Lexicon

G2097 - euangelizo

Strong's: G2097 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: yoo-ang-ghel-id'-zo Part of speech: verb (the middle-deponent form euangelizomai is the more common NT form) Etymology: eu- (good) + angellō (to announce / proclaim), literally "to announce good (news)." Hebrew equivalent (LXX): בָּשַׂר (basar, "to bring news / proclaim glad tidings"), Isaiah 40:9; 52:7; 61:1. NT occurrences: 54, concentrated in Luke (10), Acts (15), Pauline epistles (~21), 1 Peter, Hebrews, Revelation. Companion noun: G2098 - euangelion (good news / gospel), the cognate noun.

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

To bring / proclaim good news (general), the literal sense; announce a positive message. Used non-religiously of any good-news-bearer (1 Sam 31:9 LXX of Saul's death-news to the Philistines, ironically euangelizomai-ing what is bad news for Israel; the verb is morally neutral on its semantic content though usually positive).
To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the dominant NT sense; the technical-Christian use, where the "good news" is specifically Christ's death-and-resurrection-and-coming-Kingdom.
To announce / promise (eschatologically), the prophetic-eschatological sense, drawing on the Isaianic mevaśśer tradition.

Theological force, the Isaiah 40 / 52 / 61 announcement-tradition

The verb euangelizō / euangelizomai is one of the most theologically loaded mission-vocabulary words in the NT. Its weight comes from the Isaianic background.

Stream 1, The Isaianic mevaśśer (announcer of good news) tradition

Three Isaiah passages establish the OT-Hebrew background:

Isaiah 40:9, "get yourselves up on a high mountain, O Zion, mevaśśeret-tsiyyon (announcer-of-good-news to Zion)... say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'", the prophet-as-announcer of YHWH's coming
Isaiah 52:7, "how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who mevaśśer, who announces shalom, who mevaśśer-tov (announces good), who announces yeshuʿah (salvation), who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"
Isaiah 61:1, "the Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to levaśśer (preach good tidings) to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives..."

The NT activates each of these directly:

Romans 10:15 quotes Isa 52:7, "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"
Luke 4:18-21, Jesus reads Isa 61:1 at the Nazareth synagogue and declares "today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing"
Matthew 11:5 / Luke 7:22, Jesus's response to John's question quotes Isa 61:1: "the poor have the gospel preached to them" (ptōchoi euangelizontai)

The Isaianic mevaśśer tradition gives the euangelizō its eschatological weight: this is not a generic "preaching" verb but the specific announcement-of-the-coming-of-God the prophets foretold.

Stream 2, Christ as the supreme Euangelizer (gospel-bringer)

In the Synoptic tradition, Jesus's own ministry is euangelizō-shaped:

Luke 4:43, "I must euangelisasthai (preach the good news of) the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose"
Luke 7:22; 8:1, Jesus's preaching ministry as euangelizō
Matthew 11:5, the proof-of-Messianic-identity is "the poor have the euangelizontai"
Mark 1:14-15, Jesus comes "preaching the euangelion of God"

Christ Himself is the original euangelizer, the One who announces His own arrival and His own kingdom. The apostolic-church's euangelizō-mission is participation in and continuation of Christ's own mission.

Stream 3, Apostolic-church euangelizō

The Acts narrative is structured around the euangelizō-mission spreading from Jerusalem to "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8):

Acts 5:42; 8:4, 12, 25, 35, 40; 10:36; 11:20; 13:32; 14:7, 15, 21; 15:35; 16:10; 17:18, the apostolic-mission as euangelizō-act
Romans 1:15; 15:20; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:16, 18, Pauline mission-vocabulary
Galatians 1:8-9, 11, 16, 23; 4:13, Paul's defense of his apostolic euangelizō-content
Ephesians 2:17; 3:8, Christ's euangelizō-of-peace

Galatians 1:8-9 is particularly weighty: "even if we, or an angel from heaven, should euangelizētai to you a euangelion contrary to what we have euangelisametha to you, he is to be accursed." Paul anchors the euangelizō-content as fixed, there is one gospel, and any other "evangelization" is anathema.

Notable verses

The Isaianic anchor and Christ's activation

Isaiah 40:9, Zion as mevaśśer
Isaiah 52:7, beautiful feet of the announcer; quoted Rom 10:15
Isaiah 61.1-2, anointed to preach good news; quoted Luke 4:18-21
Luke 4:18-21, Jesus's Nazareth-synagogue inaugural
Matthew 11:5 / Luke 7.22, "the poor have the gospel preached to them"
Luke 4:43, "I must preach the kingdom"

Apostolic mission

Acts 5:42, "every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ"
Acts 8:4, the dispersed Christians "went around evangelizing the word"
Acts 8:12, 35; Acts 11:20; Acts 13:32; Acts 14:7, 15, 21; Acts 15:35; Acts 16:10; Acts 17:18, the Acts mission-narrative
Romans 10:15, Isaiah 52:7 quotation
Romans 15:20, Paul's frontier-mission ambition: "to euangelizō not where Christ was already named"
1 Corinthians 1:17, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to euangelizō"
1 Corinthians 9:16-18, "necessity is laid upon me; for woe is me if I do not euangelizō"
Galatians 1:8-9, anathema on any other gospel
Galatians 1:11, 16, 23, Paul's defense
Ephesians 2:17; Ephesians 3:8, Christ's gospel of peace

Eschatological / Revelation

Revelation 14:6, "an angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel (euangelion aiōnion) to euangelisai over those who live on the earth"

Hebrews

Hebrews 4:2, 6, "good news has been evangelized to us, just as also to them"

Patristic / scholarly note

The early-Christian mission-theology is anchored in euangelizō-vocabulary. Justin Martyr (First Apology), describes the church's expansion in euangelizō-terms. Eusebius of Caesarea (Ecclesiastical History), treats the apostolic mission as the consummating fulfillment of the Isaianic mevaśśer tradition.

Reformed mission theology (Roland Allen, Missionary Methods, 1912; Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret, 1978; David Bosch, Transforming Mission, 1991), develops the apostolic euangelizō-pattern as the ongoing pattern of the church's mission. N.T. Wright (Surprised by Hope, 2008; How God Became King, 2012), emphasizes the Isaianic-Kingdom euangelizō-content (the news that YHWH is now king through Jesus) against narrower individualist soteriological reductions of "evangelism."

The relationship between euangelizō (the verb) and G2098 - euangelion (the noun) is largely synonymous in content but differs in grammatical aspect: the verb emphasizes the activity (proclaiming); the noun emphasizes the content (what is proclaimed). Both center on the same Christic-Kingdom subject matter.

The Isaiah 40 / 52 / 61 / Luke 4 line is among the most decisive trajectories in biblical theology: the OT-prophetic announcer-of-good-news tradition is fulfilled in Christ's own preaching, commissioned in the apostolic mission, and consummates in the eschatological-angel of Rev 14:6 announcing the eternal gospel. The trajectory binds OT prophecy, NT mission, and final consummation in one vocabulary.

Verses in this codex

See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here. Anchors: Isaiah 40:9, Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah 61.1-2 (Isaianic background); Luke 4:18-21 (Christ's inaugural); Romans 10:15 (the Isa 52:7 NT-citation); 1 Corinthians 1:17 (Pauline mission-priority); Galatians 1:8-9 (one-gospel anathema); Revelation 14:6 (eschatological angel-gospel).