Greek word · G3861

παράδοξος

paradoxos

remarkable

From para ('beside, contrary to') + doxa ('opinion, expectation'): contrary to expectation, incredible, astonishing, wonderful. Used as a noun, 'unexpected things, wonders' (BDAG s.v. παράδοξος). In Hellenistic Greek it was a standard term for miracles and marvels.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

παράδοξος, -ον

(παρά, δόξα), [in LXX: Judith 13:13, Wisdom of Solomon 5:2 16:17 19:5, Sirach 43:25; 2-4 Mac 3 * ;]

contrary to received opinion, incredible, marvellous: pl., Luke 5:26.†

SYN.: see: δύναμις (AS)

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 5:26

Range of meaning

From para ('beside, contrary to') + doxa ('opinion, expectation'): contrary to expectation, incredible, astonishing, wonderful. Used as a noun, 'unexpected things, wonders' (BDAG s.v. παράδοξος). In Hellenistic Greek it was a standard term for miracles and marvels.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT 'strange things', BSB/NIV 'remarkable things', ESV 'extraordinary things', NLT 'amazing things'. 'Strange' in modern English can mean weird or off-putting, which misses the wonder.

How it drifted

English 'paradox' (a logical contradiction or self-contradictory statement) comes from this word. The Greek is not about logic. It means 'beyond what anyone expected or would have believed'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint: Judith 13:13; Wisdom 5:2; 16:17; 19:5; Sirach 43:25; 2 Maccabees 9:24 (various senses of 'unexpected/wondrous'). Josephus uses it often for God's wonders in Israel's history, and in the Testimonium Flavianum describes Jesus as a 'doer of paradoxa erga', 'startling/wonderful deeds' (Antiquities 18.63; the authenticity of parts of that passage is debated). Hellenistic healing inscriptions and historians use the word family for marvels. New Testament: only here.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 5:26 παράδοξα remarkable things

    Everyone was taken with amazement and glorified God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

    Here: Literally 'things beside/against expectation': events nobody would have believed beforehand. Greek writers of the time used it as a stock word for wonders and miracles. This is its only use in the New Testament.

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