Marvellous
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This Greek adjective describes something remarkable or wonderful, but the reason for wonder must be read from its setting. Jesus quotes the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone as the Lord's marvelous work in Matthew 21:42 and Mark 12:11.
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Full entry for θαυμαστός (G2298) · Open the biblical lexicon
This Greek adjective describes something remarkable or wonderful, but the reason for wonder must be read from its setting. Jesus quotes the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone as the Lord's marvelous work in Matthew 21:42 and Mark 12:11.
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include marvelous (4), remarkable (1), wonderful [are] (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:42. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (2), 1 Peter (1), John (1), Mark (1).
This Greek adjective describes something remarkable or wonderful, but the reason for wonder must be read from its setting. Jesus quotes the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone as the Lord's marvelous work in Matthew 21:42 and Mark 12:11. First Peter 2:9 describes the light into which God calls His people as marvelous. Revelation 15 applies the adjective to a heavenly sign involving the final plagues and to God's works in the song of Moses and the Lamb. Wonder can accompany sober judgment as well as grateful praise.
John 9:30 uses the word with a pointed edge. The man whose eyes Jesus opened calls his interrogators' admitted ignorance remarkable: they do not know where Jesus is from despite what He has done. The adjective there is not simply an exclamation of pleasant surprise. Across all six occurrences, identify what is remarkable, who says so and how the statement advances the passage. A strong reaction by itself does not settle whether an interpretation or claimed sign is true.
The cornerstone quotation, the healed man's sharp reply, God's marvelous light and Revelation's sign and song locate wonder within testimony, salvation and judgment.
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Jesus quotes the Lord's action in making the rejected stone the cornerstone after the tenant parable. The marvel is attached to that scriptural reversal, not to successful human self-promotion.
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
The quoted line follows the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone. The leaders understand that the surrounding parable addresses them, so the marvel also confronts resistance to Jesus.
“That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
The healed man exposes the strangeness of his interrogators' claimed ignorance about Jesus despite the opening of his eyes. His remark is an argument within a contested conversation.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
God's marvelous light belongs to His call and the people's vocation to proclaim His virtues. The following verse recalls mercy, keeping the description from becoming a ground for superiority.
Then I saw another great and marvelous sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven final plagues, with which the wrath of God is completed.
The great and marvelous sign includes seven angels with the final plagues. Its context prevents a reading in which marvelous always means comfortable or emotionally pleasant.
And they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!
The song of Moses and the Lamb praises God's great and wonderful works alongside His just and true ways. Praise is directed to the Lord's character and acts, not to spectacle alone.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Describes something so extraordinary it provokes wonder and astonishment in the observer.
Describes something so extraordinary it provokes wonder and astonishment in the observer.
(θαυμάζω), [in LXX for פָּלָא and cogn. forms (Psa.118:22-23 119:129, Isa.25:1, al.), יָרֵא ni. (Exo.15:11, Psa.65:5, al.), אַדִּיר (Psa.8:1, 9 93:4), etc. ;] wonderful, marvellous: Mat.21:42 (LXX) Mrk.12:11, Jhn.9:30, 1Pe.2:9, Rev.15:1, 3.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
wonderful, marvelous
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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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
θαυμαστός is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
John 9:30 is a pointed reply in a difficult conversation. The man has repeatedly described the opening of his eyes, while his interrogators dispute the significance of Jesus' action. What he finds remarkable is their claim not to know where Jesus is from despite that action. His words challenge their handling of what they have heard. The chapter later tells how Jesus seeks him after he is expelled and brings the conversation to faith in the Son of Man.
The other occurrences broaden the picture. The cornerstone quotation speaks of the Lord's reversal, First Peter's marvelous light accompanies received mercy, and Revelation's wonder includes judgment and praise for God's just ways. A teacher should therefore explain the grounds of wonder instead of trying to produce a particular emotional display. The passage can call for thoughtful attention, repentance or gratitude without requiring everyone to react with equal intensity or using disability as a verdict on personal sin.
John.9.30
The adjective can mark an object of admiration or something strikingly surprising. John 9 shows why the speaker's argumentative purpose matters. It does not function as a technical certificate proving that whatever astonishes an audience has divine approval.
Matthew 21 and Mark 12 explicitly quote Psalm 118:22-23, locating the marvel in the Lord's action concerning the rejected stone. Revelation 15 names the song of Moses and the Lamb while praising divine works and justice. These stated connections support attention to God's acts without claiming one Hebrew equivalent or one emotional tone for every occurrence.