To refuse/excuse
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Paraiteomai means to refuse, reject, decline, avoid, or ask to be excused. Paul tells Timothy to reject irreverent myths and foolish speculations, then tells Titus to refuse a persistently divisive person after repeated warning.
Reader summary
Full entry for παραιτέομαι (G3868) · Open the biblical lexicon
Paraiteomai means to refuse, reject, decline, avoid, or ask to be excused. Paul tells Timothy to reject irreverent myths and foolish speculations, then tells Titus to refuse a persistently divisive person after repeated warning.
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include reject (3), excuse (2), beg that (1), I do not refuse (1), of their choosing (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 15:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (3), Luke (3), 1 Timothy (2), 2 Timothy (1).
Paraiteomai means to refuse, reject, decline, avoid, or ask to be excused. Paul tells Timothy to reject irreverent myths and foolish speculations, then tells Titus to refuse a persistently divisive person after repeated warning. Hebrews uses the same verb for refusing the God who speaks, showing that refusal is not virtuous by itself. Its faithfulness depends on the object, reason, authority, process, and fruit.
Christian discernment must say no to teaching and conduct that corrupt godliness or peace while remaining ready to receive God's word, truthful correction, necessary questions, and repentant people. The verb does not authorize leaders to dismiss reports, appeals, or inconvenient members without evidence and patient, impartial process.
Paraiteomai names deliberate refusal. The Pastoral Epistles require refusal of corrupting myths, quarrel-producing speculation, and persistent faction, while Hebrews warns against refusing God's own address.
But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.
First Timothy 4:7 tells Timothy to refuse irreverent and foolish myths and instead train himself for godliness. Refusal clears space for disciplined obedience.
But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.
Second Timothy 2:23 commands refusal of foolish and ignorant speculations because Timothy knows they generate quarrels. Their predictable fruit governs the boundary.
Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,
Titus 3:10 directs the church to refuse a factious person after a first and second admonition. Patient warning precedes separation.
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
Hebrews 12:25 warns hearers not to refuse the One who speaks. The occurrence reverses the Pastoral emphasis: some refusals reject the very authority believers must receive.
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 refuse or decline by making an excuse; to ask to be excused from obligation.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
11 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
Read verseI make excuse, refuse, reject
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 12 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 2 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
παραιτέομαι is built from these roots:
Highlights willful refusal of God’s gracious invitation.Luke 14:15–24
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Paraiteomai gives Christian refusal a double edge. Timothy must decline myths and speculations because they displace godliness and breed quarrels; Titus must eventually refuse a faction-maker, but only after repeated admonition makes persistence plain. Hebrews then warns the congregation not to refuse God's speaking voice. A boundary is therefore faithful only when it serves obedience rather than defensiveness.
Churches should refuse teaching that contradicts Scripture, cycles that consume attention without edifying, and conduct that persists after fair correction. They must not refuse credible allegations, hard questions, or repentant people simply because engagement is costly. Wise refusal states its grounds, follows an impartial process, protects those at risk, and redirects energy toward truth, godliness, peace, and receptive hearing.
Heb.12.25
Paraiteomai can mean decline, refuse, reject, avoid, or ask to be excused. Its middle-form shape does not settle the moral force; context identifies the object and the character of the refusal.
Wisdom teaches when not to answer a fool and when an answer is required. Israel's history also shows repeated refusal to hear God's prophets, exposing avoidance disguised as confidence.