christological; 'to your offspring, who is Christ' (Gal. 3:16), and always universal in scope; 'all nations will be blessed.'
Acts 2:39 announces that the promise's universal moment has arrived at Pentecost. Hebrews develops the not-yet dimension: the patriarchs died embracing the promises from afar, and the church likewise lives in the tension between the promise given (the Spirit as firstfruits) and the promise fully received (the resurrection and the new creation). The whole NT is the story of epangelia arriving and still coming.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain