What does ἀγορά (agorá) mean in the Bible?
G58 names a marketplace or public gathering place. 19, owners who lose profit from an exploited girl drag Paul and Silas before authorities in the marketplace.
Greek · G58
ἀγορά
Marketplace
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ἀγοράG58
Pronunciationagorá
What does ἀγορά (agorá) mean in the Bible?
G58 names a marketplace or public gathering place. 19, owners who lose profit from an exploited girl drag Paul and Silas before authorities in the marketplace.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀγορά (G58) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G58?
The BSB source-word alignment has 11 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include marketplaces (6), marketplace (3), [the] marketplace (1), the market (1).
Where does ἀγορά (agorá) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Mark (3), Matthew (3), Acts (2).
What This Word Actually Means
G58 names a marketplace or public gathering place. In Acts. 16. 19, owners who lose profit from an exploited girl drag Paul and Silas before authorities in the marketplace. In Mark. 6. 56, communities lay sick people in marketplaces where Jesus can meet them. In Acts. 17. 17, Paul reasons daily with people he encounters there. G58 opens teaching on public witness, commerce, civic judgment, visible need, casual encounter, labor, status display, and exploitation in shared space.
It does not romanticize markets, condemn ordinary trade, or authorize religious domination of civic life. The marketplace itself is morally mixed; the surrounding actions reveal whether public life serves neighbors, profit, prestige, justice, or coercion.
How the Bible Uses It
G58 refers to the public square or marketplace where people gather for trade, hiring, conversation, recognition, legal action, and access to public life. Gospel and Acts contexts show both opportunity and danger in this shared space.
- Acts.16.19
When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.
The enslaved girl's owners respond to lost profit by seizing Paul and Silas and dragging them into the marketplace before officials.
- Mark.6.56
And wherever He went—villages and towns and countrysides—they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.
People place the sick in marketplaces, turning a central public space into a place where urgent need is seen and brought to Jesus.
- Acts.17.17
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.
Paul reasons in the marketplace with those he meets each day as well as speaking in the synagogue.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itmarketplaces6×Matthew 11:16, Matthew 23:7, Mark 6:56, Mark 12:38
marketplace3×Matthew 20:3, Acts 16:19, Acts 17:17
[the] marketplace1×Luke 7:32
the market1×Mark 7:4
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 11:16ἀγοραῖςtomarketplacesNoun - Dative Feminine PluralMatthew 20:3ἀγορᾷtomarketplaceNoun - Dative Feminine SingularMatthew 23:7ἀγοραῖςtomarketplacesNoun - Dative Feminine PluralMark 6:56ἀγοραῖςtomarketplacesNoun - Dative Feminine PluralMark 7:4ἀγορᾶςtothe marketNoun - Genitive Feminine SingularMark 12:38ἀγοραῖςtomarketplacesNoun - Dative Feminine PluralLuke 7:32ἀγορᾷto[the] marketplaceNoun - Dative Feminine SingularLuke 11:43ἀγοραῖςtomarketplacesNoun - Dative Feminine PluralLuke 20:46ἀγοραῖςtomarketplacesNoun - Dative Feminine PluralActs 16:19ἀγορὰνtomarketplaceNoun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 11:16
Aligned rows11
Books represented4
Matthew3Mark3Luke3Acts2
Source forms
ἀγοραῖς6xagoraisMatthew 11:16, Matthew 23:7, Mark 6:56, Mark 12:38
ἀγορᾷ3xagoraMatthew 20:3, Luke 7:32, Acts 17:17
ἀγορὰν1xagoranActs 16:19
ἀγορᾶς1xagorasMark 7:4
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural6xMatthew 11:16, Matthew 23:7, Mark 6:56, Mark 12:38
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular3xMatthew 20:3, Luke 7:32, Acts 17:17
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular1xActs 16:19
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular1xMark 7:4
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not treat exploited workers, trafficked people, or people in prostitution as illustrations while ignoring their safety, agency, material needs, and access to independent help.
- Do not use public witness as permission to harass passersby, disrupt lawful activity, or claim privileged control of a shared civic space.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G58 condemns marketplaces, profit, public debate, washing practices, or civic institutions as such.
- Do not claim that visible public ministry is more faithful than quiet service or that recognition proves spiritual authority.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Public gathering place where commerce, social interaction, and civic announcements naturally converged.
Strong'sG58
Lexical occurrences11 versesGreek text appearances11 timesWord forms4 forms11 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
marketplace
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
11 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 11:16Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀγοραῖςagoraiv
market-place
Read verseMatthew 20:3Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀγορᾷagora
market-place
Read verseMatthew 23:7Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀγοραῖς,agoraiv
market-place
Read verseMark 6:56Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀγοραῖςagoraiv
market-place
Read verseMark 7:4Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἀγορᾶς,agorav
market-place
Read verseMark 12:38Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀγοραῖς,agoraiv
market-place
Read verseLuke 7:32Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀγορᾷagora
market-place
Read verseLuke 11:43Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀγοραῖς.agoraiv
market-place
Read verseLuke 20:46Noun Dative Plural Feminine
ἀγοραῖς,agoraiv
market-place
Read verseActs 16:19Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἀγορὰνagoran
market-place
Read verseActs 17:17Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀγορᾷagora
market-place
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns4Aligned forms11Case patternDative (9)Number patternPlural (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · FeminineMark 7:41×
Dative · Plural · FeminineMatt 11:16 · Matt 23:7 · Mark 6:56 · Mark 12:38 · Luke 11:43 · Luke 20:466×
Dative · Singular · FeminineMatt 20:3 · Luke 7:32 · Acts 17:173×
Accusative · Singular · FeminineActs 16:191×
Word Origins
ἀγορά is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G58 locates spiritual and moral decisions in ordinary public life. The marketplace can host hiring, trade, conversation, healing access, social recognition, and judicial action. In Philippi, an enslaved girl's owners reveal that their concern is lost income, then use the public forum and civic prejudice against Paul and Silas. The text exposes economic exploitation without treating all commerce as evil.
In Galilee, sick people are brought into marketplaces because public accessibility helps them reach Jesus. In Athens, Paul reasons with people encountered daily rather than waiting for them to enter a religious building. Jesus also warns about leaders who love conspicuous greetings in these spaces. Faithful public witness therefore combines truthful conversation, care for vulnerable bodies, ethical work, and refusal to manipulate civic power for profit or prestige.
It respects neighbors as participants rather than targets and accepts that a shared square belongs to more than one community.
Anchor passage
Acts.16.19
Doctrinal connections
- G58: public space reveals how commerce, law, reputation, and treatment of vulnerable people intersect.
- G58: the loss of exploitative profit can provoke religious, racial, and civic accusations against perceived threats.
- G58: Jesus remains accessible to sick people brought into the center of communal life.
- G58: apostolic witness includes patient daily reasoning with people encountered outside religious institutions.
- G58: leaders may turn public recognition into a substitute for humble service.
- G58: laborers waiting in the marketplace should not be reduced to assumptions about idleness or worth.
G58 is a Greek feminine noun for a public assembly place, forum, or marketplace. The word identifies the setting; the surrounding narrative supplies whether the activity is commercial, legal, conversational, ceremonial, or compassionate.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's law and prophets address honest trade, worker protection, public justice, and care at city gates, while the New Testament places healing, witness, hiring, conflict, and status-seeking in comparable public settings.