To delight
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Εὐδοκέω means to be pleased, take delight, consider something good, or willingly choose a course. At Jesus' baptism the Father declares His pleasure in the beloved Son, a public affirmation bound to Jesus' identity and obedient mission.
Reader summary
Full entry for εὐδοκέω (G2106) · Open the biblical lexicon
Εὐδοκέω means to be pleased, take delight, consider something good, or willingly choose a course. At Jesus' baptism the Father declares His pleasure in the beloved Son, a public affirmation bound to Jesus' identity and obedient mission.
The BSB source-word alignment has 21 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include I am well pleased (4), was pleased (2), [God] was pleased [to have] (1), [that] we were delighted (1), am well pleased (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (3), Matthew (3), 1 Corinthians (2), 1 Thessalonians (2).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Εὐδοκέω means to be pleased, take delight, consider something good, or willingly choose a course. At Jesus' baptism the Father declares His pleasure in the beloved Son, a public affirmation bound to Jesus' identity and obedient mission. Churches in Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to share materially with poor saints, so the verb can describe willing human resolve.
Paul also says God was pleased to save believers through the proclaimed message that worldly wisdom calls foolish. The word does not mean a passing mood or arbitrary preference. Its subject, object, and purpose show whether it speaks of divine delight, sovereign resolve, communal willingness, or approval of a proposed action.
Εὐδοκέω expresses pleasure or willing approval. The Father's delight in the Son, God's saving purpose through preaching, and churches' willing generosity display distinct forms of pleased resolve.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”
The heavenly declaration identifies Jesus as the beloved Son and expresses the Father's pleasure as He enters public messianic ministry in obedient solidarity.
And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Mark addresses the baptismal word directly to Jesus, joining beloved sonship, divine pleasure, the Spirit's descent, and the mission that follows.
And the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Luke sets the Father's pleasure alongside the Spirit's bodily descent and Jesus' prayer, presenting a Trinitarian moment at the beginning of His ministry.
For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
The Gentile churches willingly choose material fellowship with Jerusalem's poor, and Paul also describes the contribution as an obligation born from shared spiritual blessing.
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
God's pleased purpose overturns the world's proud standards by saving believers through the proclaimed crucified Christ rather than autonomous wisdom.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Divine approval or consent; God's deliberate choice to be pleased with or favor someone or something.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 21 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
Read verseI am resolved, well-pleased
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 20 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)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 21 lexical occurrence verses.
εὐδοκέω is built from these roots:
Declares divine approval of Christ’s mission.
Divine pleasure is revealed most clearly around the beloved Son. At Jesus' baptism, the Father does not merely approve an isolated deed; He names the Son and delights in the obedient mission unfolding through baptism, temptation, proclamation, cross, and resurrection. First Corinthians shows that God's pleased purpose also governs the means of salvation. He saves through the message of the crucified Christ, frustrating every scheme of human boasting.
Romans uses the verb at the human level for churches willingly sharing with impoverished saints, while reminding them that gospel fellowship creates real obligation. Christian pleasure is therefore not autonomous preference. The church learns to delight in the Son, welcome God's appointed gospel means, and choose generosity freely because grace has joined believers to one another.
Matt.3.17
Εὐδοκέω combines the idea of good with thinking or considering. It can express delight, approval, consent, or willingness to choose, and may take a person, infinitive, or action as its complement.
The Lord delights in His servant, steadfast love, justice, and faithful obedience rather than empty sacrifice. The Gospels identify Jesus as the beloved servant-Son in whom that pleasure rests.