Greek word · G75

ἀγωνίζομαι

agōnizomai

to struggle

To compete in the games, contend for a prize; more broadly to strain, struggle, fight, make every effort.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

ἀγωνίζομαι

(ἀγών), [in LXX: Daniel 6:14 (שׂוּם בָּל), Sirach 4:28, I, II, 4Mac .5 * ;]

1. to contend for a prize: 1 Corinthians 9:25,

2. to fight, struggle, strive: John 18:36; metaphorically (MM, VGT, see word). Colossians 1:29 4:12, 1 Timothy 4:10 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7; with inf. (Field, Notes, 66), Luke 13:24 (Cremer, 609)

† (AS)

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

Range of meaning: To compete in the games, contend for a prize; more broadly to strain, struggle, fight, make every effort.
Against the English: "Strive" keeps the effort but loses the stadium. The KJV's "suffer reproach" translates a different word found in later manuscripts.
Used elsewhere in the period: From agōn, "contest". Paul uses the image in 1 Cor 9:25 ("everyone who competes…"), and the Pastorals use it in 1 Tim 6:12 and 2 Tim 4:7 ("fight the good fight"). Hellenistic Jewish writings such as 4 Maccabees and Philo use the athletic contest for moral struggle.

Range of meaning: To take part in an agōn, a public contest: athletic games, races, wrestling, boxing, and also contests in music or drama. By extension it meant contending in a lawsuit, fighting in battle, or exerting oneself hard toward a goal. In this verse the setting is plainly athletic ("in the stadium," v. 24; running and boxing, v. 26).
Against the English: KJV "striveth for the mastery" captures the effort but hides the games. BSB, WEB and NIV "competes in the games" make the setting clear. ESV "every athlete" is accurate and brief. English "agonize" comes from this word family, but it now means mental anguish, which is not what Paul means.
How it drifted: The English descendant "agony / agonize" moved from "contest" to "the struggle of a contest" and finally to "intense suffering." Modern readers who know that "agonize" comes from agōnizomai may wrongly hear inner torment here.
Used elsewhere in the period: This is common athletic vocabulary in Greek inscriptions and literature. Second Temple Jewish writers used athletic language for faithfulness: 4 Maccabees 17:11–16 portrays the martyrs as athletes in a divine contest, and 2 Maccabees 8:16 and 13:14 use the word for fighting to the death. Philo often uses the athletic contest as a picture of the soul's struggle for virtue. Elsewhere in the NT: Luke 13:24 ("strive to enter"), Colossians 1:29 and 4:12, 1 Timothy 6:12 and 2 Timothy 4:7 ("I have competed in the good contest").

Range of meaning: To compete in a contest (athletics, the courts), to struggle hard, and to fight in battle.
Against the English: 'Fight' is accurate. The imperfect with an ('would be fighting') shows that the fighting is imagined as happening right now and is absent.
Used elsewhere in the period: Septuagint and Jewish writings: 2 Maccabees 13:14 urges fighting 'to the death' for law, temple and homeland. Sirach 4:28 says 'strive to the death for the truth, and the Lord God will fight for you'. That is notable here, where Jesus goes on to speak of witnessing to the truth (v. 37). Paul uses the word for athletic and spiritual striving (1 Cor 9:25; Col 4:12).

Luke · 1

Luke 13:24 ἀγωνίζεσθε do strive

“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

Here: A command in the present tense, addressed to the whole crowd ('you' plural): keep straining, as an athlete or fighter does in a contest. It is the first word of Jesus' answer, so the stress falls on it.

John · 1

John 18:36 ἠγωνίζοντο they were fighting

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.”

Here: The imperfect tense shows an ongoing action: 'would be fighting (right now)'. The word for a hard contest is used here for armed resistance.

1 Corinthians · 1

1 Corinthians 9:25 ἀγωνιζόμενος is striving

Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

Here: "Competing in the games." The word comes from agōn, an athletic contest. In this setting it means a registered athlete in the public games, not someone in emotional anguish.

Colossians · 2

Colossians 1:29 ἀγωνιζόμενος striving

To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

Here: A present participle ('contending') that describes how he toils: like a contestant in the games or a fighter in a struggle. The next verse picks it up with the noun agōn ('how great a struggle I have for you', 2:1).
Colossians 4:12 ἀγωνιζόμενος struggling

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.

Here: A word from athletic contests and combat, in the present tense: he keeps on straining in a contest. It repeats Paul's own word for his labor for them (1:29; 2:1).

1 Timothy · 2

1 Timothy 4:10 ἀγωνιζόμεθα, strive,

To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.

Here: Word from the athletic contest. It carries on the training picture of verses 7–8 ("train yourself… bodily training"): strain like a competitor. Many later manuscripts read "we are reproached" here instead.
1 Timothy 6:12 ἀγωνίζου do fight

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

Here: A present-tense command: keep on contending, the way an athlete does in the games. It opens the verse with strenuous, ongoing effort.

2 Timothy · 1

2 Timothy 4:7 ἠγώνισμαι, I have fought,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Here: The verb comes from the same root as the noun: "I have contested the contest." The perfect tense means the effort is complete and its result stands. Paul looks back from the end of the event.

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