To strike with astonishment
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G1605 is a Greek verb for being struck with astonishment, amazement, or overwhelming surprise. In the New Testament it regularly describes people reacting to Jesus' teaching, authority, deeds, or difficult words.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐκπλήσσω (G1605) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1605 is a Greek verb for being struck with astonishment, amazement, or overwhelming surprise. In the New Testament it regularly describes people reacting to Jesus' teaching, authority, deeds, or difficult words.
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include they were astonished (3), were astonished (3), [The people] were astonished (1), [The people] were utterly astonished (1), astonished (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Mark (5), Matthew (4), Luke (3), Acts (1).
G1605 is a Greek verb for being struck with astonishment, amazement, or overwhelming surprise. In the New Testament it regularly describes people reacting to Jesus' teaching, authority, deeds, or difficult words. Mark 1:22 says hearers were astonished because Jesus taught with authority rather than like the scribes. Mark 10:26 records the disciples' intensified astonishment when Jesus' teaching about wealth leads them to ask who can be saved.
Acts 13:12 says the proconsul believed after seeing what happened and being astonished at the teaching about the Lord. The verb describes the force of the reaction, not its lasting spiritual outcome. Some astonished crowds later resist Jesus, and amazement can coexist with confusion, fear, hostility, or genuine faith. G1605 therefore opens a vital distinction between being impressed by biblical truth and submitting to the Lord revealed in that truth.
It corrects ministry strategies that count surprise, applause, emotional shock, or fascination as discipleship. The passage must show what the hearer understands, believes, rejects, or obeys after astonishment occurs.
G1605 is concentrated in the Gospels and Acts, where hearers are astonished at Jesus' teaching, authority, miracles, and statements about salvation. The reaction may prepare for belief, deepen a question, expose resistance, or simply register amazement. Narrative development, not the emotional verb alone, reveals the response's spiritual character.
The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.
The synagogue hearers are astonished because Jesus teaches with an authority unlike that of the scribes, introducing Mark's emphasis on His commanding word.
They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Who then can be saved?”
The disciples' astonishment intensifies when Jesus exposes the danger of riches, and their question about salvation leads to His declaration that what is impossible with man is possible with God.
When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
The proconsul believes after witnessing the confrontation with Elymas and being astonished at the teaching about the Lord, joining observed power with the message's content.
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. Astonishment from being overwhelmed by something extraordinary, distinct from fear or trembling
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
Read verseI am thunderstruck, astounded
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 verb appears across 13 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
ἐκπλήσσω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G1605 tells readers that Jesus' words and works land with disruptive force, but it refuses to let astonishment serve as the final measure of faithfulness. The synagogue in Mark recognizes that Jesus teaches with singular authority, yet Mark continues to reveal who receives that authority and who resists it. The disciples are astonished by the difficulty of entering God's kingdom because Jesus overturns familiar assumptions about wealth and blessing; their question becomes a doorway to grace when He locates salvation in God's power rather than human possibility.
In Acts, the proconsul's astonishment accompanies belief and is explicitly directed toward the teaching about the Lord. These contexts show why pastors should not despise wonder, but also why they must not manufacture it or mistake it for regeneration. A person may be emotionally shaken while remaining unrepentant, or may begin with astonishment and move toward genuine trust.
Responsible ministry keeps the focus on Christ's authoritative word, the impossibility of self-salvation, and the gospel response of faith. G1605 names the impact; the narrative reveals the heart's answer.
Mark.10.26
G1605 commonly appears in passive forms describing people who are struck with amazement at a teaching, deed, or statement. Constructions with a following phrase identify the object of astonishment, while the narrative supplies the response that follows.
Scripture often records awe, fear, or wonder before God's mighty acts and authoritative word. The Gospel narratives concentrate that response around Jesus, while Acts shows the apostolic message about the Lord confronting rulers and nations. The canonical pattern affirms wonder but directs it toward faith and obedience; it does not make every Hebrew or Greek term for fear and amazement interchangeable with G1605.