Greek word · G2292

θαρρέω

tharreō

be confident

Be of good courage, be confident; be bold, dare (often against someone).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

θαρρέω, -ῶ

(later form of θαρσέω), [in LXX: Proverbs 1:21, Baruch 4:21, 27, from LXX Baruch 6:16, (17), 4Ma.13:11 4Mac 17:4 * ;]

to be of good cheer or courage, to be confident: 2 Corinthians 5:6 5:8, Hebrews 13:6; τ. πεποιθήσει, 2 Corinthians 10:2; before εἰς, 2 Corinthians 10:1; ἐν, 2 Corinthians 7:16.†

SYN.: τολμάω. "θ. has reference more to the character, τ. to its manifestation " (Thayer, see word τολμάω) (AS)

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

Range of meaning: Be of good courage, be confident; be bold, dare (often against someone).
Against the English: 'Bold' (most versions); YLT 'have courage'. The English is accurate. The edge is the irony: bold only when absent.
Used elsewhere in the period: Paul uses it positively in 5:6, 8 ('we are always of good courage') and 7:16 ('I have confidence in you'). Here and in v. 2 it takes on the sense of daring boldness against opponents.

Range of meaning: To be of good heart, take courage, be confident; with a person, to be confident about or bold toward someone. It is the later spelling of Classical θαρσέω, whose command form θάρσει ('take heart!') is a stock word of encouragement.
Against the English: KJV 'boldly' and BSB/NIV 'with confidence' are both fair. WEB 'with good courage' is closest to the word's feel. 'Boldly' can suggest a loud, defiant way of speaking. The Greek describes the speaker's inner state: being of good heart while facing danger.
Used elsewhere in the period: Paul uses it in 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8 ('we are always of good courage' in the face of death) and 7:16; 10:1–2. In the Gospels the related θαρσεῖτε ('take heart') is Jesus' word to frightened disciples (Matt 14:27; John 16:33). In the Septuagint θαρσέω translates words for not fearing (e.g. Exod 14:13; Joel 2:21–22).

Range of meaning: To be of good courage, take heart, be cheerful and bold, especially when facing danger. It is the Attic form of tharseō. The opposite is losing heart or being afraid. It describes morale and nerve. It is not mainly about being intellectually certain.
Against the English: KJV, BSB, WEB and NIV say "confident," which a modern reader may hear as self-assurance or being sure of the facts. ESV and NASB ("of good courage") and YLT ("having courage") are closer.
How it drifted: In older English "confident" kept its Latin sense of con-fidere, trusting fully, so the KJV rendering suited its time. In modern use the word has moved toward self-belief and poise.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) and the Gospels use tharsei/tharseite ("take heart!") where someone is afraid: Exod 14:13 LXX; Matt 9:2; 14:27; John 16:33. Paul uses tharreō in 2 Cor 5:6, 8; 7:16; 10:1–2, where it means boldness. In Greek writing generally it is the word for a soldier's or a dying man's nerve.

2 Corinthians · 5

2 Corinthians 5:6 Θαρροῦντες being confident

Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

Here: "Keeping our courage up." A present participle with no main verb: Paul starts the sentence, breaks off for the aside in verse 7, and picks it up again in verse 8 with "we are of good courage, I say." It describes steady morale while facing death, not a feeling of certainty.
2 Corinthians 5:8 θαρροῦμεν We are confident

We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Here: 'We keep our courage.' It picks up the 'always of good courage' from verse 6, where the sentence was cut off by the aside in verse 7. The courage is that of people facing wear, danger and death (4:8–18), not a calm feeling of certainty.
2 Corinthians 7:16 θαρρῶ I am confident

I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.
2 Corinthians 10:1 θαρρῶ I am bold

Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away.

Here: In the accusation it means 'brave from a safe distance', bold only on paper. The present tense describes his habitual pattern as they see it.
2 Corinthians 10:2 θαρρῆσαι to be bold

I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh.

Hebrews · 1

Hebrews 13:6 θαρροῦντας are confident

So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Here: A present participle: 'being of good heart.' It describes the steady inner courage in which the words are spoken, not a loud or brash way of speaking.

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