To flee out
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G1628 is a Greek verb for fleeing out, escaping, getting away, or avoiding an outcome. Second Corinthians 11:33 recalls Paul being lowered in a basket through a wall opening to escape a ruler's grasp, presenting practical flight as compatible with faithful ministry.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐκφεύγω (G1628) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1628 is a Greek verb for fleeing out, escaping, getting away, or avoiding an outcome. Second Corinthians 11:33 recalls Paul being lowered in a basket through a wall opening to escape a ruler's grasp, presenting practical flight as compatible with faithful ministry.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include escape (1), escaped (1), had escaped (1), shall we escape (1), that they ran (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 21:36. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), Hebrews (2), 1 Thessalonians (1), 2 Corinthians (1).
G1628 is a Greek verb for fleeing out, escaping, getting away, or avoiding an outcome. Second Corinthians 11:33 recalls Paul being lowered in a basket through a wall opening to escape a ruler's grasp, presenting practical flight as compatible with faithful ministry. Hebrews 2:3 asks how people will escape if they neglect the great salvation announced by the Lord, shifting from physical escape to accountability before God.
Acts 16:27 describes a jailer preparing to kill himself because he assumes the prisoners have escaped; Paul's immediate shout prevents harm and reveals that they remain. Other passages warn of sudden judgment, call for watchful prayer, describe violent flight, and deny escape to hypocritical judges. G1628 opens safety, vigilance, salvation, accountability, and crisis intervention.
It corrects shame directed at people who flee credible danger and also corrects the fantasy that physical relocation, religious status, or judging others can provide escape from truth and God's judgment.
G1628 describes movement out of danger or avoidance of an outcome. It can refer to literal flight from a person, prison, house, or event and figuratively to escaping judgment or neglect's consequence. What threatens and what route is available control the sense.
But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.
Paul accepts help through a wall opening and escapes a ruler's attempt to seize him.
How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
Hebrews warns that neglecting the salvation announced by the Lord leaves no ground for escaping accountability.
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped.
The jailer assumes prisoners escaped and moves toward suicide until Paul's urgent intervention stops him.
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 flee out
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I flee out, away, I escape
Read verseI flee out, away, I escape
Read verseI flee out, away, I escape
Read verseI flee out, away, I escape
Read verseI flee out, away, I escape
Read verseI flee out, away, I escape
Read verseI flee out, away, I escape
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 8 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)
ἐκφεύγω is built from these roots:
G1628 distinguishes escape from evasion. Paul leaves Damascus through an improvised opening with the help of disciples. The action preserves life and ministry; he does not prove courage by surrendering to a preventable arrest. In Philippi, an apparent prison escape triggers a jailer's suicidal crisis. Paul shouts immediately that everyone is present, stopping the man before further theological conversation.
The scene models attention to imminent life-threatening action, though modern crises also require emergency and qualified support. Hebrews and Romans use the verb differently. No one escapes accountability by neglecting salvation or condemning others while practicing the same wrong. Watchfulness therefore includes both seeking a real way out of harm and abandoning strategies of moral evasion.
Churches should help people develop safety plans, transportation, housing, documentation, and lawful reporting when danger is credible. They should never use judgment warnings to keep someone trapped under their control. At the same time, physical distance does not remove the need for truth, repentance, and repair. God offers salvation, not a loophole.
2Cor.11.33
G1628 combines the verb for fleeing with an outward prefix and means flee out or escape. It may stand absolutely, take a person or consequence as object, or be followed by a source phrase, allowing both spatial and judicial senses.
Old Testament flight narratives distinguish prudent escape, fearful desertion, refuge, and failed attempts to avoid God's judgment. The gospel offers salvation rather than denial, while Jesus also instructs disciples to flee particular persecution.