What does αἵρεσις (haíresis) mean in the Bible?
G139 can name a sect, school, party, faction, chosen opinion, or destructive heresy. 14, Paul acknowledges that opponents call the Way a sect while affirming continuity with the Law and Prophets.
Greek · G139
αἵρεσις
Sect
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αἵρεσιςG139
Pronunciationhaíresis
What does αἵρεσις (haíresis) mean in the Bible?
G139 can name a sect, school, party, faction, chosen opinion, or destructive heresy. 14, Paul acknowledges that opponents call the Way a sect while affirming continuity with the Law and Prophets.
Reader summary
Full entry for αἵρεσις (G139) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G139?
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sect (3), party (2), a sect (1), differences (1), factions (1).
Where does αἵρεσις (haíresis) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 5:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), 1 Corinthians (1), 2 Peter (1), Galatians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G139 can name a sect, school, party, faction, chosen opinion, or destructive heresy. In Acts. 24. 14, Paul acknowledges that opponents call the Way a sect while affirming continuity with the Law and Prophets. In Gal. 5. 20, factions appear among works of the flesh that fracture communal life. In 2Pet. 2. 1, false teachers secretly introduce destructive heresies and deny the Master.
G139 opens teaching on group labels, disputed orthodoxy, factional rivalry, patient examination, harmful doctrine, and accountability for teachers. It does not prove that every minority group is false, make disagreement sinful, or authorize leaders to label critics heretics without evidence. The label therefore requires evidence about teaching, conduct, power, and communal fruit before it becomes a moral verdict.
How the Bible Uses It
G139 ranges from a recognizable school, party, or sect to factional division and destructive teaching. Acts often uses it descriptively for Jewish parties or the accused Christian movement, while letters can use it negatively for community-fracturing factions or ruinous doctrines.
- Acts.24.14
I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
Paul admits that opponents call the Way a sect but grounds his worship and hope in Israel's God, Law, Prophets, resurrection, and clear conscience.
- Gal.5.20
Idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,
Factions belong to a cluster of rivalries, divisions, jealousy, and rage opposed to life by the Spirit.
- 2Pet.2.1
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
False teachers covertly introduce destructive teachings, deny the Master, exploit others, and bring ruin upon themselves.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itsect3×Acts 24:5, Acts 26:5, Acts 28:22
party2×Acts 5:17, Acts 15:5
a sect1×Acts 24:14
differences1×1 Corinthians 11:19
factions1×Galatians 5:20
heresies1×2 Peter 2:1
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 5:17αἵρεσιςtopartyNoun - Nominative Feminine SingularActs 15:5αἱρέσεωςtopartyNoun - Genitive Feminine SingularActs 24:5αἱρέσεωςtosectNoun - Genitive Feminine SingularActs 24:14αἵρεσινtoa sectNoun - Accusative Feminine SingularActs 26:5αἵρεσινtosectNoun - Accusative Feminine SingularActs 28:22αἱρέσεωςtosectNoun - Genitive Feminine Singular1 Corinthians 11:19αἱρέσειςtodifferencesNoun - Accusative Feminine PluralGalatians 5:20αἱρέσειςtofactionsNoun - Nominative Feminine Plural2 Peter 2:1αἱρέσειςtoheresiesNoun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 5:17
Aligned rows9
Books represented4
Acts61 Corinthians1Galatians12 Peter1
Source forms
αἱρέσεις3xhaireseis1 Corinthians 11:19, Galatians 5:20, 2 Peter 2:1
αἱρέσεως3xhaireseōsActs 15:5, Acts 24:5, Acts 28:22
αἵρεσιν2xhairesinActs 24:14, Acts 26:5
αἵρεσις1xhairesisActs 5:17
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular3xActs 15:5, Acts 24:5, Acts 28:22
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural2x1 Corinthians 11:19, 2 Peter 2:1
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular2xActs 24:14, Acts 26:5
Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural1xGalatians 5:20
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular1xActs 5:17
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not call a person or group heretical merely for asking questions, reporting harm, holding a minority interpretation, or challenging a leader's conduct.
- Do not preserve false peace by suppressing evidence of exploitation, denying meaningful doctrinal differences, or retaliating against conscientious dissent.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G139 makes every denomination, school, organized movement, disagreement, or minority position a sinful faction.
- Do not claim that doctrinal accuracy can be evaluated without attention to secrecy, greed, coercion, abuse, and other destructive fruit.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A chosen opinion or doctrine; a sect formed by those holding distinctive beliefs or principles.
Strong'sG139
Lexical occurrences9 versesGreek text appearances9 timesWord forms5 forms9 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkActs 24:1-9Source Gloss
sect
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
9 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 5:17Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
αἵρεσιςairesiv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verseActs 15:5Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
αἱρέσεωςairesewv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verseActs 24:5Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
αἱρέσεως·airesewv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verseActs 24:14Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
αἵρεσιν,airesin
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verseActs 26:5Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
αἵρεσινairesin
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verseActs 28:22Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
αἱρέσεωςairesewv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verse1 Corinthians 11:19Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
αἱρέσειςaireseiv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verseGalatians 5:20Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
αἱρέσεις,aireseiv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
Read verse2 Peter 2:1Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
αἱρέσειςaireseiv
a self-chosen opinion, a sect
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns5Aligned forms9Case patternAccusative (4)Number patternSingular (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · FeminineActs 5:171×
Nominative · Plural · FeminineGal 5:201×
Genitive · Singular · FeminineActs 15:5 · Acts 24:5 · Acts 28:223×
Accusative · Singular · FeminineActs 24:14 · Acts 26:52×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine1 Cor 11:19 · 2 Pet 2:12×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Party or faction.
Party or group.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
αἵρεσις is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Labels Christianity as a divisive movement.Acts 24:1-9
Reflects how Christianity was perceived among Jewish communities.Acts 28:17-22
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G139 warns against destructive division without giving the majority automatic possession of truth. In Acts, Sadducees and Pharisees are called parties, Paul recalls belonging to a strict sect, and accusers call the Way a sect. The label alone does not decide whether a group is faithful. Paul answers accusation with publicly examinable claims about Scripture, resurrection, worship, hope, and conscience.
In Galatians, factions sit beside rivalry, jealousy, and rage as works that destroy shared life. First Corinthians acknowledges that differences can reveal what withstands testing, but this is not praise for manufactured conflict. Second Peter focuses on teachers whose covert doctrine denies the Master and whose greed exploits people. Faithful discernment therefore tests both confession and fruit, protects room for principled disagreement, and refuses smear tactics.
A community may name genuinely destructive teaching, but it should state the claim precisely, present evidence, allow response, protect vulnerable people, and avoid using the charge to preserve a leader's power.
Anchor passage
Acts.24.14
Doctrinal connections
- G139: a sect label can be descriptive or accusatory and does not by itself establish truth or error.
- G139: Paul answers public accusation through Scripture, resurrection hope, worship, conduct, and evidence.
- G139: rivalry-driven factions oppose the Spirit's fruit and wound communal life.
- G139: genuine differences can expose what is tested without making conflict an end in itself.
- G139: destructive teaching is recognized through denial, secrecy, exploitation, and ruinous fruit as well as words.
- G139: discernment requires accountable processes rather than labels controlled by the most powerful party.
G139 is a Greek noun whose senses include choice, school, sect, party, faction, and heresy. Context determines whether it neutrally identifies a group, criticizes divisive rivalry, or describes destructive doctrine.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's prophets test leaders and teachings by covenant truth and public fruit, while Jesus and the apostles distinguish necessary truth-telling from status rivalry, exploitation, false witness, and schismatic pride. Jesus' followers were accused as a suspect movement, while apostolic discernment tests confession and fruit without making institutional majority the measure of truth.