What does ἀγοράζω (agorázō) mean in the Bible?
Ἀγοράζω (agorázō) means to buy or purchase in the marketplace. Its ordinary commercial sense remains visible when people buy food, conduct daily business, or merchants lose their customers.
Greek · G59
ἀγοράζω
To buy
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ἀγοράζω G59
Pronunciation agorázō
What does ἀγοράζω (agorázō) mean in the Bible?
Ἀγοράζω (agorázō) means to buy or purchase in the marketplace. Its ordinary commercial sense remains visible when people buy food, conduct daily business, or merchants lose their customers.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀγοράζω (G59) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G59?
The BSB source-word alignment has 30 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to buy (4), [and] buy (3), bought (3), buy (2), buying (2).
Where does ἀγοράζω (agorázō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:44. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (7), Revelation (6), Luke (5), Mark (5).
What This Word Actually Means
Ἀγοράζω (agorázō) means to buy or purchase in the marketplace. Its ordinary commercial sense remains visible when people buy food, conduct daily business, or merchants lose their customers. Jesus uses a joyful purchase within the treasure parable to portray the surpassing value of the kingdom, not to teach that salvation is bought with money. Paul tells believers to hold purchases without being possessed by them because the present form of the world is passing away.
Revelation's merchants mourn when Babylon's fall ends demand for their cargo, exposing an economy whose luxury and exploitation had seemed secure. Buying is neither condemned nor sanctified merely by the verb. The object, motive, economic order, and discipleship claim decide whether a purchase is prudent provision, parabolic action, ordinary life, detached stewardship, or participation in corrupt desire.
How the Bible Uses It
Ἀγοράζω names buying. The selected passages move from a parabolic field purchased for joy, to food bought for a crowd, ordinary commerce before judgment, purchases held lightly, and merchants mourning the collapse of Babylon's market.
- Matt.13.44
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.
The man joyfully sells all and buys the field containing hidden treasure; the transaction belongs to a comparison that stresses the kingdom's surpassing worth, not a price paid to earn grace.
- Mark.6.36
Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
The disciples propose dismissing the crowd to buy food, revealing a practical calculation that Jesus answers by feeding the people through His own provision.
- Luke.17.28
It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
People in Lot's days keep buying and selling alongside other ordinary activities until judgment arrives, showing that routine commerce can coexist with fatal spiritual unreadiness.
- 1Cor.7.30
Those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;
Paul says purchasers should live as though not possessing, calling for freedom from ownership's claim because this world's present form is passing away.
- Rev.18.11
And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—
Earth's merchants mourn because no one buys Babylon's cargo after her fall, exposing grief centered on lost profit within an idolatrous and exploitative order.
Passage contextBook context
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 to buy 4× Matthew 27:7, John 13:29, Revelation 3:18, Revelation 18:11
[and] buy 3× Matthew 14:15, Mark 6:36, Luke 9:13
bought 3× Matthew 13:44, Matthew 13:46, Mark 16:1
buy 2× John 4:8, Revelation 13:17
buying 2× Matthew 21:12, Luke 17:28
I have bought 2× Luke 14:18, Luke 14:19
you were bought 2× 1 Corinthians 6:20, 1 Corinthians 7:23
[and] spend 1× Mark 6:37
[Joseph] bought 1× Mark 15:46
buy [one] 1× Luke 22:36
buy [some] 1× Matthew 25:9
can we buy 1× John 6:5
had been redeemed 1× Revelation 14:3
have been redeemed 1× Revelation 14:4
make a purchase 1× 1 Corinthians 7:30
to buy [it] 1× Matthew 25:10
were buying 1× Mark 11:15
who bought 1× 2 Peter 2:1
You purchased 1× Revelation 5:9
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 13:44 ἀγοράζει to bought Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 13:46 ἠγόρασεν to bought Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 14:15 ἀγοράσωσιν to [and] buy Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 21:12 ἀγοράζοντας to buying Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural Matthew 25:9 ἀγοράσατε to buy [some] Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural Matthew 25:10 ἀγοράσαι to to buy [it] Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Matthew 27:7 ἠγόρασαν to to buy Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Mark 6:36 ἀγοράσωσιν to [and] buy Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural Mark 6:37 ἀγοράσωμεν to [and] spend Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Plural Mark 11:15 ἀγοράζοντας to were buying Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 13:44
Aligned rows 30
Books represented 7
Matthew 7 Mark 5 Luke 5 John 3 1 Corinthians 3 2 Peter 1 Revelation 6
Source forms
ἀγοράσαι 3x agorasai Matthew 25:10, Revelation 3:18, Revelation 13:17
ἀγοράσωμεν 3x agorasōmen Mark 6:37, Luke 9:13, John 6:5
ἀγοράσωσιν 3x agorasōsin Matthew 14:15, Mark 6:36, John 4:8
ἀγοράζει 2x agorazei Matthew 13:44, Revelation 18:11
ἀγοράζοντας 2x agorazontas Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15
ἠγόρασα 2x ēgorasa Luke 14:18, Luke 14:19
ἠγόρασαν 2x ēgorasan Matthew 27:7, Mark 16:1
ἠγοράσθητε 2x ēgorasthēte 1 Corinthians 6:20, 1 Corinthians 7:23
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 3x Matthew 25:10, Revelation 3:18, Revelation 13:17
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Plural 3x Mark 6:37, Luke 9:13, John 6:5
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural 3x Matthew 14:15, Mark 6:36, John 4:8
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular 2x Luke 14:18, Luke 14:19
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x Matthew 27:7, Mark 16:1
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 2nd Person Plural 2x 1 Corinthians 6:20, 1 Corinthians 7:23
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x Matthew 13:44, Revelation 18:11
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural 2x Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not read the treasure parable as a formula for purchasing salvation or use ordinary buying language to baptize consumerism.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that selling all in Matthew 13 earns the kingdom as a monetary exchange.
- Do not claim that Christian detachment from possessions removes obligations of honest payment, generosity, and economic justice.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To buy, especially with redemptive connotation in NT: Christ purchasing believers through sacrifice.
Strong's G59
Lexical occurrences 30 verses Greek text appearances 31 times 16 shown below Word forms 5 forms 30 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Source Gloss
to buy
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 31 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 13:44 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἀγοράζει agorazei
I buy
Read verse Matthew 13:46 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἠγόρασεν hgorasen
I buy
Read verse Matthew 14:15 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀγοράσωσιν agoraswsin
I buy
Read verse Matthew 21:12 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
ἀγοράζοντας agorazontav
I buy
Read verse Matthew 25:9 Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Active Imperative
ἀγοράσατε agorasate
I buy
Read verse Matthew 25:10 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
ἀγοράσαι, agorasai
I buy
Read verse Matthew 27:7 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἠγόρασαν hgorasan
I buy
Read verse Mark 6:36 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀγοράσωσιν agoraswsin
I buy
Read verse Mark 6:37 Verb First Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀγοράσωμεν agoraswmen
I buy
Read verse Mark 11:15 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
ἀγοράζοντας agorazontav
I buy
Read verse Mark 15:46 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀγοράσας agorasav
I buy
Read verse Mark 16:1 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἠγόρασαν hgorasan
I buy
Read verse Luke 9:13 Verb First Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀγοράσωμεν agoraswmen
I buy
Read verse Luke 14:18 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἠγόρασα, hgorasa
I buy
Read verse Luke 14:19 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἠγόρασα hgorasa
I buy
Read verse Luke 17:28 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἠγόραζον, hgorazon
I buy
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 5 Aligned forms 30 Tenses Aorist, Present, Imperfect, Perfect Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 6×
Aorist Active Matt 14:15 · Mark 6:36 · John 4:8 · Mark 6:37 · Luke 9:13 · John 6:5 6×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 3×
Aorist Active Matt 25:10 · Rev 3:18 · Rev 13:17 3×
Indicative states a fact or reality 12×
Aorist Active Matt 27:7 · Mark 16:1 · Luke 14:18 · Luke 14:19 · Matt 13:46 · Rev 5:9 6×
Aorist Passive 1 Cor 6:20 · 1 Cor 7:23 · Rev 14:4 3×
Present Active Matt 13:44 · Rev 18:11 2×
Imperfect Active Luke 17:28 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 6×
Present Active Matt 21:12 · Mark 11:15 · 1 Cor 7:30 3×
Aorist Active Mark 15:46 · 2 Pet 2:1 2×
Perfect Passive Rev 14:3 1×
Imperative command or strong request 3×
Aorist Active Matt 25:9 · Luke 22:36 · John 13:29 3×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 29 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 23 present 4 imperfect 1 perfect 1
Voice
active 25 passive 4
Mood
indicative 12 subjunctive 6 participle 5 imperative 3 infinitive 3
NT Occurrences
Matthew 13:44 ἀγοράζει present active indicative ongoing Matthew 13:46 ἠγόρασεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 14:15 ἀγοράσωσιν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Matthew 25:10 ἀγοράσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Matthew 25:9 ἀγοράσατε aorist active imperative imperative Matthew 27:7 ἠγόρασαν aorist active indicative completed Mark 6:36 ἀγοράσωσιν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Mark 6:37 ἀγοράσωμεν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Mark 11:15 ἀγοράζοντας present active participle participle Mark 15:46 ἀγοράσας aorist active participle participle Mark 16:1 ἠγόρασαν aorist active indicative completed Luke 9:13 ἀγοράσωμεν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Luke 14:18 ἠγόρασα aorist active indicative completed Luke 14:19 ἠγόρασα aorist active indicative completed Luke 17:28 ἠγόραζον imperfect active indicative background Luke 22:36 ἀγορασάτω aorist active imperative imperative John 4:8 ἀγοράσωσιν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive John 6:5 ἀγοράσωμεν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive John 13:29 Ἀγόρασον aorist active imperative imperative 1 Corinthians 6:20 ἠγοράσθητε aorist passive indicative completed 1 Corinthians 7:23 ἠγοράσθητε aorist passive indicative completed 1 Corinthians 7:30 ἀγοράζοντες present active participle participle 2 Peter 2:1 ἀγοράσαντα aorist active participle participle Revelation 3:18 ἀγοράσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Revelation 5:9 ἠγόρασας aorist active indicative completed Revelation 13:17 ἀγοράσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Revelation 14:3 ἠγορασμένοι perfect passive participle participle Revelation 14:4 ἠγοράσθησαν aorist passive indicative completed Revelation 18:11 ἀγοράζει present active indicative ongoing
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.
Biblical Witnesses
Metaphorical purchase, redemption through Christ's sacrifice, spiritual transaction
Metaphorical purchase establishing divine ownership and status in Christian community
Literal marketplace purchase as excuse for rejecting invitation to banquet
Literal purchase of goods in marketplace with haggling and negotiation
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 30 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀγοράζω 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
Purchasing reveals what people value, but the gospel cannot be reduced to a transaction between sinners and God. In Jesus' parable, the man's joyful purchase dramatizes the kingdom's incomparable worth; it does not make wealth the means of entry. The disciples' food proposal is sensible within ordinary limits, yet Jesus' provision shows that their calculation has not accounted for His authority.
The days of Lot warn that buying and selling can continue normally while judgment is dangerously near. Paul therefore teaches believers to purchase without letting possessions define them, since the world's present form is passing. Revelation unveils the darkest market: merchants lament Babylon because demand disappears, not because they repent of her sins. Churches should practice honest exchange and grateful provision while refusing consumer identity, exploitative profit, or confidence that economic continuity guarantees peace with God.
Anchor passage
Matt.13.44
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 13:44, the kingdom's surpassing worth
- Mark 6:35-44, human calculation and Jesus' provision
- Luke 17:26-30, ordinary commerce before sudden judgment
- 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, possessions under eschatological urgency
- Revelation 18:9-19, Babylon's luxury economy judged
- Isaiah 55:1-3, receiving God's provision without money or price
Ἀγοράζω is the regular verb for purchasing, historically related to the marketplace. A direct object names what is acquired, while price or purpose may be supplied. Figurative theological force must come from context rather than from the commercial root alone.
From Old to New Testament
The law regulates honest trade and protects the vulnerable, prophets condemn exploitative markets, and wisdom commends prudent provision. God's saving gifts are finally received by grace rather than purchased by human wealth.
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