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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #75 - ἀγωνίζομαι
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games
- to contend with adversaries, fight
- metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers
- to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something
- Book
- Word
- Parsing
did not use
this Strong's Number
ἀγωνιìζομαι
ἀγων-ίζομαι, fut. -ῐοῦμαι E. Heracl. 992, etc. (in pass. sense, v. infr. B); -ίσομαι only in late writers, as Porph. Abst. 1.31; -ισθήσομαι Aristid. 1.504J.: aor. ἠγωνισάμην E. Supp. 427, etc.: pf. ἠγώνισμαι (in act. sense) Id Ion 939, Ar. V. 993, Isoc. 18.31 (Pass., v. infr. B): aor. ἠγωνίσθην in pass. sense, infr. B: act. form ἀγωνίσας IG 4.429 (Sicyon): — contend for a prize, esp. in the public games, Hdt. 2.160, al.; πρός τινα Pl. R. 579c, al.; περί τινος about a thing, Hdt. 8.26; Ὀλυμπίασιν Pl. Hp.Mi. 364a; περὶ πρωτείων D. 18.66; ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας Id. 18.177: freq. c. acc. cogn., ἀ. στάδιον Hdt. 5.22; τῶν ἀγώνων, οὓς περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἠγωνίζεσθε D. 18.262; ἀγῶνα.. τόνδ' ἠγωνίσω thou didst provoke this contest, E. Supp. 427, cf. Ion 939; ἠγωνίζου τι ἡμῖν; Pl. Ion 530a: metaph., τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς Ὀλύμπια Porph. Abst. l.c.
2. fight, Hdt. 1.76, 82, al.; περὶ τῶν ἁπάντων Th. 6.16; πρός τινα Id. 1.36, cf. 8.27: c. acc. cogn., μῶν τι κεδνὸν-ίζετο; E. Heracl. 795; [ μάχην] -ίσαντο E. Supp. 637.
3. contend for the prize on the stage, of the rhapsode, Hdt. 5.67; of the playwright, Ar. Ach. 140, 419; of the actor, D. 19.246, cf. 250, Arist. Po. 1451a8; of the choragus, D. 21.66: c. acc., δράματα IG 12(7).226 (Amorgos): generally, contend for victory, καλῶς.. ἠγώνισαι Pl. Smp. 194a, cf. Mx. 235d; argue, ὅλψ τῷ πράγματι about the question as a whole, Hp.Mi. 369c; esp. argue sophistically, opp. διαλέγομαι, Tht. 167e.
4. of public speaking, X. Mem. 3.7.4; ἀ. πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν Arist. Fr. 133 (Theodect. ap. Rh. 6.19 W.). II contend in court, as law term, Antipho 5.7: c. acc. cogn., ἀ. δίκην, γραφήν fight a cause to the last, Lys. 3.20, D. 23.100; ἀ. ψευδομαρτυριῶν (sc. γραφήν) Id. 24.131; ἀ. ἀγῶνα And. 1.20, Lys. 7,39; ἀ, φόνον fight against a charge of murder, E. Andr. 336; αὐτοῖς ἀ. τοῖς πράγμασιν grapple with the facts of the case, Arist. Rh. 1404a5. III generally, struggle, exert oneself, c. inf., Th. 4.87; εὖ ἀ. Lys. 20.22, cf. Plu. Phoc. 37. Pass., to be decided by contest, brought to issue, mostly in pf., πολλοὶ ἀγῶνες ἀγωνίδαται Hdt. 9.26; τὰ ἠγωνισμένα points at issue, E. Supp. 465, D. 24.145: rarely in pres., ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος νόμος the law on trial, D. 24.28; or aor., δεινὸς.. κίνδυνος ὑπὲρ τῆς.. ἐλευθερίας ἠγωνίσθη Lys. 2.34; ἠγωνίσθη λαμπρῶς (impers.) Plu. Sert. 21: fut. Med. in pass. sense, ἀγωνιεῖται καὶ κριθήσεται τὸ πρᾶγμα shall be brought to issue and determined, D. 21.7.
ἀγωνίζομαι; imperfect ἠγωνιζόμην; perfect ἠγώνισμαι; a deponent middle verb (cf. Winer's Grammar, 260 (244)); (ἀγών);
1. to enter a contest; contend in the gymnastic games: 1 Corinthians 9:25.
2. universally, to contend with adversaries, fight: followed by ἵνα μή, John 18:36.
3. figuratively to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers antagonistic to the gospel: Colossians 1:29; 1 Timothy 4:10 (L T Tr text WH text; for Rec. ὀνειδιζόμεθα); ἀγωνίζομαι ἀγῶνα (often used by the Greeks also, especially the Attic), 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7.
4. to endeavor with strenuous zeal, strife, to obtain something; followed by an infinitive, Luke 13:24; ὑπέρ τίνος ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ἵνα, Colossians 4:12. (Compare: ἀνταγωνίζομαι, ἐπαγωνίζομαι, καταγωνίζομαι, συναγωνίζομαι.)
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ἀγωνίζομαι
(<ἀγών ),
[in LXX: Da TH Daniel 6:14 (H1079 H7761), Sirach 4:28; Sirach 4:1-2, 4 Maccabees 5:1-38 *;]
1. to contend for a prize: 1 Corinthians 9:25
2. to fight, struggle, strive: John 18:36; metaph. (MM, VGT, s.v.), Colossians 1:29; Colossians 4:12, 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7; c. inf. (Field, Notes, 66), Luke 13:24 (Cremer, 609).†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
ἀγωνίζομαι is very common in the inscriptions, e.g. Syll 213.33 (iii/B.C.) ἀγωνιζόμενος ὑπὲρ τῆς κοινῆς σωτηρίας, where the reference is to warfare. So ib. 163.18 (B.C. 318–7) πρ ]οείλετοτελευτῆσαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων ἀγ [ωνιζόμεν ]ος ὑπὲρ τῆς δημοκρατίας : ib. 199.7 (iii/B.C.) and 198.19 (B.C. 281) ἀγωνιζόμενος ὑπ [ὲρ αὐτοῦ ], etc. Cf. an Athenian inscription of B.C. 268–6, Syll 214.10, ἐπειδὴ πρότερομ μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ οἱ σύμμαχοι οἱ ἑκατέρων φιλίαν καὶ συμμαχίαν κοινὴν ποιησάμενοι πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ καλοὺς ἀγῶνας ἠγωνίσαντο μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων πρὸς τοὺς καταδουλοῦσθαι τὰς πόλεις ἐπιχειροῦντας. The phrase here hardly differs from 2 Timothy 4:7, and when taken along with the preceding inscription makes it decidedly less clear that the figure there is drawn from the games, as Deissmann thinks (LAE, p. 312), illustrating the passage from a ii/A.D. inscription from the theatre at Ephesus—ἠγωνίσατο ἀγῶνας τρεῖς, ἐστέφθη δύω (Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum III. 604). For the rare use of ἀ. with an inf. as in Luke 13:24 ἀγωνίζεσθε εἰσελθεῖν, Field (Notes, p. 66) compares Diod. Sic. X., p. 25, ed. Bip. : ὥστε ὁ μὲν πατὴρ ἐξίστασθαι τῆς ὅλης ἀρχῆς ἠγωνίζετο τῷ παιδί. The verb is MGr.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.