ἀγοράζω

Every ancient Greek city was built around a place called the agora. The English word for it would be plaza or town square, but neither word quite captures what the agora was. It was the marketplace, yes — the central location where farmers sold produce, where merchants kept shops, where slaves were bought and sold. But it was also more than a marketplace. The agora was the place where citizens assembled to debate civic decisions. It was where the philosophers taught — Socrates conducted most of his conversations there, and Paul stood in the Athenian agora (Acts 17:17) to reason with the philosophers and passersby. It was where the courts sat. It was where the rumors spread and the news traveled. The agora was, in a meaningful sense, the city’s beating heart.

The English language preserves a small but distinctive trace of the Greek agora — in the word agoraphobia, the fear of the marketplace or, by extension, the fear of open public spaces. Anyone who has felt anxious in a crowded shopping center knows something of what the word names: the agora was loud, busy, full of strangers, and full of transactions.

When the Greek New Testament uses the verb agorazō — “to buy” — it draws on this rich cultural context. The verb literally means “to do agora-business,” “to engage in marketplace transactions.” By the time of the New Testament the verb had become the standard Greek word for any kind of purchase, but the marketplace context remained in the background of the word’s meaning. To agorazō something was to go to the place where buying and selling happened and to participate in the exchange.

This chapter is about that verb — and about the purchase Christ accomplished when He went to the spiritual marketplace where captives were held and bought them out with His own blood.

The Word

The Greek word is ἀγοράζω (agorazō), pronounced in the Erasmian convention as a-go-RAH-zō, with the accent on the third syllable. The word is a regular Greek verb in the -zō family and appears throughout the New Testament in standard inflected forms.

The etymology runs through the central Greek civic vocabulary. Agorazō is built directly from agora (the marketplace) with the -zō verbal suffix that produces denominative verbs (verbs derived from nouns). The construction is regular and transparent: just as baptizō means “to do baptism-things” (to baptize, from baptos), agorazō means “to do agora-things” (to buy, from agora).

The word family is moderate in size but theologically important:

Agora (ἀγορά) — the marketplace, the public square. Used at Mark 6:56 (the sick laid in the agoras), Acts 16:19 (Paul and Silas dragged into the agora in Philippi), Acts 17:17 (Paul reasoning in the Athenian agora).

Agoraios (ἀγοραῖος) — marketplace-related, of the agora. Used at Acts 17:5 (the “rabble” or “loafers” of the marketplace whom the Jews recruited to start a riot) and Acts 19:38 (the regular agoraioi — court sessions held in the agora). The adjective could carry either neutral or pejorative connotations depending on context.

Agorazō (ἀγοράζω) — to buy. The base verb of this chapter.

Exagorazō (ἐξαγοράζω) — to buy out, to redeem. The compound with ex- (out). Used at Galatians 3:13 (Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law”), Galatians 4:5 (Christ sent “to redeem those who were under the law”), Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 (the believer “making the best use of the time” — literally “buying out the time”). The compound emphasizes the separation of what is purchased from its prior context.

The relationship between agorazō and exagorazō is important for the chapter’s argument. Agorazō is the simple verb of buying; exagorazō is the compound verb of buying out. Both can be used for the same kind of transaction, but exagorazō emphasizes the result: the purchased item or person has been separated from its prior owner, location, or condition. The believer is agorazō-ed by Christ (purchased) and exagorazō-ed from the curse of the law (purchased out from under it).

The Septuagint background of agorazō is straightforward. The Greek verb appears throughout the LXX for ordinary commercial transactions — buying grain (Genesis 41:57, 42:5), buying property (Genesis 49:30), buying provisions (1 Samuel 25:11). The Hebrew underlying these uses is typically shabar (to buy grain, specifically) or the more general qanah (to acquire by purchase). The LXX uses agorazō as the standard rendering for these commercial verbs.

The theological development of agorazō — the application of the verb to Christ’s saving work — is largely a New Testament development. The Old Testament’s redemption vocabulary leaned heavily on padah / ga’al (rendered with lytroō / apolytrōsis in the LXX, treated in Chapter 14 of this volume). The agorazō vocabulary is a complementary New Testament metaphor for what Christ has done. Where apolytrōsis emphasizes the release of the captive through ransom, agorazō emphasizes the commercial transaction itself — the price paid, the transaction completed, the captive now belonging to the Purchaser.

Several Old Testament passages prepare for the theological use:

Isaiah 55:1-3 — “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The LXX uses agorazō in this passage for the prophetic invitation to come and buy. The paradox is striking — buying without money, purchasing without price. The Old Testament’s anticipation of the gospel runs through this kind of language: the goods of salvation are purchased by Christ at a price the believer does not pay.

Lamentations 5:4 — “We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought (agorazō).” A complaint about the commercial obligations imposed on the conquered people, but a useful reminder that agorazō in biblical usage names real commercial transactions.

The New Testament’s theological use of agorazō takes the ordinary commercial vocabulary and applies it to the spiritual realities of Christ’s purchase of believers. The transaction is real; the price is real; the change of ownership is real. The marketplace metaphor is not poetic decoration but theological precision.

Range of Meaning

Agorazō in the New Testament covers a meaningful range:

Ordinary commercial purchase. The most common sense. Matthew 13:44 (the man who “buys” the field with the hidden treasure), Matthew 14:15 (the disciples asking Christ to send the crowds to agorazō food), John 4:8 (the disciples gone to agorazō food in Sychar). The Greek verb is the standard word for any commercial transaction.

The theological purchase by Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23, 2 Peter 2:1, Revelation 5:9, 14:3-4. The dominant theological use. Christ has purchased believers; the believers now belong to Him; the purchase has consequences for how the believer lives.

The eschatological purchase of nations and peoples. Revelation 5:9 and 14:3-4. The Lamb has purchased people from every tribe, language, and nation. The purchase is universal in scope (covering all the categories of humanity) and specific in result (those who are purchased belong to God).

Compounded sense: to buy out, to redeem. The exagorazō compound. Galatians 3:13, 4:5 — Christ redeemed (bought out) those under the curse of the law. The compound emphasizes the result of the purchase: the purchased are now separated from their prior condition.

The idiomatic use: to redeem the time, to buy out the opportunity. Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5. The compound exagorazō applied to time. The believer “buys out” the time — purchases the opportunities of the moment from a hostile market. This is more pointed than the modern translation “make the best use of the time” suggests. The image is of someone purchasing valuable goods from a market that would otherwise consume them. The believer is to buy out the time for God’s purposes.

The negative use: those who were bought but deny the Master. 2 Peter 2:1 — “denying the Master who bought them.” A sobering use. Some who were the objects of Christ’s purchase deny the Purchaser. The verse is theologically delicate and will receive substantive attention below.

Where You’ll Meet It

1 Corinthians 6:19-20. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” The Greek of verse 20: ēgorasthēte gar timēs. The aorist passive — ēgorasthēte, “you were bought” — places the action firmly in the past as a completed transaction. The genitive timēs — “with a price” — names the basis of the purchase without specifying the amount, though in the context of the New Testament the price is understood to be Christ’s blood.

The verse is one of the most concentrated Pauline statements of Christian identity. Three claims, tightly joined:

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The believer’s body — not just the soul, not just some inner spiritual self, but the body — is the dwelling place of God’s Spirit. The Pauline anthropology takes the body seriously as part of what God has redeemed.

You are not your own. The believer does not possess himself. Self-determination, self-ownership, the modern Western assumption that I belong to me and may do what I wish with what is mine — these are foreign to Paul’s anthropology. The believer is not the lord of his own body, time, or life. Someone else owns him.

You were bought with a price. The reason for the previous claim. The believer’s prior ownership has been transferred to the Purchaser. The transaction is complete; the price has been paid; the believer’s status has been re-established.

So glorify God in your body. The ethical consequence. Because the believer’s body belongs to Christ, the believer is to use the body for Christ’s glory. Not as a private possession to be deployed for self-gratification, but as the temple of the Spirit and the property of the Purchaser, to be used in His service.

The passage’s immediate context is sexual ethics — Paul is addressing the Corinthians’ acceptance of sexual immorality. But the principle is comprehensive. What is true for the body in matters of sexual ethics is true for every other use of the body. The believer who has been bought uses his hands, his eyes, his words, his time, his strength in the service of the One who purchased him.

1 Corinthians 7:23. “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” The Greek: timēs ēgorasthēte; mē ginesthe douloi anthrōpōn. The same formula as 6:20 with a different application. Here Paul is addressing the situation of slaves and freedmen in the Corinthian church. His teaching is double-edged: slaves should not be unduly anxious about their social status (verse 21 — “Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it”); but neither should they sell themselves into voluntary servitude to other masters (verse 23).

The verse uses the agorazō formula to ground both halves of the teaching. The slave who has been bought by Christ is no longer fundamentally a slave of his earthly master; his fundamental identity is established by Christ’s purchase. The freedman who has been bought by Christ should not undertake new voluntary slaveries; his freedom is real and ought not to be surrendered.

This passage’s pastoral application extends far beyond the first-century question of literal slavery. The believer who has been bought by Christ should not enslave himself to other masters — to social approval, to professional advancement at the cost of conscience, to the disordered demands of his own appetites, to the captivities of contemporary culture. The fundamental allegiance is to the Purchaser. Other lesser loyalties are real but secondary, and they may not become slaveries.

Revelation 5:9. “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’” The Greek: kai ēgorasas tō theō en tō haimati sou ek pasēs phylēs kai glōssēs kai laou kai ethnous.

The cosmic worship of the Lamb. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sing a new song to the Lamb. The basis of the worship is the purchase: you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. The Greek ēgorasas — aorist active of agorazō — names the completed transaction.

Four observations on this verse.

First, the price is named explicitly: en tō haimati sou, “by your blood.” The Lamb’s blood is the purchase price. The transaction is real, with a real cost paid by the Purchaser.

Second, the purpose is named: tō theō, “for God.” The Lamb did not purchase people for the Lamb’s own benefit but for God the Father. The purchase incorporates the purchased into the relationship with God that the Lamb has secured.

Third, the scope is named: ek pasēs phylēs kai glōssēs kai laou kai ethnous, “from every tribe and language and people and nation.” The purchase is universal in its reach — covering every category of human society. This is the basis of the New Testament’s universal mission. The Lamb has purchased people from every nation; the church’s task is to gather what He has bought.

Fourth, the result is named: epoiēsas autous tō theō hēmōn basileian kai hiereis, “you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God.” The purchased become the kingdom; the purchased become the priesthood. The purchase secures not just individual rescue but participation in the eschatological identity of God’s people.

The verse is the chapter’s worship-context. The doctrine of purchase is not just doctrine; it is the basis of the eternal worship of the Lamb. When the church on earth gathers around Word and Sacrament, it joins this eternal worship — the worship of the One who has purchased people from every nation.

Galatians 3:13. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” The Greek: Christos hēmas exēgorasen ek tēs kataras tou nomou. The compound exagorazō — exēgorasen — emphasizes the buying-out: Christ purchased us out from under the curse of the law.

The verse uses the exagorazō compound to make a specific Pauline argument. The curse of the law fell on those who failed to keep it perfectly (Galatians 3:10, quoting Deuteronomy 27:26). Christ bore this curse on the cross — He became a curse for us, hanged on a tree (citing Deuteronomy 21:23). The result of this substitution is that those who are united with Christ are bought out from under the law’s curse.

This is one of the central New Testament texts for understanding how Christ’s death effects salvation. The legal-curse problem is real (the law’s curse on covenant-breakers); the substitution is real (Christ bearing the curse); the purchase out is real (the believer no longer under the law’s condemnation). The Lutheran tradition has held this with particular seriousness because the law-gospel distinction depends on it.

2 Peter 2:1. “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” The Greek: kai ton agorasanta autous despotēn arnoumenoi. The aorist participle agorasanta — “the one who bought them” — applies to false teachers who are described as having been bought yet denying their Purchaser.

The verse is theologically delicate. On the most natural reading, Peter says that the false teachers were among those whom Christ purchased — and yet they deny Him. This raises a serious question: how can someone be the object of Christ’s purchase and yet be condemned?

The Lutheran tradition has read this verse as supporting the doctrine of objective justification — the universal scope of Christ’s atoning work — while recognizing that the application of that work is by faith. Christ’s purchase is in some sense universal (He purchased the world); the application of the purchase is to those who receive Him by faith; those who deny the Purchaser do not receive the benefit, however real the objective transaction. The verse will not bear universalism (the false teachers face destruction, not salvation); but neither will it bear a strict limited-atonement reading (the false teachers are described as having been bought, despite their final condemnation).