G3670 — ὁμολογέω (homologeō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3670
Original: ὁμολογέω
Transliteration: homologeō
Pronunciation: hom-ol-og-eh'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Compound of ὁμός (homos, "same") + λέγω (legō, "to speak") — literally "to say the same thing"
Occurrences: 26 tokens in 23 unique verses across 11 NT books
First Occurrence: Matt 7:23 — "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From ὁμόλογος (homologos, "agreeing"), compound of ὁμός ("same") and λέγω ("to speak"). From Herodotus onward:

To say the same thing as another — to agree with, assent (with dative of person)
To concede — (a) not to refuse, i.e. to promise (Acts 7:17; Matt 14:7); (b) not to deny, i.e. to confess, declare — joined with οὐκ ἀρνεῖσθαι (John 1:20); to admit or declare oneself guilty of what one is accused of: τὰς ἁμαρτίας (1 John 1:9; cf. Sir 4:26)
To profess — to declare openly, speak out freely; one is said to ὁμολογεῖν that of which he is convinced and which he holds to be true (distinguished from πιστεύειν in John 12:42; Rom 10:9–10)
To praise, celebrate — a usage unknown to secular Greek writers (Heb 13:15); cf. ἐξομολογέω

Louw-Nida Semantic Domains¶

33.022 — Admit, Confess, Deny
Other words: ἀπαρνέομαι (G533), ἀρνέομαι (G720), ἐξομολογέω (G1843), ὁμολογουμένως (G3672)
33.016 — Assert, Declare
Other words: ἀπεῖπον (G550), διαμαρτύρομαι (G1263), ἐπαγγέλλομαι (G1861), μαρτύρομαι (G3143), φάσκω (G5335)
33.021 — Profess Allegiance
Other words: ἐξομολογέω (G1843), ὁμολογία (G3671)

Verb Tense/Voice Distribution¶

Tense-Voice	Tokens	Typical Usage
Present Active	11	ongoing confession/profession — "confesseth" (1 John 4:2–3), "confess" (1 John 1:9), "profess" (Titus 1:16)
Aorist Active	10	decisive, punctiliar act — "confessed" (John 1:20), "shall confess" (subjunctive, Rom 10:9), "confessed" (Heb 11:13)
Future Active	4	eschatological promise — "will I confess" (Matt 10:32, Rev 3:5)
Imperfect Active	1	refused ongoing confession — "did not confess" (John 12:42)
Present Passive	1	"confession is made unto salvation" (Rom 10:10)

Present tense dominates the Johannine confession-of-faith passages. Aorist captures the decisive moment of confessing. The single passive (Rom 10:10) treats confession as something enacted by the speaker yet received by God.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
confess / shall confess / confessed / confesseth / did confess / I confess / we confess / thou shalt confess / will I confess	17	74%
profess / will I profess / hast professed / They profess	4	17%
that acknowledgeth	1	4%
he promised	1	4%
giving thanks	1	4%

"Confess" and its forms dominate (~74%). "Profess" appears when the emphasis is public declaration. "Promise" (Matt 14:7) and "giving thanks" (Heb 13:15) represent the outer edges of the semantic range.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 John	1	7.7
1 John	5	4.8
Titus	1	2.2
1 Timothy	1	0.9
Hebrews	2	0.7
Romans	2	0.5
Revelation	1	0.3
Matthew	3	0.3
John	3	0.3
Acts	2	0.2
Luke	1	0.1

Johannine concentration is striking: 1 John + 2 John + John = 9 of 23 verses (39%). The Johannine letters use homologeō as a christological litmus test. Hebrews and Romans use it for the public dimension of faith.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Confession of Sin¶

1 John 1:9 — "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Acts 24:14 — "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers."

The only explicit sin-confession usage in the NT is 1 John 1:9. The verb here is present subjunctive (ὁμολογῶμεν), implying ongoing practice rather than a one-time act. The direct object is τὰς ἁμαρτίας ("the sins"), making confession specific, not vague.

2. Christological Confession — Incarnation¶

1 John 4:2 — "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God."
1 John 4:3 — "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God."
2 John 1:7 — "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh."

Present tense in all three — the confession of the incarnation is a standing, continuous reality, not a past-tense recital. Negated homologeō is the diagnostic for the spirit of antichrist.

3. Christological Confession — Lordship / Identity¶

Rom 10:9 — "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart..."
Rom 10:10 — "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
John 9:22 — "If any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue."
1 John 4:15 — "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."
1 John 2:23 — "He that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."

The Romans passage pairs homologeō with pisteuo: believing is internal (heart), confessing is external (mouth). The aorist subjunctive in Rom 10:9 marks a decisive act.

4. Public Profession of Allegiance¶

Matt 10:32 — "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven."
Luke 12:8 — "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God."
Rev 3:5 — "I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
1 Tim 6:12 — "...hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

The ἔμπροσθεν ("before") construction is distinctive — confession happens before a witnessing audience. Christ reciprocates: confess him before men, he confesses the confessor before the Father.

5. Assent / Promise / Agreement¶

Matt 14:7 — "Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask."
Acts 7:17 — "[The time of the promise] which God had sworn to Abraham."
John 1:20 — "And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ."
Acts 23:8 — "The Pharisees confess both."

These uses preserve the original Greek sense of "agree" or "assent." John 1:20's doubling (ὡμολόγησεν καὶ οὐκ ἠρνήσατο) pairs homologeō with its antonym arneōmai for emphasis.

6. Praise / Thanksgiving (Hebraistic)¶

Heb 13:15 — "Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."
Heb 11:13 — "These all died in faith... and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

The Heb 13:15 usage follows the LXX pattern where ὁμολογέω renders Hebrew yadah (to praise/give thanks). This connects the word to the OT thank-offering tradition.

7. False / Empty Profession¶

Titus 1:16 — "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him."
John 12:42 — "Many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him."

These passages show the negative space: profession without corresponding works (Titus), and suppressed confession out of fear (John). The Titus passage pairs profess (ὁμολογοῦσιν) with deny (ἀρνοῦνται), marking the gap between words and conduct.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theos)	G2316	8× (35%)	confession directed toward or about God
πᾶς (pas)	G3956	8× (35%)	"every spirit that confesseth..." — universal scope
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous)	G2424	5× (22%)	content of christological confession
Χριστός (Christos)	G5547	5× (22%)	"Jesus Christ is come in the flesh"
πιστεύω (pisteuō)	G4100	4× (17%)	believe-confess pair (Rom 10:9–10, John 12:42)
ἀρνέομαι (arneomai)	G720	3× (13%)	antonym pairing: confess vs. deny
σάρξ (sarx)	G4561	3× (13%)	"come in the flesh" — incarnation formula
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	3× (13%)	"every spirit that confesseth" — spiritual discernment
υἱός (huios)	G5207	3× (13%)	"confess that Jesus is the Son of God"
ἔμπροσθεν (emprosthen)	G1715	2× (9%)	"confess before men / before my Father"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G3671 ὁμολογία (homologia) — confession, profession (noun; 6v — 2 Cor 9:13, 1 Tim 6:12, Heb 3:1, 4:14, 10:23)
G3672 ὁμολογουμένως (homologoumenōs) — confessedly, without controversy (adverb; hapax — 1 Tim 3:16)
G1843 ἐξομολογέω (exomologeō) — compound with ἐκ intensifier: to confess fully, to give thanks/praise (11v; dominant in LXX for yadah/todah)
G437 ἀνθομολογέομαι (anthomologeomai) — to give thanks in return (hapax — Luke 2:38)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἐξομολογέω (exomologeō)	G1843	"confess"	Intensified compound (ἐκ-); dominant for praise/thanksgiving in LXX tradition; used for confession of sins in Matt 3:6, Mark 1:5, James 5:16
ἀρνέομαι (arneomai)	G720	(antonym)	To deny, disown — the direct opposite of homologeō; paired with it in John 1:20 and implicit in 1 John 2:22–23
ἀπαρνέομαι (aparneomai)	G533	(antonym)	To deny utterly (strengthened by ἀπό); Peter's denial of Christ

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 33.022 — Admit, Confess, Deny)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation
G533	ἀπαρνέομαι	11	deny
G720	ἀρνέομαι	16	deny, denied
G1843	ἐξομολογέω	6	confess, I will confess, I thank
G3672	ὁμολογουμένως	1	without controversy

Hebrew Source¶

No dominant Hebrew source via LXX mapping. In the few OT LXX occurrences of ὁμολογέω, it renders various Hebrew verbs including ידה (yadah, "praise/confess") — but the primary LXX rendering of yadah is ἐξομολογέω (G1843), not ὁμολογέω.