What does it mean to Preach?

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by Nate Wilson

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Preaching—if we take the biblical meaning rather than the traditional meaning—is simply making known the Gospel

The Old Testament contains few references to preaching¹ ; the New Testament, with only 20% of the text of the Bible, contains over 90% of the Bible's references to preaching, thus the focus of this study is on the New Testament. In the original Greek texts of the New Testament, there are two root words consistently translated "preach:" euaggelizw (eu-ang-gel-ee-zoh) and khrussw (kay-rue-soh). These two Greek words in their various forms make up approximately 95% of the instances of the word "preach" and "proclaim" in English translations of the New Testament² . A list of every occurrence of these two words in the New Testament can be found in the first appendix of this document. It is my purpose to examine how the Bible uses the word "preach" so that we can apply Biblical principles to preaching today.

In Biblical usage, the closest object to the word "preach" is the message proclaimed rather than the people preached to, and 60% of the time when an indirect object is given, it is a place (rather than a person). In contrast, the closest object of the word "teach" (See Appendix 3) is almost always the audience taught (rather than the message, as it is in preaching), and the audience, when the word "teach" is used, is almost always specific people (rather than places, as it is in preaching). I'm not saying that preaching is done to land units instead of people. My point is that, in the act of preaching, there is little or no established relationship with the audience (hence the emphasis on the place a message is preached rather than on the people who hear), whereas teaching is done in the context of an established relationship. This leads to the conclusion that when the Bible speaks of preaching, it is speaking of what we would call evangelism and missions, not of a pastor delivering a sermon to a church group.

In Acts 2:42, when the believers gathered together as a church with the apostles in Jerusalem, they devoted themselves to the apostles "teaching," but there is not a single mention made in the entire Bible of someone "preaching" the gospel to a group of believers! (The only three references to preaching in a church refer to a heretic trying to change the faith of true believers.) Preaching is directed primarily at people who are not believers, whereas teaching is used in all contexts, both in the church and otherwise.

Whenever preaching was done to Jews, it was, in every case, an introductory message to Jews who had not heard of Jesus. Even so, it is interesting to note that the word for preaching generally isn't even used to describe what Christ and the apostles did in the Jewish synagogues; the phrase, "teaching in synagogues and preaching," occurs often, as though they would "teach" in the synagogues and "preach" elsewhere around town. It is also interesting to note that all of the instances I listed under preaching done to a "Class" of people, are unevangelized people. In other words, preaching was not generally done to people who were Christians, but to people who were not Christians.

The question may well be asked, "If preaching is to be directed to non-believers; are you saying that we should not preach in our church services?" This depends on your view of the church and on your definition of preaching. If, by "preaching," you mean the exposition and application of the Bible, then, yes, this activity should by all means be done in church services, but if we apply the Biblical use of the word "preach"—that of evangelizing unbelievers—then it depends on whether you believe the purpose of a church meeting is to evangelize lost people or if you believe that the purpose of church services is for believers to gather for corporate worship and mutual encouragement.

What Is Preached?

First, let us examine the context of every use of these two Greek words which are used in the Bible for "preach" in order to find out what the Bible says has been preached and should be preached. In the chart below, I tried to categorize into ten general themes the various messages which are specifically stated as having been "preached" throughout Scripture. You can review the source data for yourself in Appendix 1.

Since euaggelizw ("preach the gospel") has its own object ("the gospel") already contained in it, the New Testament authors don't always need to describe any further what was preached when they use this verb. For this reason, euaggelizw has no "unstated" messages. Also, since euaggelizw is a positive message ("good news") it is less used in the negative message of repentance and more used in the aspect of the benefits that a believer receives.

If we eliminate the 9 unstated references and combine the categories which focus on Christ (JC, T, B, M, K, and G), we find that, of the uses of the word "preach" in the Bible, 75% refer to telling the story of Jesus--who He is and what He did, 12% has to do with pointing out that people need to turn from their sin, 10% has to do with passing on the teachings which are now found Scripture, less than 3% has to do with someone proclaiming a false message, and less than one percent has to do with giving a good report from another church congregation. In other words, the central theme of preaching in the Bible is Jesus Christ and His Gospel.

The Audience

Next, let us examine the biblical understanding of the audience to whom preaching was given in Bible times:

The Preacher

Finally, let us examine who, in the Bible, does the preaching:

Once again, we have the distinction between khrussw (Kay-ru-soh) as lending itself to include a call to repentance and euaggelizw (Eu-ang-el-i-zoh) carrying generally good news. That is why John's message of repentance is more often the former and the Angel's tidings of Jesus birth is more often the latter. It was also interesting to note that the witnesses to Jesus' miracles in the Gospels were all khrussw whereas the Christians who published the good news abroad in Acts were alleuaggelizw. A similar trend can be found in the instances of the disciples preaching--it was usually the former when the 12 were preaching in villages in the Gospel accounts, but the latter when individual ones of them were preaching.

It is significant to note that most of the people mentioned in the Bible as preaching are Apostles. It is also significant to note that of the instances where the Bible tells us the name of a preacher, 100% are male. If we take out the angels, the false preachers, Jesus, and the "unstated's," that leaves us with 76 instances of people whose role we might fall into while preaching. If we combine John the Baptist with the O.T. Prophets and if we combine Timothy and Paul with the Apostles, we can group these human examples of preaching into three categories:

• 11 O.T. Prophets (14%),
• 59 N.T. Apostles (78%), and
• 6 citations of believers who were not necessarily prophets or apostles (8%)

It was interesting to notice as I studied all the passages where the Greek word for "preach" occurred, that English translators tended to render the word as "preach" when the preachers were prophets, Jesus, or the apostles, but they tended to render it with some other word, such as "publish," "spoke," or "told" when it was used of someone who was not a prophet or apostle.

The major task of the Apostles was missionary work--the starting of new expressions of the church throughout the world. It is significant therefore, that the people mentioned as preaching in the Bible were people who were involved in missionary work. John the Baptist as well as Jesus and his 12 Disciples and the witnesses to their miracles were proclaiming a new message to unbelieving or ignorant Jews. Paul, who takes the lion's share of references to preaching was a foreign missionary. So were Jonah and Phillip and the Christians of the diaspora. For that matter, when Peter and John are mentioned specifically as preaching, it was to foreigners (Samaritans) as well. The vast majority of preachers in the Bible were missionaries and evangelists!

APPENDIX 1

All Instances of words usually translated "preach" in the New Testament²

The chart below lists every occurrence of the two words in the New Testament most commonly translated "preach." This includes 90% of the instances of any form of the word "preach" in the English Bible. (For the other 10%, see footnotes 1 & 2). I included all the verbal, noun, and participial forms of khrussw in the first part of the chart, noting who did the preaching, what was preached, and who was preached to. The second part of the chart lists all the verbal forms of the other word, euaggelizw, noting the same things. In the euaggelizw chart, I tried to pull elements of the message from the nearby context into the "what was preached" column, but when there was nothing in the context, I put the three dashes to indicate that the "gospel" or "good news" is what was preached, since euaggelizw literally means "good news-ing." I also made a third chart which lists every occurance where the words "teach" and "preach" were together in the same verse and every occurance where both main Greek words for "preach" were used in the same verse.

* Asterixes indicate that the word in focus is in close proximity to another word which might change the context.

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Footnotes

1. The following were the only Old Testament references I found to preaching:

[qua-ra'] Strong's # 7121 ="to call" (Neh. 6:7, Isa. 61:1, Jon. 3:2),
[ha-tayf'] Strong's #5197="speak out" (Ezekiel 20:46, 21:2 ), and
[qo-he'-let] Strong's #6953="preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1, 1:2, 12, 7:27, 12:8-10).

2. The other incidences of words I found in the New Testament translated "preach" included:

eprrhsiasato [ep-hray-si-a'-sa-toh] "spoke boldly" Strong's #3955 (Acts 9:27)

lalew [la-le'-oh] "utter" Strong's #2980 (Acts 9:29, 16:6)

exomologhsomai [ex-ahm-ah-la-gay'-sah-my] "confess ourwardly" Strong's #1843 (Rom. 15:9)

paraphrastic inserts (esp. in the KJV) where the word is not in the Greek text.

In each case, their use was consistent with the meaning of "preach" which I found in the use of euaggelizw and khrussw, so I saw no need to include such rarely-used Greek words in this paper.

Appendix 2: Definitions

From the definitions given above, preaching tends to be of a public nature, whereas teaching is more in the context of an established relationship. Preaching also has more to do with the proclamation of the Gospel, whereas teaching is used much more generally of any subject.

In the two charts below, it appears that the two words for preaching, (euaggelizw and khrussw) are used interchangeably in parallel statements, whereas the words for preaching and teaching (didaskw) are used together in single statements, denoting two complimentary, but not identical actions.

Appendix 3: Occurrences of the word "teach" in the KJV Bible

TEACH= yarah (Old Testament) Strong's#3384 Exodus 4:15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

1 Samuel 12:23 — Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:

Job 12:8 — Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

Job 21:22 — Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

Job 27:11 — I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

Job 32:7 — I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.

Job 33:33 — If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.

Job 34:32 — That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

Job 37:19 — Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.

Psalm 25:4 — Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

Psalm 25:5 — Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Psalm 25:8 — Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

Psalm 25:9 — The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Psalm 25:12 — What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

Psalm 27:11 — Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Psalm 32:8 — I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalm 34:11 — Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Psalm 45:4 — And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

Psalm 51:13 — Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Psalm 60:1 — {To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.} O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.

Psalm 86:11 — Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Psalm 90:12 — So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalm 105:22 — To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

Psalm 119:12 — Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 119:26 — I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 119:33 — HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

Psalm 119:64 — The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 119:66 — Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

Psalm 119:68 — Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 119:108 — Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

Psalm 119:124 — Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 119:135 — Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 132:12 — If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.

Psalm 143:10 — Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Proverbs 9:9 — Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

Isaiah 2:3 — And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 28:9 — Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Isaiah 28:26 — For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

Jeremiah 9:20 — Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.

Jeremiah 31:34 — And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Ezekiel 44:23 — And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

Daniel 1:4 — Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Micah 3:11 — The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

Micah 4:2 — And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Habakkuk 2:19 — Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

TEACH = didaskw (di-da-skoh) New Testament Strong's#1321

Matthew 5:19 — Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 11:1 — And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

Matthew 28:19 — Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mark 4:1 — And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

Mark 6:2 — And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

Mark 6:34 — And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

Mark 8:31 — And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Luke 11:1 — And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Luke 12:12 — For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

John 7:35 — Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

John 9:34 — They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

John 14:26 — But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Acts 1:1 — The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Acts 4:18 — And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Acts 5:28 — Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Acts 5:42 — And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

Acts 16:21 — And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

1 Corinthians 4:17 — For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

1 Corinthians 11:14 — Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

1 Corinthians 14:19 — Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

1 Timothy 1:3 — As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

1 Timothy 2:12 — But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

1 Timothy 3:2 — A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

1 Timothy 4:11 — These things command and teach.

1 Timothy 6:2 — And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

1 Timothy 6:3 — If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

2 Timothy 2:2 — And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:24 — And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

Titus 2:4 — That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

Hebrews 5:12 — For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

Hebrews 8:11 — And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

1 John 2:27 — But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, an
d ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Revelation 2:20 — Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

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