A court official, used to make public proclamation of royal commands and decrees. The word appears at Daniel 3:4, where a herald is mentioned as declaring Nebuchadnezzar’s decree for the people to worship the image he made. (See ftn.) When Daniel was to become third ruler in the kingdom of Babylon according to King Belshazzar’s command, this fact was “heralded.” (Da 5:29, ftn) In the ancient Greek games, a herald announced the name and country of each contestant and the name, country, and father of a victor.

The Greek verb translated “preach” is ke·rysʹso. This Greek verb, which occurs many times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, may also be rendered “herald.” The use of this word at Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10 indicates that the proclaimers of the good news of God’s Kingdom would be acting like heralds.​—See NW ftns; compare Mr 1:45; Re 5:2.

Ke·rysʹso, in general, means “proclaim” (good or bad news), as distinguished from eu·ag·ge·liʹzo·mai, “declare good news.” Noah was a preacher (or herald, keʹryx) to the antediluvian world, warning them. (2Pe 2:5) Christ preached (like a herald) to the spirits in prison, but not the good news.​—1Pe 3:18, 19.