Κηρύσσω, originally, to discharge a herald’s office; then, to cry out, to proclaim; the objects
being announcements, commands, etc.
Matt. 10:27, Mark 1:45, parallelized with διαφημίζειν τὸν λόγον, 5:20, 7:36, Luke 8:39, 12:3; Acts 15:21;
Rev. 5:2; Rom. 2:21, 5:11. In the N. T. it is the standing expression for the proclamation of the divine message of
salvation, and differs from διδάσκειν (Matt. 4:23, 9:35) in that it means simply the making known, the announcement, whereas διδάσκειν denotes continuous instruction in the
contents and connections of the message,—εὐαγγελίζειν (Luke 8:1) again characterizes the contents. It is used (I.) in
conjunction with an object; and, indeed, βάπτισμα μετανοίας, Mark 1:4; Luke
3:3; cf. Acts 10:37; μετανοίαν καὶ ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, Luke 24:47, cf. Luke 4:19, Mark 6:12; τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας, Matt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14, 26:13; τὸ εὐ. τοῦ θεοῦ, Mark 1:14, 1 Thess.
2:9; τὸ εὐαγγ., Mark 13:10, 14:9, 16:15; Gal. 2:2; Col.
1:23. The combination with εὐ.
does not occur in Luke, who writes instead κηρύσσειν καὶ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι τὴν βασ. τ.
θ., 8:1; κηρύσσ. τὴν βασ. τ. θ.,
9:2; Acts 20:25, 28:31; further, τὸν Ἰησοῦν, Acts 19:13; 2
Cor. 11:4; τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, Acts 9:20, cf. 10:42; τὸν Χριστόν, Acts 8:5; 1 Cor. 1:23; 2 Cor. 4:5; Phil.
1:15; cf. 1 Cor. 15:12; 2 Cor. 1:19; 1 Tim. 3:16; τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως, Rom. 10:8; τὸν λόγον, 2 Tim. 4:2. With a personal object, in
the sense of to call hither or summon
some one, it is not used in the N. T. The impersonal object either
stands in the acc. or is connected by ἵνα,
as in Mark 6:12. The passive, in Matt. 24:14, 26:13; Mark 13:10, 14:9; Luke
12:3, 24:47; 2 Cor. 1:19; Col. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:16. In profane Greek, the person
to whom the proclamation is addressed is put in the dative, or else we have εἰς τινά, as also in the N. T., where also ἐν ἔθνεσιν, 1 Tim. 3:16, cf. Col. 1:23; Gal. 2:2; 2
Cor. 1:19; καθʼ ὅλην τὴν πόλιν, Luke 8:39, cf. Mark 5:20.—(II.) Without
object = to discharge a herald’s
functions; only in Homer, e.g. Il. xvii. 325, whereas later writers do
not use it independently till again we come to the N. T., where it
designates Christian preaching, so
far as it is a primary testifying of the message and facts of salvation, and
not an introductory and continuous instruction therein; Matt. 4:17, 10:7, 11:1;
Mark 1:38, 39, 3:14, 16:20; Luke 4:44; Rom. 10:14, 15; 1 Cor. 9:27, 15:11; 1
Pet. 3:19.—Cf. κηρύσσειν
… ἀκούειν … πιστεύειν, Rom. 10:14, 15; Col. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:16;
2 Tim. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:14.—In ecclesiastical Greek it became a technical
expression for the work of the deacons, whose duty it was to call upon the
catechumens and unbelievers to leave the congregation at the commencement of
the Eucharist. Cf. Suicer.—Προκηρύσσειν, to proclaim beforehand,
Acts 3:20, 13:24. (Herman Cremer, Biblio-Theological Lexicon of
New Testament Greek [trans. William Urwick; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1895],
355-56)
