ἀπωθέομαι
apōthéomai · G683 · Greek · 6 occurrences
Meanings
-
to push away, to thrust aside
To use force in pushing or thrusting someone or something away or aside
ExamplesActs 7:27 “But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?
-
to refuse to listen to, to reject
(A figurative extension of meaning of ἀπωθέω ‘to push away,’) To no longer pay attention to previous beliefs
ExamplesActs 7:39 “Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,
Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:1 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
How it’s used In 5 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
6 occurrences in 5 groups
- θεόςGod 2
- ἀδικέωto harm 1
- Not stated: you (more than one) 1
- Not stated: they 1
- Not stated (participle) 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
5 occurrences in 3 groups
- λαόςpeople 2
- αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 2
- ὅςwho, which, that 1
With adverbsAdverbs
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- οὐnot 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- γίνομαιto become, to happen, to be 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- λέγωto say 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- ἀποδοκιμάζω apodokimázō · G593 · to regard as not worthy, to reject
- The two terms denote genuinely distinct but related concepts of rejection. The target denotes the physical or metaphorical act of pushing something away or thrusting it aside, while ἀποδοκιμάζω denotes an evaluative judgment that deems something unworthy or unacceptable. Both fall within the broader category of rejection, differentiated by manner — active repulsion versus deliberate disapproval.
In the other Testament 3 words
- מָאַס mâʼaç · H3988 · to reject, to refuse, to waste away
- מָאַס (mâʼaç, H3988) serves as the Hebrew translation equivalent for ἀπωθέομαι (apōthéomai, G683), both denoting the act of rejecting or pushing away, with the Hebrew term encompassing a broader semantic range including contempt and abhorrence alongside the core sense of rejection that directly corresponds to the Greek term's figurative use.
- זָנַח zânach · H2186 · to be foul, to stink, to reject
- Hebrew זָנַח emphasizes physical casting away or spatial removal, while Greek ἀπωθέομαι carries stronger connotations of personal rejection or repudiation, though both share the core concept of forceful removal/rejection.
- נָטַשׁ nâṭash · H5203 · to hang loose, to scatter, to strew
- Greek ἀπωθέομαι emphasizes the active rejection or pushing away (often of God's people or commands), while Hebrew נָטַשׁ centers on abandonment or forsaking (often of covenant relationship), though both denote deliberate relational severance.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- To push away, to thrust aside15.46
- In Acts 7:27, Stephen recounts how the Israelite mistreating his neighbor “pushed him away (apṓsato), saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?'” describing an act of physically shoving someone off.
- To refuse to listen to, to reject31.63
- In Romans 11:1, Paul asks, “God has not rejected (apṓsato) His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,” describing a refusal to cast off or disown a people rather than a physical shove.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon ἀπώθω: to thrust away, push away, repel; in the N. T. only the middle, present ἀπωθέομαι…
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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