58. agora

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 to G1453 (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 to egeiro); properly, the town-square (as a place of public resort); by implication, a market or thoroughfare -- market(-place), street.

see GREEK egeiro

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from ageiró (to bring together)
Definition
an assembly, place of assembly
NASB Translation
market place (5), market places (6).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 58: ἀγορά

ἀγορά, (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. (See B. D. American edition under the word .)

Topical Lexicon

Meaning and social setting

In 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 like Acts 16 and Acts 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 agorâs

Englishman's Concordance

Matthew 11:16 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ἃ προσφωνοῦντα
NAS: sitting in the market places, who
KJV: sitting in the markets, and calling
INT: in the markets and calling out

Matthew 20:3 N-DFS
GRK: ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἀργούς
NAS: standing idle in the market place;
KJV: idle in the marketplace,
INT: in the marketplace idle

Matthew 23:7 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ καλεῖσθαι
NAS: and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called
KJV: in the markets, and
INT: in the marketplaces and to be called

Mark 6:56 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ἐτίθεσαν τοὺς
NAS: the sick in the market places, and imploring
KJV: the sick in the streets, and besought
INT: in the marketplaces they laid those who

Mark 7:4 N-GFS
GRK: καὶ ἀπ' ἀγορᾶς ἐὰν μὴ
NAS: and [when they come] from the market place, they do not eat
KJV: [when they come] from the market, except
INT: and [on coming] from the market if not

Mark 12:38 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς
NAS: and [like] respectful greetings in the market places,
KJV: in the marketplaces,
INT: in the marketplaces

Luke 7:32 N-DFS
GRK: τοῖς ἐν ἀγορᾷ καθημένοις καὶ
NAS: who sit in the market place and call
KJV: in the marketplace, and
INT: in [the] marketplace sitting and

Luke 11:43 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς
NAS: and the respectful greetings in the market places.
KJV: greetings in the markets.
INT: in the marketplaces

Luke 20:46 N-DFP
GRK: ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ πρωτοκαθεδρίας
NAS: respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats
KJV: in the markets, and
INT: in the marketplaces and first seats

Acts 16:19 N-AFS
GRK: εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐπὶ τοὺς
NAS: and dragged them into the market place before
KJV: [them] into the marketplace unto
INT: into the market before the

Acts 17:17 N-DFS
GRK: ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ κατὰ πᾶσαν
NAS: and the God-fearing [Gentiles], and in the market place every
KJV: and in the market daily with
INT: in the marketplace on the every

Strong's Greek 58
11 Occurrences

ἀγορᾷ — 3 Occ.
ἀγοραῖς — 6 Occ.
ἀγορὰν — 1 Occ.
ἀγορᾶς — 1 Occ.