To wonder; by implication, to admire
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Θαυμάζω (thaumazō) means to marvel, wonder, be amazed, or react with surprise. Jesus marvels at a Gentile centurion's faith, making astonishment an evaluative response to trust He has not found in Israel.
Reader summary
Full entry for θαυμάζω (G2296) · Open the biblical lexicon
Θαυμάζω (thaumazō) means to marvel, wonder, be amazed, or react with surprise. Jesus marvels at a Gentile centurion's faith, making astonishment an evaluative response to trust He has not found in Israel.
The BSB source-word alignment has 44 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include were amazed (5), amazement (4), amazed (3), they marveled (3), marveled (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 8:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (13), Matthew (7), John (6), Acts (5).
Θαυμάζω (thaumazō) means to marvel, wonder, be amazed, or react with surprise. Jesus marvels at a Gentile centurion's faith, making astonishment an evaluative response to trust He has not found in Israel. Pilate is surprised that Jesus has already died and seeks verification from the centurion. Opponents marvel at Jesus' answer when their trap fails, but amazement does not necessarily become discipleship.
Leaders wonder at Peter and John's boldness and recognize that ordinary men have been with Jesus. Revelation warns that earth-dwellers will marvel at the beast, showing wonder captivated by deceptive evil. The verb names reaction, not moral approval. Object, explanation, and resulting response determine whether marveling recognizes faith, verifies an unexpected fact, silences opposition, notices transformed witnesses, or becomes idolatrous fascination.
Θαυμάζω describes astonishment. Jesus marvels at faith, Pilate at an unexpectedly quick death, opponents at an unanswerable reply, leaders at apostolic boldness, and the world at a doomed beast.
When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Jesus marvels at the centurion's confidence in His word and authority, then contrasts that faith with what He has found among Israel.
Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.
Pilate is surprised that Jesus is already dead and checks the report, making wonder the beginning of factual verification rather than faith.
And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people. And amazed at His answer, they fell silent.
Questioners fail to trap Jesus and marvel at His answer, yet silence under wisdom does not by itself indicate repentance.
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Authorities marvel at the bold speech of unschooled apostles and recognize their association with Jesus, while still deciding how to restrain them.
The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.
Unwritten earth-dwellers marvel at the beast's apparent return, demonstrating that astonishment can feed deception even when the beast goes to destruction.
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. To wonder at something with amazement; often implies admiration or astonishment at the unexpected.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 46 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
Read verseI wonder, admire
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 43 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 4 selected witnesses from 43 lexical occurrence verses.
θαυμάζω is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Wonder is a doorway, not a destination. Jesus' marvel at the centurion commends a faith that understands authority and trusts His word from a distance. Pilate's surprise produces investigation, a useful but spiritually limited response. Jesus' opponents are amazed when their scheme fails, yet they do not become disciples. Acts shows leaders unable to dismiss the courage of ordinary men shaped by Jesus, though recognition still meets resistance.
Revelation gives the sharpest warning: spectacular evil can attract wonder and lead the world into deception. Churches should not despise astonishment, but they must direct it toward truthful recognition, repentance, and worship of God. A crowd's amazement, viral attention, or fascination with power is never sufficient evidence of faithful fruit.
Matt.8.10
Θαυμάζω is a verb of wonder or astonishment and may take an object, causal phrase, or clause naming what surprises. The verb does not specify whether the response is believing, hostile, or deceived.
God's works rightly evoke wonder, prophets warn against deceptive signs, Jesus' authority amazes crowds, and Revelation distinguishes worshipful awe from fascination with the beast.