Exploring the Meaning of Diaphemizo in Greek

διαφημίζω means “to publish abroad,” describing speech that is carried outward into wider public circulation. In the Gospels it appears in scenes where a report about Jesus or about a claim connected with him moves beyond its point of origin and becomes widely known.

Root and Related Words

διαφημίζω is formed from dia (διά), “through/because of,” and pheme (φήμη), “news.” The combination naturally points to news being carried “through” a region or community, so that what begins as a single message becomes broadly disseminated.

Occurrences

“But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land.” (Matthew 9:31)

Here the verb is tied to movement (“they went out”) and to geographical reach (“in all that land”). The content being published abroad is “his fame,” and the setting is explicitly expansive: what was known in one place is pushed outward until the whole surrounding area is affected. The sentence is concise, but it presents publication abroad as a decisive action—once the report is released, it is no longer confined to the immediate circle of witnesses. The focus falls on the widening radius of knowledge: the fame is not merely mentioned; it is spread outward until it permeates the region.

“So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.” (Matthew 28:15)

In this context, the verb governs “This saying,” emphasizing a particular message as it is circulated. The immediate setting includes deliberate human agency (“they took the money and did as they were told”), and the result is a report that becomes publicly established “among the Jews.” The phrase “and continues until today” stresses durability: publication abroad is not only about initial distribution but about a message remaining in circulation and retaining force over time. The verse presents dissemination as something that can be initiated and guided, with the “saying” gaining traction within a defined community and persisting as a commonly repeated account.

“But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places. People came to him from everywhere.” (Mark 1:45)

This occurrence sets διαφημίζω alongside energetic public speech (“began to proclaim it much”) and connects it directly to concrete consequences. The act of spreading about “the matter” has such reach that it affects where Jesus can go: “Jesus could no more openly enter into a city.” Publication abroad is portrayed as a force that changes public conditions; the newly circulated report reshapes the social environment. The verse also shows the two-sided effect of wide dissemination: restriction on open city entry, yet intensified public response—“People came to him from everywhere.” The verb thus functions as a hinge between personal proclamation and broad public movement: one person’s outward speech becomes a widely known matter that draws crowds across boundaries.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, “to publish abroad” consistently involves more than simply stating something; it is the act of pushing a report outward until it becomes commonly known in a wider sphere. Matthew 9:31 highlights the geographic sweep of such publication (“in all that land”), presenting dissemination as the spread of “fame” across a region. Matthew 28:15 highlights the social embedment of a circulated message (“among the Jews”) and adds temporal extension (“continues until today”), showing that once a saying is published abroad it can become a lasting public account. Mark 1:45 highlights the practical effects that follow when a matter is widely spread: public knowledge becomes so extensive that it constrains movement (“could no more openly enter into a city”) while also drawing people “from everywhere.”

The three occurrences together show that publication abroad can refer to different kinds of content—“his fame,” “this saying,” and “the matter”—but in each case the central idea is outward diffusion into broad awareness. The verb’s force lies in the transition from limited knowledge to public circulation: the report passes through a land, through a community, and through social space until it generates a shared public reality. In these narratives, the result of such spreading is measurable: a whole land hears of Jesus’ fame; a saying gains ongoing currency among a people; and a matter spreads so widely that it alters patterns of access and draws crowds across the landscape.

Imagery

The imagery carried by διαφημίζω in these scenes is that of a message moving outward like a report that cannot be contained. In Matthew 9:31 it travels through “all that land”; in Matthew 28:15 it circulates “among the Jews” and persists; in Mark 1:45 it expands until city life itself is affected and “People came to him from everywhere.” The verb evokes the public reach of spoken news—once released, it moves beyond its source and establishes a wider field of shared knowledge.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).