ἐγκαυχάομαι

From the study of 2 Thessalonians 1:4

Range of meaning

A strengthened form of kauchaomai, 'to boast, take pride in, exult'. In Paul's Greek, boasting can be bad when it means self-congratulation before God or people (Rom 3:27; 1 Cor 1:29). It can be good when it means proudly pointing to what God has done, or to a community that will be one's 'crown of boasting' at Christ's coming (1 Thess 2:19; Phil 2:16). The prefix en- ('in') stresses glorying in or over something.

Against the English

BSB, WEB and ESV have 'boast'. KJV and YLT have 'glory in'. NASB says 'speak proudly of'. In modern English 'boast' usually means arrogant bragging, which is not the tone here. 'Glory in' or 'speak proudly of' comes closer.

How it drifted

Modern English 'boast' has narrowed almost entirely to vain self-promotion. The Greek word group was neutral and could be either good or bad. Context decides.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only here in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) it appears in the Psalms, for example Ps 106:47 (LXX 105:47), 'to glory in your praise'. There it also appears in the negative sense of the wicked exulting in evil (Ps 52:1, LXX 51:3). Elsewhere Paul boasts about one church to another: he holds up the Macedonian churches, which included Thessalonica, to the Corinthians (2 Cor 8:1–5; 9:2–4).