Exploring the Meaning of Euaggelion in Greek

εὐαγγέλιον means “gospel.” In these passages it is the announced message that Jesus proclaims, that disciples are called to believe and to carry outward, and that becomes a cause worth costly allegiance.

Occurrences

Matthew 4:23 — “Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.”

Here εὐαγγέλιον is the proclaimed “Good News of the Kingdom,” paired with Jesus’ teaching and with acts of healing. The verse presents it as public proclamation in ordinary community spaces (“their synagogues”), and it stands alongside visible restoration (“healing every disease and every sickness”), framing the gospel as a message announced broadly and accompanied by concrete mercies.

Matthew 9:35 — “Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.”

Again εὐαγγέλιον is “the Good News of the Kingdom,” now emphasized by breadth of reach: “all the cities and the villages.” The repeated pattern—teaching, preaching, healing—portrays the gospel as something carried from place to place, not confined to a single setting, and addressed to “the people” at large.

Matthew 24:14 — “This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

In this saying, εὐαγγέλιον is projected forward as a message destined for global proclamation. The verse links the gospel with public witness—“for a testimony to all the nations”—and with the large-scale horizon of “the end,” so that the gospel functions as an announced message whose preaching has worldwide scope and eschatological weight within the scene’s outlook.

Matthew 26:13 — “Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”

Here εὐαγγέλιον appears as the stable, recognizable proclamation that will be “preached in the whole world.” Against that worldwide spread, the woman’s deed is promised ongoing mention “as a memorial of her,” so the gospel’s proclamation becomes the setting in which remembrance travels: wherever the message goes, her act is carried along in the telling.

Mark 1:1 — “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

This opening line uses εὐαγγέλιον as a heading-like statement: “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The gospel is presented as having a beginning that can be narrated, and it is explicitly bound to the identity named in the verse—“Jesus Christ, the Son of God”—so that the gospel’s content is anchored to him within the sentence itself.

Mark 1:14 — “Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,”

εὐαγγέλιον here is what Jesus preaches in a particular historical moment (“after John was taken into custody”) and in a particular region (“into Galilee”). It is “the Good News of God’s Kingdom,” indicating that the gospel is not merely private instruction but an announced message set within public events and delivered as proclamation.

Mark 1:15 — “and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.””

This verse draws the hearer’s response into view: εὐαγγέλιον is something one is commanded to “believe in.” The gospel stands alongside urgent declarations (“The time is fulfilled,” “God’s Kingdom is at hand!”) and the summons “Repent,” so the gospel is not only preached; it calls for a decisive posture of trust in the message being announced.

Mark 8:35 — “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it.”

Here εὐαγγέλιον is placed beside Jesus himself as a cause: “for my sake and the sake of the Good News.” The verse frames life-and-loss language around that allegiance, portraying the gospel as something that can demand costly self-denial and that stands as a reason one might accept loss in the present.

Mark 10:29 — “Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News,”

In this scene, εὐαγγέλιον again appears as a motive for sacrifice. The verse lists concrete ties and securities—household, family relationships, and “land”—and places the gospel alongside Jesus as the reason for leaving them. The gospel thus functions as a compelling claim that can reorder the most tangible parts of a person’s life.

Mark 13:10 — “The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.”

εὐαγγέλιον is here a necessity: it “must first be preached.” The scope is explicitly international (“to all the nations”), and the word is embedded in an obligation statement, presenting the gospel as a message whose proclamation is not optional but required before subsequent events in the discourse unfold.

Mark 14:9 — “Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.”

This repeats the linkage between εὐαγγέλιον’s worldwide preaching and the enduring remembrance of the woman’s action. The gospel’s spread “throughout the whole world” becomes the vehicle by which her deed is “spoken of,” suggesting that the gospel proclamation creates a recurring context in which certain acts are retold and preserved.

Mark 16:15 — “He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.”

In this commission, εὐαγγέλιον is the message assigned to the disciples’ movement outward: “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News.” The audience horizon is expanded to “the whole creation,” portraying the gospel as a proclaimed announcement meant to be carried as far and as widely as their going can reach.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, εὐαγγέλιον consistently names a proclaimed message: it is “preached,” it is spread geographically, and it is addressed to audiences ranging from local gatherings (“their synagogues”) to “all the nations” and even “the whole creation.” The repeated collocation “Good News of the Kingdom” in Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14 and Mark 1:14 places the gospel within the announcement of God’s reigning activity—something near (“at hand”) and something meant to be publicly testified (“for a testimony to all the nations”).

The gospel is also something that demands a response from hearers. Mark 1:15 presents belief as the appropriate stance toward it (“believe in the Good News”), placing it alongside repentance and the declaration that “the time is fulfilled.” In Mark 8:35 and 10:29, εὐαγγέλιον moves from being merely the content of preaching to being a cause worthy of personal cost—so central that it can stand alongside Jesus himself (“for my sake and the sake of the Good News”). In those contexts, the gospel is not treated as a detachable set of ideas; it is bound up with loyalty and with the reordering of life’s priorities.

Several occurrences highlight the gospel’s capacity to carry memory and testimony as it travels. In Matthew 26:13 and Mark 14:9, the preaching of the gospel “in the whole world” becomes the setting for the woman’s deed to be remembered “as a memorial of her.” The gospel’s spread is thus portrayed not only as expansion of a message but as the expansion of a narrative world in which certain actions are repeatedly told whenever the gospel is proclaimed.

Finally, Mark 1:1 uses εὐαγγέλιον as a programmatic statement—“The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”—which frames what follows as the start of a coherent gospel account anchored to the named identity. Along with the commission in Mark 16:15, these uses show εὐαγγέλιον functioning both as the message that can be narrated from a “beginning” and as the message that must be carried outward through preaching.

Imagery in Context

The recurring scenes attach εὐαγγέλιον to movement and voice: Jesus “went about” cities and villages, the message “will be preached” in “the whole world,” and disciples are told, “Go into all the world, and preach.” Within that outward motion, the gospel is pictured as something spoken in public spaces, echoed across nations, and powerful enough to gather testimony, summon belief, and sustain costly allegiance.

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).