13 Top Verses Using “Evangelize” in 7 Languages

The following lists the top New Testament verses where the translators have determined to use the word “evangelize.” The totals are derived from the following 28 versions in five modern and two ancient languages that use “evangelize” at least once (for a combined total of 312/1540 fifty-five NT uses, or about 20%).*

• 10 French Versions: Lefebvre, Olivétan, Louvain, Genève, Martin, Ostervald, Darby, Segond, Nouvelle Segond Revisée, and La Colombe;
• 7 English Version: Wycliffe 1^st and 2^nd editions, Etheridge, Darby, Douai-Rheims, Holman Christian Standard, and MacDonald Idiomatic;
• 5 Portuguese Versions: J Ferreira [1969 and 1993], Sagrada, Corrigida Fiel, Modern;
• 3 Italian Versions: Buona Novella, Geneva Nuova Riveduta, San Paolo;
• 1 Spanish Versions: Castelian;
• + 2 Ancient Versions: Latin Vulgate and Occitan (13^th Century).

[I have used an existing English translation below when available]

15 total combined uses:

Acts 8:40 (Holman), “Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and evangelizing all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”

14 total combined uses:

1 Cor 1:17 (Holman), “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.”

13 combined total uses:

Luke 4:18 (Etheridge), “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he hath anointed me to evangelize to the poor, And hath sent me to heal the contrite in heart, To proclaim to the captives release, And to the blind, vision, And to assure the contrite by remission.”

12 combined total uses:

Acts 8:25 (Holman), “Then, after they had testified and spoken the message of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, evangelizing many villages of the Samaritans.”

11 combined total uses:

Acts 14:21 (Holman), “After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch.”

Acts 16:10 (Holman), “After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.”

2 Cor 10:16 (Etheridge), “and be progressive also beyond you to evangelize. Not as within the measure of others in the things that are prepared will we glory.”

10 combined uses:

Luke 9:6 (Wycliffe 1^st), “Sothli thei gon out, cumpassiden bi castels, euangelisinge and heelinge euerewhere.”

Luke 20:1 (Etheridge), “And it was on one of the days, while he taught the people in the temple and evangelized, the chief priests and scribes with the elders rose up against him.”

1 Cor 9:16 (Wycliffe 1^st), “Forwhi if I schal preche the gospel, glorie is not to me, forsoth nede lith to me; forsoth wo to me, if I schal not euangelise.”

Gal 4:13 (McDonald), “You know that in the beginning of our relationship when I evangelized you, I did so while being physically debilitated.”

Eph 2:17 (Johnston), “And He came and evangelized peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near”

1 Pet 4:6 (Etheridge), “For on this account the dead also have been evangelized; that they might be judged as men in the flesh, and live with Aloha in the Spirit.”

The reader will note the impact of the Geneva presses of Estienne and Crespin during the Protestant Reformation. Geneva published and still publishes Bibles in a variety of Southern European languages impacting Bible translation in Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, as well as in French.

This author was not able to find any German Bibles that used the verb evangelize.

*Data gleaned from a revision of two available charts: “A Translation History of Translating Evangelize as Evangelize” and “A Study of the Translation of Evangelize in Other Modern Romance Lanugages”; available at: http://www.evangelismunlimited.com/documents/evangelizology/evangelizology-2014-chapter-07.pdf; pages 354-362.