What Does Luke 2:13 Mean?
And suddenly there was with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,THE KEY
The heavenly “host” is an army whose shared force appears here as praise and speech.
THE MEANING
A messenger is suddenly joined by a multitude the verse calls a host, a word with military force. Here that force is gathered into praise of God and a shared voice.
THE ROOT
στρατιᾶς
stratias
GROWS FROM
στρατ-
strat-
Army; an organized military force.
The word translated “host” names an army, so the multitude is more than a large crowd: it is a gathered force. Its action here is praise and speech, joining military scale with a unified voice.
ALSO GROWS
stratos: Army.
στρατός
This related word makes the military sense within “host” plain.
strateuomai: To serve as a soldier or campaign.
στρατεύομαι
The word family carries the idea of an organized force acting together.
αἰνούντων
ainountōn
GROWS FROM
αἰν-
ain-
Praise or commend.
“praising” in this verse is ainountōn. The Greek form is from αἰνέω (aineō, to praise), the same verb used when the disciples praise God in Luke 19:37. The shared word lets the heavenly host’s praise echo in a multitude on earth.
ALSO GROWS
ainos: Praise or commendation.
αἶνος
The related noun names praise as the expressed response of the host.
epaineō: To praise or approve.
ἐπαινέω
This related verb keeps the root’s sense of voicing commendation.
ἄγγελος
angelos
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
angel-
Message or report.
The Greek word ἄγγελος (angelos, messenger) belongs to a family centered on announcing and carrying a message. The verse places the messenger beside a host whose praise also becomes speech.
ALSO GROWS
angellō: To announce or report.
ἀγγέλλω
It makes the messenger’s role as a bearer of news audible in the word family.
angelia: A message or report.
ἀγγελία
The related noun links the messenger with the message being carried.
THE PATTERN
When divine presence or action comes into view, praise gathers into a shared voice.
Praise him, all his messengers. Praise him, all his hosts.And I see, and I hear the voice of many messengers around the throne, and the living creatures, and the older ones, and their number is ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, Saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and weight, and blessing.And as he drew near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the learners began to rejoice and praise God with a great voice, for all the works of strength they had perceived.THE THREAD
And as he drew near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the learners began to rejoice and praise God with a great voice, for all the works of strength they had perceived.Luke uses the same verb, αἰνέω (aineō, to praise), for the heavenly host’s praise and the disciples’ praise. The same word carries the shared voice from heaven into the multitude on earth.
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