Greek word · G1449

ἐγγράφω

engraphō

to write in

To write something into a document. Above all, to enter a name in an official list: a citizen roll, a register of members, a census. The perfect passive ("has been entered") describes standing enrollment.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

1. to mark in or on, to paint on , (Herdotus Historicus)

2. to inscribe, write in or on , (Herdotus Historicus):—;Pass., ἐγγεγραμμένος τι having something written on it, (Sophocles Tragicus); so Virgil flores inscripti nomina.

3. to enter in the public register , ἐγγρ. τὸν υἱὸν εἰς ἄνδρας (Demosthenes Orator):—;Pass., εἰς τοὺς δημότας ἐγγραφῆναι (Demosthenes Orator)

4. to enter on the judge's list, to indict , (Aristophanes Comicus) (ML)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Luke 10:20

Range of meaning

To write something into a document. Above all, to enter a name in an official list: a citizen roll, a register of members, a census. The perfect passive ("has been entered") describes standing enrollment.

Against the English

"Are written" (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) is accurate but sounds like a bare fact about ink. NASB's "recorded" and NLT's "registered" bring out the register image better, which is the word's normal setting.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek civic usage, enrolling someone (e.g. among citizens or young men coming of age) was done by writing the name into the public list. To be struck off meant losing membership. The Jewish background is the 'book' God keeps: Exod 32:32–33 ("blot me out of your book that you have written"); Ps 69:28 (LXX 68:29, "let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous"); Isa 4:3 ("everyone recorded for life in Jerusalem"); Dan 12:1 ("everyone found written in the book" will be delivered); Mal 3:16 (a "book of remembrance"). Second Temple texts expand this: 1 Enoch 47:3 and 104:1 (the righteous recorded before the Glory), Jubilees 30:20–23 (the faithful written as friends, the wicked as enemies on the heavenly tablets). In the NT: Phil 4:3; Heb 12:23 ("the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven"); Rev 3:5; 20:12, 15.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 10:20 ἐγγέγραπται have been written

    Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

    Here: "Written in" a list or register. The tense (perfect) means the writing was done and still stands: you are on the roll. The passive leaves God unnamed as the one who wrote.

2 Corinthians · 2

  1. 2 Corinthians 3:2 ἐγγεγραμμένη inscribed

    You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.

  2. 2 Corinthians 3:3 ἐγγεγραμμένη inscribed

    It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

    Here: 'Written in, inscribed.' The perfect tense means the writing was done and now stands. The 'in-' prefix suits both inking a sheet and carving into a surface, so the word moves easily from papyrus to tablets.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.