καυχάομαι

Romans 2:17 καυχᾶσαι you boast

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;

Here: To glory in something as the ground of your honour and confidence. It is not bad in itself: Paul uses the same words for himself and his readers in 5:11. Here the question is how Israel's glorying in God works when set against the Gentiles.

Romans 2:23 καυχᾶσαι, boast,

You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

Romans 5:2 καυχώμεθα we boast

through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Here: To claim openly and confidently the thing one stakes one's honor on. The same verb returns in 5:3 ('in sufferings') and 5:11 ('in God'). It could also be read as 'let us boast'.

Romans 5:3 καυχώμεθα we glory

Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

Here: "We boast / we exult". This is the same verb as in 5:2 ("we boast in hope of the glory of God"). It means openly claiming something as your ground of honour and confidence. The spelling could also be read "let us boast" (see debates).

Romans 5:11 καυχώμενοι we are rejoicing

Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Here: A present participle ("boasting"), meaning an ongoing state. It is a confident, public claim about where your honour and security lie, and here that place is God. It is the third "boast" in the chapter (vv. 2, 3, 11).

1 Corinthians 1:29 καυχήσηται may boast

so that no one may boast in His presence.

Here: To claim honour or standing on the basis of something, to rest one's confidence and status on it. The aorist subjunctive (a form that looks at the act as a single whole) rules out even one such claim before God.

1 Corinthians 1:31 καυχώμενος καυχάσθω.¶ boasting, he should boast.

Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Here: "The one who boasts": anyone who claims honour, takes pride in something, or rests their standing and confidence on it. The text assumes people will boast. The question is what they boast in.

1 Corinthians 3:21 καυχάσθω should boast

Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,

Here: 'Let him boast', a command in the third person with ongoing force: let no one keep making a human being the ground of their pride and standing. It echoes the 'let him boast' of Jeremiah 9:23–24, which Paul quoted in 1:31.

1 Corinthians 4:7 καυχᾶσαι boast you

For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Here: 'Do you pride yourself, staking your claim to honor?' The present tense shows an ongoing habit. The word looks back to 1:29–31: no human being may boast before God, and 'let the one who boasts boast in the Lord'.

1 Corinthians 13:3 καυχήσωμαι, I may boast,

If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Here: 'So that I may boast', or have something to glory in. This is the best-attested reading. Many later manuscripts read kauthēsōmai, 'that I may be burned' (see variants).

2 Corinthians 5:12 καυχωμένους boasting

We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.

Here: The present tense describes their habit: they keep boasting. It is the same word-family as the Corinthians' 'boast' earlier in the verse. Paul sets one boast against another, not boasting against humility.

2 Corinthians 7:14 κεκαύχημαι, I have boasted,

Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well.

2 Corinthians 9:2 καυχῶμαι I boast of

For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting to the Macedonians that since last year you in Achaia were prepared to give. And your zeal has stirred most of them to do likewise.

Here: Present tense: Paul keeps on boasting, as an ongoing habit. He is publicly praising them and putting his own credibility on the line for them.

2 Corinthians 10:8 καυχήσωμαι I shall boast

For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.

Here: 'I should boast'. The verb means voicing confidence in what grounds your standing. This is the key word of chapters 10–13, where Paul is pushed, unwillingly, into a contest of claims with rival teachers.

2 Corinthians 10:13 καυχησόμεθα will boast

We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you.

Here: Future tense stating a settled policy: 'we will not boast'. In Paul this verb means 'to stake one's claim, take pride in, glory in', and it is not always negative.

2 Corinthians 10:15 καυχώμενοι boasting

Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,

2 Corinthians 10:16 καυχήσασθαι. to boast.

so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. Then we will not be boasting in the work already done in another man’s territory.

2 Corinthians 10:17 καυχώμενος καυχάσθω· boasting, he should boast;

Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Here: A present participle: "the one who is boasting", meaning anyone who makes a habit of claiming status or worth on some ground. The word itself is neutral. Whether boasting is good or bad depends on what it rests on.

2 Corinthians 11:12 καυχῶνται, they are boasting,

But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.

Here: 'They are boasting', in the present tense: an ongoing public claim to status. This is the key word of 2 Corinthians 10–13. Here it refers to the rivals' self-promotion as apostles.

2 Corinthians 11:16 καυχήσωμαι. may boast.

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

2 Corinthians 11:18 καυχῶνται καυχήσομαι. boast, will boast.

Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.

2 Corinthians 11:30 καυχᾶσθαι καυχήσομαι.¶ to boast, I will boast.

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Here: 'To boast': to speak openly about what gives you standing and confidence. In this chapter it stands for the self-promotion Paul's rivals practise and the Corinthians admire. Paul has spent the chapter doing it 'as a fool' (11:16–21).

2 Corinthians 12:1 Καυχᾶσθαι To boast

I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

Here: To speak publicly of one's own claims to honor. It comes first for emphasis: 'Boasting' is the topic Paul has been made to take up in his 'fool's speech' (11:1–12:13), and he is still at it.

2 Corinthians 12:5 καυχήσομαι, καυχήσομαι I will boast,, I will boast

I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses.

Here: 'I will boast': Paul is willing to speak proudly of the visionary as a visionary. The future tense states what he is prepared to do while he plays the 'fool' (11:16–12:11).

2 Corinthians 12:6 καυχήσασθαι, to boast,

Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me,

2 Corinthians 12:9 καυχήσομαι will I boast

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

Here: Future: "I will boast." This is the key word of chapters 10–13. Paul takes up the language of public self-praise and fills it with the opposite content.

Galatians 6:13 καυχήσωνται. they may boast.

For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

Here: Aorist subjunctive after 'so that': 'they may boast'. To take pride in something as the ground of your standing. The circumcised converts would be their trophy. Verse 14 answers it directly: Paul will boast only in the cross.

Galatians 6:14 καυχᾶσθαι to boast

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Here: To boast: to rest your honour and confidence on something and say so publicly. The present tense points to an ongoing habit of life, not one outburst.

Ephesians 2:9 καυχήσηται. may boast.

not by works, so that no one can boast.

Here: Aorist subjunctive, third person singular: "should boast" or "might boast". More than bragging out loud, it means claiming honour, status or confidence on the basis of something. Here: claiming a standing before God on the basis of one's own record. Because salvation does not come from works, there is nothing to make such a claim on.

Philippians 3:3 καυχώμενοι glorying

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

Here: To boast: to name the thing you stake your honor and standing on. Their claim to standing before God rests on Christ Jesus, not on a mark in the body.

James 1:9 καυχάσθω should boast

The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.

Here: A third-person command in the present tense: 'he is to keep boasting'. It is not bragging. It means grounding your confidence and sense of worth in something and saying so openly. Putting it first in the sentence gives it weight: the poor man is told to be proud.

James 4:16 καυχᾶσθε you boast

As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

Here: 'You are boasting / taking pride.' The present tense describes an ongoing habit. The verb means to voice confidence in something and claim status from it. It can be good or bad depending on the object (compare 1:9), and here the object is bad.