χαριτόω

From the study of Ephesians 1:6

Range of meaning

A rare verb formed from charis. The main senses are "to bestow favour on, show grace to, favour highly". Some ancient interpreters also took it as "to endow with grace, make gracious or lovely".

Against the English

The KJV and YLT have "made us accepted". The BSB, NIV and WEB render it "freely given" or "freely gave… favour", the ESV has "blessed", the NASB "freely bestowed". Only a few versions, such as Douay-Rheims "hath graced us", keep the echo of "grace" in the original, where Paul writes in effect "the grace He graced us with".

How it drifted

"Accepted" comes from earlier English Reformation Bibles. In 16th-century English, being "accepted" by a superior meant being received into favour. Today "accepted" tends to suggest being tolerated, included, or affirmed in a psychological sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb occurs only twice in the New Testament: here and in Luke 1:28 (Mary as κεχαριτωμένη, "favoured one"). In the LXX, Sirach 18:17 speaks of an ἀνὴρ κεχαριτωμένος, a gracious man, where the grace is a quality he has. John Chrysostom (4th century), commenting on this verse, takes it to mean that God made us lovely or attractive, not merely that He pardoned us. BDAG gives "bestow favour on, favour highly, bless". J. Armitage Robinson's commentary on Ephesians has a classic extended note on the word.

From the study of Luke 1:28

Range of meaning

Charitoō is built on charis, “grace, favor, kindness, gift.” Verbs ending in -oō usually mean “to make something X” or “to provide with X” (compare chrysoō, “to cover with gold”). So charitoō is “to endow with charis, to show favor to, to bless.” BDAG glosses it “bestow favor on, favor highly, bless.” Here it is a perfect passive participle: “one who has been favored,” describing a present state that results from an earlier act of God.

Against the English

“Highly favored” (KJV, NIV, BSB, WEB) is supported by BDAG’s “favor highly,” but “highly” is an English intensifier with no separate Greek word behind it. “Favored one” (ESV, NASB, YLT, NABRE) is closer in form. “Full of grace” (Vulgate gratia plena, Douay) turns a verb of receiving into an adjective of fullness. The Greek has no word for “full” here. Compare Stephen, who is plērēs charitos, “full of grace” (Acts 6:8), a different construction.

How it drifted

Jerome’s Latin gratia plena, made famous by the “Ave Maria,” shaped Western hearing for over a thousand years, and “full” suggests something like a filled vessel. In modern English, “favored” can suggest “the favorite” or “privileged because deserving,” which the passive form does not imply.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb is rare. In the New Testament it appears only here and in Eph 1:6, where God’s grace “which he graciously bestowed (echaritōsen) on us in the Beloved” refers to all believers. In the Septuagint, Sirach 18:17 speaks of “a gracious man” (anēr kecharitōmenos). The charis family is common in Greek benefaction language, the language of patrons and gifts. Luke uses charis of God’s favor on Jesus (2:40, 52), and the angel immediately explains: “you have found favor (charin) with God” (1:30). That phrase echoes the Hebrew idiom “find favor in the eyes of,” used of Noah (Gen 6:8).