What does μεγαλύνω (megalýnō) mean in the Bible?
μεγαλύνω (megalýnō): To declare or proclaim someone great; praising God's greatness through speech or testimony.
Greek · G3170
μεγαλύνω
To magnify
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μεγαλύνω G3170
Pronunciation megalýnō
What does μεγαλύνω (megalýnō) mean in the Bible?
μεγαλύνω (megalýnō): To declare or proclaim someone great; praising God's greatness through speech or testimony.
Full entry for μεγαλύνω (G3170) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3170?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include exalting (1), had shown her great (1), lengthen (1), magnifies (1), regarded them highly (1).
Where does μεγαλύνω (megalýnō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 23:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Luke (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Matthew (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It exalting 1× Acts 10:46
had shown her great 1× Luke 1:58
lengthen 1× Matthew 23:5
magnifies 1× Luke 1:46
regarded them highly 1× Acts 5:13
was held in high honor 1× Acts 19:17
will be exalted 1× Philippians 1:20
will greatly increase [ as well ] 1× 2 Corinthians 10:15
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 23:5 μεγαλύνουσιν to lengthen Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Luke 1:46 Μεγαλύνει to magnifies Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 1:58 ἐμεγάλυνεν to had shown her great Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Acts 5:13 ἐμεγάλυνεν to regarded them highly Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Acts 10:46 μεγαλυνόντων to exalting Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural Acts 19:17 ἐμεγαλύνετο to was held in high honor Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 2 Corinthians 10:15 μεγαλυνθῆναι to will greatly increase [ as well ] Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive Philippians 1:20 μεγαλυνθήσεται to will be exalted Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 23:5
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 5
Matthew 1 Luke 2 Acts 3 2 Corinthians 1 Philippians 1
Source forms
ἐμεγάλυνεν 2x emegalynen Luke 1:58, Acts 5:13
ἐμεγαλύνετο 1x emegalyneto Acts 19:17
Μεγαλύνει 1x Megalynei Luke 1:46
μεγαλυνθῆναι 1x megalynthēnai 2 Corinthians 10:15
μεγαλυνθήσεται 1x megalynthēsetai Philippians 1:20
μεγαλυνόντων 1x megalynontōn Acts 10:46
μεγαλύνουσιν 1x megalynousin Matthew 23:5
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 1:58
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive 1x 2 Corinthians 10:15
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Philippians 1:20
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 5:13
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 19:17
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Matthew 23:5
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 1:46
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural 1x Acts 10:46
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To declare or proclaim someone great; praising God's greatness through speech or testimony.
Strong's G3170
Lexical occurrences 8 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 3 forms 8 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 1:39–56 Source Gloss
to magnify
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To declare or proclaim someone great; praising God's greatness through speech or testimony.
(μέγας) [in LXX chiefly for גָּדַל pi., hi. ;]
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 23:5 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
μεγαλύνουσι megalunousin
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse Luke 1:46 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
Μεγαλύνει megalunei
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse Luke 1:58 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐμεγάλυνε emegalunen
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse Acts 5:13 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐμεγάλυνεν emegalunen
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse Acts 10:46 Verb Present Active Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
μεγαλυνόντων megalunontwn
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse Acts 19:17 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Passive Indicative
ἐμεγαλύνετο emegaluneto
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse 2 Corinthians 10:15 Verb Aorist Passive Infinitive
μεγαλυνθῆναι megalunqhnai
I enlarge, magnify, extol
Read verse Philippians 1:20 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
μεγαλυνθήσεται megalunqhsetai
I enlarge, magnify, extol
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.
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 8 Tenses Present, Aorist, Imperfect, Future Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 6×
Present Active Matt 23:5 · Luke 1:46 2×
Aorist Active Luke 1:58 1×
Imperfect Active Acts 5:13 1×
Imperfect Passive Acts 19:17 1×
Future Passive Phil 1:20 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Active Acts 10:46 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Passive 2 Cor 10:15 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 8 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 3 aorist 2 imperfect 2 future 1
Voice
active 5 passive 3
Mood
indicative 6 infinitive 1 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 23:5 μεγαλύνουσι present active indicative ongoing Luke 1:46 Μεγαλύνει present active indicative ongoing Luke 1:58 ἐμεγάλυνεν aorist active indicative completed Acts 5:13 ἐμεγάλυνεν imperfect active indicative background Acts 10:46 μεγαλυνόντων present active participle participle Acts 19:17 ἐμεγαλύνετο imperfect passive indicative background 2 Corinthians 10:15 μεγαλυνθῆναι aorist passive infinitive infinitive Philippians 1:20 μεγαλυνθήσεται future passive indicative prospective
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
magnifies
Additional Occurrences
Luke 1:46–55 Μεγαλύνει megalýnō
Magnifies, exalts
Luke 1:56–66 ἐμεγάλυνεν megalýnō
Magnified, made great
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
μεγαλύνω is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Expresses covenant worship rooted in divine mercy. Luke 1:39–56
Canonical Themes
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain