Where does the word come from?

The Greek word for Gospel is ‘Euangelion’ which comes from eu- (“good”) and angelion (“tidings” or “message”). This is why we often refer to the Gospel as ‘Good News’. In both the Old and New Testaments, this term was used to describe receiving good news, such as when there was a royal announcement.

The very first time ‘Gospel’ appears in scripture is in 2 Samuel 4:10, when the Philistines kill the then king, Saul, and a herald is brought of the “good news” of Saul’s defeat. For the Philistines, the good news is that their enemy was defeated and now there is a new king.

In Greek and Roman culture, the imperial cult would create a new ‘gospel’ with each new emperor’s rise to power. When a new emperor was inaugurated, one of their first actions was to spread proclamations, known as Caesar Gospels, across the empire. In the context Paul used the word ‘gospel,’ it referred to the celebration of the accession or birth of a king or emperor.

Let’s consider an example from 9 BC, which places it directly in the context of New Testament events and the thoughts of its writers.

The Priene Inscription reads in part:

“Since Providence… has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior [σωτήρ], both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar (and inherent from this Lord), by his appearance…. surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god [τοῦ θεοῦ] Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings [εὐαγγέλιον] for the world that came by reason of him…”

Euangelion (gospel) therefore refers to the proclamation of a Kingdom and its King (or Lord), carrying kingdom-wide political significance.