Boldness
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παρρησία comes from pas (all) and rhesis (speech) — literally, all-speech, saying everything, holding nothing back. In the Athenian democratic tradition, parresia was the citizen's right to speak openly in the assembly — the freedom of speech that belonged to full members of the community.
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Full entry for παῤῥησία (G3954) · Open the biblical lexicon
παρρησία comes from pas (all) and rhesis (speech) — literally, all-speech, saying everything, holding nothing back. In the Athenian democratic tradition, parresia was the citizen's right to speak openly in the assembly — the freedom of speech that belonged to full members of the community.
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include confidence (9), plainly (4), publicly (4), bold (2), boldly (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 8:32. Its strongest book concentrations include John (9), Acts (5), 1 John (4), Hebrews (4).
παρρησία comes from pas (all) and rhesis (speech) — literally, all-speech, saying everything, holding nothing back. In the Athenian democratic tradition, parresia was the citizen's right to speak openly in the assembly — the freedom of speech that belonged to full members of the community. In the NT, it is transformed from a political right into a theological posture: the confidence to approach God, to speak openly about Christ, and to stand before the heavenly court without shame.
Hebrews 4:16 is the pastoral center of NT parresia: 'Let us therefore approach with boldness (parresia) the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.' The confidence is grounded not in the believer's personal worthiness but in the High Priest who has 'passed through the heavens' (4:14) and who 'can sympathize with our weaknesses' (4:15). Parresia here is the posture of approaching God as one who belongs, not as an outsider requesting audience. The throne is called the 'throne of grace' — the place from which grace and mercy flow — and the invitation is to come with full confidence that the welcome is real.
In Acts, parresia is the characteristic of apostolic proclamation. Acts 4:13 notes that when the Sanhedrin saw 'the boldness of Peter and John,' they recognized them as companions of Jesus. The bold speech came from the Spirit (4:31 — 'they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness'). Parresia is not self-generated boldness; it is the Spirit's work in those who have been with Christ.
First John 4:17 gives the eschatological dimension: 'In this is love perfected with us, so that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.' Parresia at the judgment: the person who abides in love — God's love poured out and returned — approaches the day of judgment without shame. The confidence before God is the confidence of love, not of achieved righteousness.
For the preacher, παρρησία is the word that names what genuine prayer, genuine proclamation, and genuine Christian living look like: not timid, ashamed, or apologetic, but open, confident, and free — because the one we approach has already opened the way.
παρρησία is source-resolved in this companion at about 31 NT uses. Acts uses it for apostolic boldness in proclamation. John uses it for openness of speech and for the eschatological confidence before God. Hebrews uses it for the believer's access to God through the High Priest. First John uses it for the assurance the community has before God in prayer and at the judgment. The word spans the relational, the proclamational, and the eschatological dimensions of Christian confidence.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
The invitation to approach God with parresia — grounded in Christ's high priesthood. The boldness is not self-assurance but the confidence that comes from knowing the one at the throne of grace. The purpose clause is revealing: the parresia is for receiving mercy and finding help, not for standing on one's own claims. The bold approach is the approach of need, not of achievement — which means parresia is the opposite of religious performance.
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Parresia as the observable mark of those who have been with Jesus. The Sanhedrin identifies the boldness and traces it to its source — not education, not social standing, but proximity to Christ. This is the apostolic pattern: the boldness that the world notices in Christians is not self-confidence but the overflow of a relationship with the risen Lord. The key phrase is 'they recognized that they had been with Jesus' — parresia is the evidence of communion.
In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.
Eschatological parresia: confidence on the day of judgment. The ground is love perfected in the community — not individual achievement but the love of God fully expressed and received. 'As he is, so are we' grounds the confidence in identity rather than performance: the believer stands in Christ's own position before the Father. The judgment's parresia is the ultimate application of the access-to-God theme: even at the final accounting, the one in Christ approaches with confidence.
In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.
Parresia and prosagoge (access) together: the two dimensions of the believer's approach to God — the boldness to come and the access that opens the way. Both are 'in him' — in Christ. Paul is describing the mystery that was hidden and has now been revealed (v. 6): Gentiles sharing in the body and promise of Christ. The access that Jew and Gentile now share together is grounded in Christ's work, not in their own credentials.
So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
Parresia as something that can be 'thrown away' — it is not automatic or permanent but requires active maintenance. The exhortation comes in the context of the community's temptation to shrink back under pressure (v. 38-39). The parresia that was present at the beginning of their Christian life (v. 32-34) has come under pressure, and the author is calling them to hold onto it.
This is the pastoral reality: the confidence given in Christ must be actively maintained by continued trust, not abandoned under the pressure of difficulty.
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. Freedom from fear to speak truth openly; confidence rooted in absence of intimidation or shame.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 31 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
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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.
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
παῤῥησία is built from these roots:
Jesus' transparent proclamation. 1 John 2:28-29
Grounds believer access in Christ's blood. 1 John 3:19-24
Characterizes apostolic proclamation in Rome. 1 John 4:17-21
The apostles’ confidence testifies to Spirit-formed courage rooted in Christ rather than personal prestige. 1 John 5:13-17
The believers’ chief request is courage to proclaim Christ clearly despite threats. Acts 28:29-31
Describes fearless standing before Christ rooted in abiding relationship. Acts 4:13-22
Describes fearless access to God grounded in obedient relationship.
John envisions believers standing before Christ with secure assurance rooted in abiding union.
The gospel produces relational boldness before God rather than fearful distance.
Mature love replaces dread with bold assurance before God.
Prayer flows from relational boldness before God.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
παρρησία is the NT's word for the freedom and confidence that the gospel creates — first in the believer's approach to God, then in the believer's speech about Christ in the world, and finally in the believer's posture before the judgment. This is not the confidence of people who have earned their standing; it is the confidence of people who have been given access to the throne of grace by a High Priest who has already passed through the heavens.
Hebrews 4:16's invitation — 'draw near with boldness' — is one of the most remarkable sentences in the NT: the God of all creation invites approach with full confidence, not ashamed timidity or religious performance. The preacher who helps a congregation understand parresia is helping them trade the posture of religious obligation (coming to God hoping they are good enough) for the posture of received grace (coming to God knowing the welcome is already extended).
The same transformation that happens at the throne of grace should then shape proclamation: the people who approach God with parresia speak about Christ with parresia. Acts 4 shows that the world notices this boldness and traces it to its source — Jesus. Parresia is not manufactured; it is the overflow of genuine proximity to Christ.
Heb.4.16
παρρησία compounds pas (all, every) and rhesis (speech, from rheo, to say). The Athenian meaning was the democratic right to free speech — the full citizen's freedom to say everything in the public assembly without restraint. Plato uses it for the frank speech of genuine friendship that says what is true rather than what is pleasant. The NT inherits the positive valuation but transforms the context: the freedom of speech is now before God and about God, grounded not in political status but in Christ's mediation.
The related verb parresiazesthai (to speak boldly, to use parresia) is also used in Acts for apostolic proclamation. The dative form parresia is often used adverbially — 'openly,' 'plainly,' 'publicly' — in John's Gospel (7:26; 10:24; 11:14; 16:29) for speech that does not hide or hedge.
The OT background for parresia runs through the prayer texts of the Psalms and the prophetic tradition of bold speech before kings. Moses' face-to-face speech with God (Exod 33:11; Num 12:8) is the OT picture of unmediated access — which the NT presents as now available to all in Christ. The Psalms' direct speech to God — including lament, complaint, and petition without diplomatic reserve — is the OT liturgical form of parresia.
The prophets speak boldly before kings and courts: Nathan before David (2 Sam 12), Elijah before Ahab (1 Kgs 18), Isaiah before Ahaz (Isa 7). This prophetic tradition of fearless speech before human authority parallels Acts' parresia before councils and governors. The book of Esther contains a reversal: Esther approaching the king's throne without being called, at the risk of death — which the NT transforms into the invitation to approach the throne of grace not at the risk of death but with the assurance of welcome.
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