Lexical Summary
agora: Marketplace, public square
Original Word:ἀγορά
Part of Speech:Noun, Feminine
Transliteration:agora
Pronunciation:ag-or-ah'
Phonetic Spelling:(ag-or-ah')
KJV: market(-place), street
NASB:market places, market place
Word Origin:[from ageiro, "to gather" (probably akin toG1453 (ἐγείρω - raised))]
1. (properly) the town-square (as a place of public resort)
2. (by implication) a market or thoroughfare
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
marketplace, street.
From ageiro (to gather; probably akin toegeiro); properly, the town-square (as a place of public resort); by implication, a market or thoroughfare -- market(-place), street.
see GREEKegeiro
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom ageiró (to bring together)
Definitionan assembly, place of assembly
NASB Translationmarket place (5), market places (6).
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 58: ἀγοράἀγορά,
(ᾶς,
ἡ (
ἀγείρω, perfect
ἤγορα, to collect) (from
Homer down);
1.any collection of men, congregation, assembly.
2.place where assemblies are held; in the N. T. the forum or public place, where trials are held,Acts 16:19; and the citizens resort,Acts 17:17; and commodities are exposed for sale,Mark 7:4 (ἀπ'ἀγορᾶς namely,ἐλθόντες on returning from the market if they hare not washed themselves they eat not;Winer's Grammar, § 66, 2 d. note); accordingly, the most frequented part of a city or village:Matthew 11:16 (Luke 7:32);Mark 6:56;Matthew 20:3;Matthew 23:7;Mark 12:38; (Luke 11:43);Luke 20:46. (SeeB. D. American edition under the word.)
Topical Lexicon
Meaning and social settingIn the first–century Mediterranean world the ἀγορά was far more than a shopping district. It functioned as civic center, courtroom, hiring hall, speakers’ platform, and meeting place for every layer of society. Commerce, justice, politics, and leisure converged there, making it the natural crossroads of ideas and influence. Consequently, what happened in the marketplace often revealed the spiritual pulse of a community.
Occurrences in the life and teaching of Jesus
1. Work and wages (Matthew 20:3). In the Parable of the Vineyard Workers the landowner “found others standing in the marketplace doing nothing,” turning an ordinary hiring scene into a lesson on grace and reward.
2. Children’s games (Matthew 11:16;Luke 7:32). Jesus likened His generation to children calling from the squares, exposing a spiritually fickle audience that rejected both John’s austerity and His own joyful ministry.
3. Healing outreach (Mark 6:56). The sick were laid “in the marketplaces, and begged Him to let them touch even the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched Him were healed.” Public need met divine mercy at street level, emphasizing that the kingdom of God moves toward the marginalized.
4. Ritual purity (Mark 7:4). Pharisees avoided defilement by washing when they returned “from the marketplace,” highlighting the tension between man-made tradition and the purity Christ provides.
5. Exposure of religious pride (Matthew 23:7;Mark 12:38;Luke 11:43;Luke 20:46). Scribes and Pharisees loved “greetings in the marketplaces.” The public square that should have been a venue for humble service became a theater for ego, inviting Christ’s sharpest rebukes.
The marketplace in early church mission
1. Street-level evangelism (Acts 17:17). Paul reasoned “in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there,” targeting both curious bystanders and educated philosophers. The setting affirmed that the gospel addresses every strata of society and can engage prevailing worldviews in public dialogue.
2. Opposition and suffering (Acts 16:19). After the deliverance of the slave girl at Philippi, her owners “seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the rulers.” Commerce harmed by the gospel’s liberating power retaliated through civic structures, showing that public witness can provoke economic and legal backlash.
Spiritual themes
• Accessibility: Ministry in the ἀγορά models an incarnational approach—meeting people where daily life unfolds.
• Urgency: The open square allowed immediate proclamation and response. Standing idle in the marketplace (Matthew 20:3) symbolizes spiritual complacency that divine initiative disrupts.
• Authenticity vs. show: Public religiosity without inward transformation is condemned. God sees beneath conspicuous greetings and long robes.
• Sovereignty: Whether the scene is hiring laborers, healing the sick, or confronting magistrates, God orchestrates the marketplace for His redemptive purposes.
Historical and cultural insights
Archaeological digs at cities such as Corinth and Philippi reveal large paved agorai flanked by porticoes, shops, and temples. Magistrates’ benches and bema seats were positioned for legal hearings, matching Luke’s portrayal of civic trials. Vendors sold food, clothing, idols, and charms—background details that enrich texts likeActs 16 andActs 17. The bustle of diverse dialects also explains why Paul could address both Jews and “God-fearing Greeks” in one place (Acts 17:17).
Ministry implications today
Believers are called to bring gospel light into modern equivalents of the ἀγορά—public schools, digital forums, business districts. The biblical pattern encourages:
• Proactive engagement rather than cloistered isolation.
• Compassionate service that meets tangible needs.
• Intellectual rigor that reasons with prevailing philosophies.
• Humility that refuses self-promotion while remaining visibly present.
Selected references
Matthew 20:3;Matthew 11:16;Matthew 23:7
Mark 6:56;Mark 7:4;Mark 12:38
Luke 7:32;Luke 11:43;Luke 20:46
Acts 16:19;Acts 17:17
Forms and Transliterations
αγορα αγορά ἀγορᾷ αγοραις αγοραίς ἀγοραῖς αγοραν αγοράν ἀγορὰν αγορας αγοράς ἀγορᾶς agora agorā̂i agorais agoraîs agoran agoràn agoras agorâsLinks
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