To reject
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Atheteō means to reject, set aside, nullify, or disregard something with a claim upon the person. Herod does not want to break his oath before his guests, though keeping that rash promise results in John's murder.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀθετέω (G114) · Open the biblical lexicon
Atheteō means to reject, set aside, nullify, or disregard something with a claim upon the person. Herod does not want to break his oath before his guests, though keeping that rash promise results in John's murder.
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include rejects (5), reject (2), rejected (2), be canceled (1), I do not set aside (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 6:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (5), 1 Thessalonians (2), Galatians (2), Mark (2).
Atheteō means to reject, set aside, nullify, or disregard something with a claim upon the person. Herod does not want to break his oath before his guests, though keeping that rash promise results in John's murder. Religious experts reject God's purpose for themselves by refusing John's baptism. Jesus says the one who rejects Him and does not receive His words will be judged by that same word.
Paul announces God overturning the wisdom of the wise, and he refuses to nullify God's grace by making righteousness depend on law. The verb does not make every refusal rebellious or every human commitment binding. Its force depends on what is rejected and whose authority stands behind it.
Atheteō describes setting aside a claim, word, purpose, or principle. A ruler hesitates to disregard a foolish oath, leaders reject God's purpose, hearers reject Jesus, God overturns proud wisdom, and Paul refuses to nullify grace. The object rejected determines the moral weight.
The king was consumed with sorrow, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse her.
Mark 6:26 says Herod did not want to reject his oath because of his guests. His concern for face and a rash promise does not excuse executing an innocent prophet; one obligation cannot sanctify evil.
But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.
Luke 7:30 says Pharisees and lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves by refusing John's baptism. Their rejection concerns God's repentant preparation for the coming Christ, not the saving efficacy of water by itself.
There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
John 12:48 says the one who rejects Jesus and does not receive His words already has a judge: the word Jesus has spoken will judge on the last day. His revelation carries final authority.
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
First Corinthians 1:19 cites God's promise to destroy the wisdom of the wise. Paul announces divine judgment on autonomous systems that fail to know God and stumble over Christ crucified.
I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Galatians 2:21 says Paul does not nullify God's grace. If righteousness came through law, Christ died for nothing, so the gospel excludes justification by human law-keeping.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. To reject by nullifying or setting aside what has been divinely established or commanded
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I annul
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 15 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 16 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀθετέω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Atheteō presses the question of which claim must stand. Herod protects a reckless oath and public reputation at the cost of an innocent life. The Pharisees refuse the repentant path by which God was preparing people for Christ. Jesus locates final judgment in the word His rejecters will not receive. Paul then applies the logic in two directions: God overturns proud wisdom, and the apostle will not set aside grace by rebuilding a law-based ground of righteousness.
Faithfulness therefore requires more than consistency. Some vows, customs, or arguments must be rejected because they contradict God's revealed will. Other refusals are rebellion precisely because they dismiss His purpose, His Son, or His grace. The church needs courage both to repent of sinful commitments and to hold fast to the gospel claim it has no authority to nullify.
Gal.2.21
Atheteō is related to athetos, "set aside" or "invalid," and can mean reject, disregard, annul, or treat as having no standing. The object may be a promise, counsel, person, word, or theological principle.
Israel's history repeatedly contrasts receiving and rejecting God's counsel, while prophets expose vows and worship that protect injustice. The new covenant centers the decisive response on God's Son and His gracious saving word.
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