Greek word · G780

ἀσμένως

asmenōs

gladly

'Gladly, with pleasure, readily'. It describes how someone feels inside about doing something: willingly and with satisfaction.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀσμένως

adv. (ἥδομαι, to be glad), [in LXX: 2Ma.4:12 2Mac 10:33, 3Ma.3:15 3Mac 5:21 * ;]

gladly: Acts 21:17.†

(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 Acts 21:17

Range of meaning

'Gladly, with pleasure, readily'. It describes how someone feels inside about doing something: willingly and with satisfaction.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have 'gladly'. The BSB has 'joyfully', which is slightly stronger and closer to festive joy (the Greek word for that would be chara). Other modern versions have 'warmly', which shifts the focus from the hosts' feeling to how they treated their guests. All of these fall within the range.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found in classical authors (Thucydides, Plato) and in literary Koine, including 2–3 Maccabees and Josephus. In the critical text it appears only here in the New Testament. Later manuscripts also have it at Acts 2:41 ('gladly received his word').

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 21:17 ἀσμένως gladly

    When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us joyfully.

    Here: An adverb of real pleasure: they were glad to have the visitors. In the critical Greek text it appears only here in the New Testament. Its educated, literary flavour fits Luke's style.

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