What does ἀγών (agṓn) mean in the Bible?
Ἀγών names a contest, struggle, or conflict that demands sustained effort. Paul's uses are governed by the gospel rather than by aggression.
Greek · G73
ἀγών
Fight
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ἀγών G73
Pronunciation agṓn
What does ἀγών (agṓn) mean in the Bible?
Ἀγών names a contest, struggle, or conflict that demands sustained effort. Paul's uses are governed by the gospel rather than by aggression.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀγών (G73) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G73?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include fight (2), opposition (1), race (1), struggle (1), vvv (1).
Where does ἀγών (agṓn) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Philippians 1:30. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (1), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Timothy (1), Colossians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Ἀγών names a contest, struggle, or conflict that demands sustained effort. Paul's uses are governed by the gospel rather than by aggression. In 1 Thessalonians 2, the struggle is the costly boldness required to speak God's gospel amid opposition after mistreatment in Philippi. First Timothy 6 commands Timothy to fight the good fight of faith by pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness while taking hold of eternal life.
At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul can say that he has fought the good fight because he has finished his course and kept the faith. The noun does not celebrate quarrelsomeness or culture-war hostility. Its goodness comes from its object, manner, and goal: fidelity to Christ, endurance in truth, and a life shaped by godliness.
How the Bible Uses It
Paul uses ἀγών for costly gospel struggle and persevering faithfulness. The contest is good only when its cause, conduct, and goal are governed by Christ.
- 1Thess.2.2
As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God.
Paul's struggle consists in speaking God's gospel boldly amid suffering, without flattery, greed, or a search for human praise.
- 1Tim.6.12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.
The good fight is defined by pursuit of godly virtues, confession, and eternal-life hope, not by combative temperament.
- 2Tim.4.7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul's completed contest is paired with finishing the race and keeping the faith as he awaits the righteous Judge's crown.
Book contextPassage 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 fight 2× 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7
opposition 1× 1 Thessalonians 2:2
race 1× Hebrews 12:1
struggle 1× Philippians 1:30
vvv 1× Colossians 2:1
Show sample aligned rows
Philippians 1:30 ἀγῶνα to struggle Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Colossians 2:1 ἀγῶνα to vvv Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1 Thessalonians 2:2 ἀγῶνι to opposition Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 1 Timothy 6:12 ἀγῶνα to fight Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 2 Timothy 4:7 ἀγῶνα to fight Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Hebrews 12:1 ἀγῶνα to race Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Philippians 1:30
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 6
Philippians 1 Colossians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 1 Timothy 1 2 Timothy 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
ἀγῶνα 5x agōna Philippians 1:30, Colossians 2:1, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7
ἀγῶνι 1x agōni 1 Thessalonians 2:2
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 5x Philippians 1:30, Colossians 2:1, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 1x 1 Thessalonians 2:2
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Before calling something a good fight, test its cause, methods, virtues, and promised goal by the surrounding Scripture.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not use ἀγών to sanctify quarrelsomeness, partisan hostility, or aggressive leadership.
- Do not define victory as silencing opponents; Paul's final measure is keeping the faith and finishing the course.
Evidence Summary
FaithMessiah
Greek word. Contest depicting Christian life as spiritual struggle requiring perseverance and endurance.
Strong's G73
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 2 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 2 Timothy 4:6-8 Source Gloss
fight
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Contest depicting Christian life as spiritual struggle requiring perseverance and endurance.
(ἄγω), [in LXX: Isa.7:13 (לאה), Est.4:17, Wis.4:2 10:12, II Mac.6, 4Mac .5 * ;]
1a gathering, esp. for games.
2a place of assembly.
3a contest, struggle, trial; metaphorically (MM, VGT, see word),
bsolicitude, anxiety: Col.2:1.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Philippians 1:30 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἀγῶνα agwna
a contest
Read verse Colossians 2:1 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἀγῶνα agwna
a contest
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 2:2 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
ἀγῶνι. agwni
a contest
Read verse 1 Timothy 6:12 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἀγῶνα agwna
a contest
Read verse 2 Timothy 4:7 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἀγῶνα agwna
a contest
Read verse Hebrews 12:1 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἀγῶνα, agwna
a contest
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 2 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 patterns 2 Aligned forms 6 Case pattern Accusative (5) Number pattern Singular (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Singular · Masculine 1 Thess 2:2 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Phil 1:30 · Col 2:1 · 1 Tim 6:12 · 2 Tim 4:7 · Heb 12:1 5×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
contest, struggle, or conflict
intense struggle
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀγών is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Highlights the depth of Christ’s suffering. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
The Christian life involves disciplined effort and endurance in faith. Luke 22:39–46
Canonical Themes
Faith Messiah
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
Not every struggle is the good fight. Paul measures the contest by allegiance to Christ and by the manner in which it is fought. His boldness in Thessalonica is accountable to God, free from manipulation, and tender toward the church. Timothy's fight is surrounded by commands to flee greed and pursue righteousness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Paul's final testimony is not that he defeated every opponent, but that he kept the faith and finished the assigned course.
These contexts expose the temptation to use battle language for ego, outrage, or domination. Gospel ministry can require real courage and costly resistance, yet its weapons and virtues must match its Lord. Teachers should call believers to perseverance, confession, and disciplined holiness while refusing to bless needless conflict. The crown belongs to those who love Christ's appearing, not to those who simply enjoy a fight.
Anchor passage
1Thess.2.2
Doctrinal connections
- 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, gospel boldness without manipulation
- 1 Timothy 6:11-16, pursuing virtue and fighting the good fight
- 2 Timothy 4:6-8, finishing the course and keeping faith
- Genesis 32:22-32, Jacob's struggle and dependent blessing
- Nehemiah 4:7-23, watchful labor under opposition
- Hebrews 12:1-3, enduring the race while looking to Jesus
Ἀγών originally evokes an assembly or arena and then the contest conducted there. In Paul's metaphorical use, the surrounding genitive or argument identifies the struggle. The noun itself does not specify whether a conflict is righteous; the gospel context must do so.
From Old to New Testament
God's servants throughout Scripture labor and endure opposition, yet victory repeatedly depends on the Lord rather than human force. Jesus completes His obedient path through suffering, and His people persevere by looking to Him, keeping faith, and awaiting His righteous reward.
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