Be quiet
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G4623 is a Greek verb for being silent, becoming quiet, or ceasing to speak. In Mark 3:4, Jesus' opponents remain silent when asked whether Sabbath action should do good or save life, and their silence exposes hardened moral refusal.
Reader summary
Full entry for σιωπάω (G4623) · Open the biblical lexicon
G4623 is a Greek verb for being silent, becoming quiet, or ceasing to speak. In Mark 3:4, Jesus' opponents remain silent when asked whether Sabbath action should do good or save life, and their silence exposes hardened moral refusal.
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include be silent (2), they were silent (2), [Jesus] remained silent (1), remain silent (1), remained silent (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 20:31. Its strongest book concentrations include Mark (5), Luke (2), Matthew (2), Acts (1).
G4623 is a Greek verb for being silent, becoming quiet, or ceasing to speak. In Mark 3:4, Jesus' opponents remain silent when asked whether Sabbath action should do good or save life, and their silence exposes hardened moral refusal. In Mark 10:48, many people try to silence Bartimaeus, but he cries out more loudly for Jesus' mercy. In Mark 14:61, Jesus remains silent before the high priest and does not answer the accusations at that moment.
Acts 18:9 records the Lord telling Paul not to be silent but to keep speaking in Corinth. The verb does not label silence universally virtuous or sinful. Its moral character depends on truth, authority, danger, timing, and whom silence protects. G4623 helps pastors distinguish reverent restraint, coerced silence, culpable evasion, strategic nonresponse, and courageous witness.
G4623 describes silence in sharply different settings: refusal to answer a moral question, crowds suppressing a vulnerable person's appeal, Jesus withholding a reply under hostile examination, and the Lord commanding continued witness.
And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent.
The synagogue observers remain silent when Jesus asks whether Sabbath conduct should do good or save life, and the narrative connects their nonanswer with hardness of heart.
Many people admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd repeatedly tries to silence Bartimaeus, but his louder appeal receives Jesus' attention, exposing how social pressure can suppress a vulnerable person's truthful cry for mercy.
But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
Jesus remains silent before the high priest's hostile questioning, demonstrating deliberate restraint without making silence His only response throughout the hearing.
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.
The risen Lord tells Paul not to fear or remain silent but to continue speaking, grounding public witness in divine presence rather than personal fearlessness.
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. Enforced silence, often involuntary or divinely imposed, contrasting with voluntary quietness
Enforced silence, often involuntary or divinely imposed, contrasting with voluntary quietness
(σιωπή, silence) [in LXX for חָשָׁה, חָרַשׁ hi., etc. ;] to be silent or still, keep silence: Mat.20:31 26:63, Mrk.3:4 9:34 10:48 14:61, Luk.19:4, Act.18:9; of one dumb, Luk.1:20 (cf. 4Ma.10:18); addressed rhetorically to the sea, σιώπα, Mrk.4:39.
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 keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
Read verseI keep silence
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 10 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 10 lexical occurrence verses.
σιωπάω is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G4623 cannot be handled by a single rule such as silence is golden or believers must always speak. Mark 3 presents silence as a refusal to answer Jesus' life-centered Sabbath question, and the narrative names hardness around it. Mark 10 presents commanded silence as crowd pressure against Bartimaeus, a blind beggar whose persistent cry for mercy Jesus receives.
Churches must therefore resist using quietness, decorum, reputation, or hierarchy to suppress vulnerable testimony. Mark 14 shows another setting: Jesus withholds an answer amid false accusation and hostile proceedings, then speaks when the high priest asks about His identity. His restraint is purposeful, not evidence that every accused person must remain silent.
Acts 18 reverses the command for Paul: fear must not silence gospel witness because the Lord is with him and has people in the city. Pastoral wisdom asks what silence accomplishes in the concrete situation. A person may need quiet for prayer, safety, legal counsel, emotional regulation, or refusal to join slander. A person may also need protected channels to report abuse, seek emergency help, confront deception, or testify to Christ.
Leaders must never spiritualize compelled silence to protect institutions or offenders.
Mark.10.48
G4623 is an active Greek verb describing silence, quietness, or stopping speech. The subject, command, surrounding question, and narrative result establish whether the silence is voluntary, imposed, prudent, fearful, hostile, or morally revealing.
Old Testament wisdom values restraint yet also condemns concealed injustice and calls God's people to speak for those without power. G4623 continues that tension: Jesus may remain silent under accusation, crowds may wrongly silence a sufferer, opponents may evade truth, and disciples may be commanded to speak.