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Acts 11:20


Footnote:

52

εὐαγγελιζόμενοι τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν This means "evangelizing the Master Jesu/Salvation" or "gospelizing the Master Salvation/Jesu"

It does not mean "preaching."

It serves the same function as other similar "-izing" words:

Verb Meaning Present Mid./Pass. Participle
βαπτίζω submerge, baptize βαπτιζόμενοι
καθαρίζω cleanse, purify καθαριζόμενοι
ἁγιάζω make holy ἁγιαζόμενοι
δουλεύω → δουλίζω enslave δουλιζόμενοι
ἐθνίζω make into a nation / paganize ἐθνιζόμενοι
Ἑλληνίζω speak Greek / live as a Greek Ἑλληνιζόμενοι
νομίζω regard, suppose νομιζόμενοι
σκανδαλίζω cause to stumble σκανδαλιζόμενοι
τυραννίζω tyrannize τυραννιζόμενοι
πλουτίζω make rich πλουτιζόμενοι

When a –ίζω verb (such as εὐαγγελίζω, βαπτίζω, καθαρίζω, σκανδαλίζω) is followed by an accusative of a person, the construction reflects one of two tightly defined valency patterns in Greek:

1. Direct Object of Affect (Patient Accusative)

Here the person in the accusative is the one directly acted upon—i.e., the recipient of the action that the verb effects.

Structural pattern

Verb (–ίζω) + Accusative Person

Semantic value

“to cause that person to undergo X”

Examples (structural type)

  • βαπτίζω τινά → “to immerse someone
  • καθαρίζω τινά → “to cleanse someone
  • σκανδαλίζω τινά → “to cause someone to stumble”
  • δουλίζω τινά → “to enslave someone

Here the accusative marks the directly transformed participant. This is the canonical transitive use of –ίζω.

2. Double-Object Frame (Person + Content)

With communicative or declarative –ίζω verbs (especially εὐαγγελίζω), Greek often uses:

Accusative of person + Accusative of thing
or
Accusative of person + περί / ὅτι + clause

Example patterns

  • εὐαγγελίζω τινά τι
    = “to announce something to someone

  • εὐαγγελίζω τινά περὶ τινός
    = “to proclaim to someone about something

Here:

  • The person-accusative = recipient

  • The second object or clause = semantic content

So the person is not transformed, but informed.

What This Means for εὐαγγελιζόμενοι + Accusative Person

When you see:

εὐαγγελιζόμενοι τινά

the accusative person is not undergoing a physical change, but is:

  • the target of proclamation

  • the recipient of communicated content

  • grammatically functioning as a personal goal without a preposition

This is a regular Greek extension of the “affect” accusative into the semantic domain of information transfer.

With εὐαγγελιζόμενοι, an accusative person is not the content of the proclamation but the recipient of it. In Greek valency terms, the person in the accusative functions as the affected addressee (recipient/patient of the speech act), while the content is expressed separately—either by a second accusative (εὐαγγελίζω τινά τι), a prepositional phrase (περί + gen.), or a ὅτι/ὡς clause.

All the previous translations, trying to avoid the truthful reading, add words such as περί + gen. and/or change the noun "Jesu/Salvation" into a genitive form (e.g. of Jesus) when it (he) is in fact an accusative direct object. In other words, pretty much every rendering ever of this line has been falsely crafted.