Bible Lexicons

ἐπαγγελία, ἐπαγγελίας, ἡ (ἐπαγγέλλω);

1. announcement: 1 John 1:5 (Rec., where ἀγγελία was long since restored); κατ' ἐπαγγελίαν ζωῆς τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, to proclaim life in fellowship with Christ, 2 Timothy 1:1 (Winers Grammar, 402 (376); cf. κατά, II. at the end. But others give ἐπαγγελία here as elsewhere the sense of promise, cf. 2 below).

2. promise;

a. the act of promising, a promise given or to be given: προσδέχεσθαι τήν ἀπό τίνος ἐπαγγελίαν (assent; the reference is to a promise to surrender Paul to the power and sentence of the Jews), Acts 23:21; (add, ἐπαγγελίας ὁ λόγος οὗτος, Romans 9:9). It is used also of the divine promises of blessing, especially of the benefits of salvation by Christ (cf. Lightfoot on Galatians, 3:14): Acts 7:17; Romans 4:14, 16; (plural Romans 9:4); Galatians 3:17f, 21; Galatians 4:23; Hebrews 11:17; 2 Peter 3:9 (on which see βραδύνω, 2); Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 11:9; followed by the infinitive Hebrews 4:1; γίνεται τίνι, Romans 4:13; πρός τινα, Acts 13:32; Acts 26:6; ἐρρήθη τίνι, Galatians 3:16; ἐστι τίνι, belongs to one, Acts 2:39; ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι τήν ἐπαγγελίαν 1 John 2:25; ἔχειν ἐπαγγελίας, to have received, Hebrews 7:6; 2 Corinthians 7:1 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 177 (166)); to have linked to it, 1 Timothy 4:8; εἶναι ἐν ἐπαγγελία, joined with a promise (others besides; cf. Winer's Grammar, 391 (366)), Ephesians 6:2; ἡ γῆ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, the promised land, Hebrews 11:9; τά κατά τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, born in accordance with the promise, Romans 9:8; Galatians 4:28; τό πνεῦμα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τό ἅγιον, the promised Spirit, Ephesians 1:13; αἱ διαθῆκαι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, covenants to which was united the promise (of salvation through the Messiah), Ephesians 2:12; ἡ ἐπαγγελία τοῦ Θεοῦ, given by God, Romans 4:20; in the plural 2 Corinthians 1:20; αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι τῶν πατέρων, the promises made to the fathers, Romans 15:8; with the genitive of the object, τῆς ζωῆς, 1 Timothy 4:8; τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, 2 Peter 3:4; κατ' ἐπαγγελίαν according to promise, Acts 13:23; Galatians 3:29; δἰ ἐπαγγελίας, Galatians 3:18.

b. by metonymy, a promised good or blessing (cf. ἐλπίς, under the end): Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 3:6 (yet here cf. Meyer or Ellicott); ἀποστέλλειν τήν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός μου, the blessing promised by my Father, Luke 24:49; περιμένειν, Acts 1:4; κομίζεσθαι τήν ἐπαγγελίαν, Hebrews 10:36; Hebrews 11:39 (Hebrews 11:13 T Tr WH, προσδέχεσθαι L); λαμβάνειν τάς ἐπαγγελίας, Hebrews 11:13 (R G); ἐπιτυγχάνειν ἐπαγγελιῶν, Hebrews 11:33; κληρονομεῖν τάς ἐπαγγελίας, Hebrews 6:12; ἐπιτυγχάνειν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, Hebrews 6:15; κληρονόμοι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, Hebrews 6:17 — (to reconcile Hebrews 6:12, 15, 17 with Hebrews 11:13, 39, which at first sight seem to be in conflict, we must hold, in accordance with Hebrews 12:22-24, that the O. T. saints, after the expiatory sacrifice offered at length to God by Christ, were made partakers of the heavenly blessings before Christ's return from heaven; (others explain the apparent contradiction by the difference between the initial and the consummate reception of the promise; see the commentaries at the passage)); with the epexegetical genitive λαβεῖν τήν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, the promised blessing, which is the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:33; Galatians 3:14 (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 34, 3 a. at the end); τήν ἐπαγγελίαν τῆς αἰωνίου κληρονομίας, Hebrews 9:15. ((Demosthenes 519, 8; Aristotle, eth. Nic. 10, 1, p. 1164a, 29); Polybius 1, 43, 6, and often; Diodorus 1, 5; Josephus, Antiquities 3, 5, 1; 5, 8, 11; 1 Macc. 10:15.)