What does ὑποστέλλω (hypostéllō) mean in the Bible?
ὑποστέλλω (hypostéllō): To shrink back or withdraw oneself, especially from duty or truth through fear or shame.
Greek · G5288
ὑποστέλλω
To withdraw
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ὑποστέλλω G5288
Pronunciation hypostéllō
What does ὑποστέλλω (hypostéllō) mean in the Bible?
ὑποστέλλω (hypostéllō): To shrink back or withdraw oneself, especially from duty or truth through fear or shame.
Full entry for ὑποστέλλω (G5288) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5288?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include I did not shrink back (2), he began to draw back (1), he shrinks back (1).
Where does ὑποστέλλω (hypostéllō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 20:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), Galatians (1), Hebrews (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It I did not shrink back 2× Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27
he began to draw back 1× Galatians 2:12
he shrinks back 1× Hebrews 10:38
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 20:20 ὑπεστειλάμην to I did not shrink back Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 1st Person Singular Acts 20:27 ὑπεστειλάμην to I did not shrink back Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 1st Person Singular Galatians 2:12 ὑπέστελλεν to he began to draw back Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Hebrews 10:38 ὑποστείληται to he shrinks back Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 20:20
Aligned rows 4
Books represented 3
Acts 2 Galatians 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
ὑπεστειλάμην 2x hypesteilamēn Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27
ὑπέστελλεν 1x hypestellen Galatians 2:12
ὑποστείληται 1x hyposteilētai Hebrews 10:38
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 1st Person Singular 2x Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 3rd Person Singular 1x Hebrews 10:38
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Galatians 2:12
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To shrink back or withdraw oneself, especially from duty or truth through fear or shame.
Strong's G5288
Lexical occurrences 4 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 2 forms 4 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Galatians 2:12 Source Gloss
to withdraw
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To shrink back or withdraw oneself, especially from duty or truth through fear or shame.
1to draw in, let down (ἱστίον, οὐράν, etc.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 20:20 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Middle Indicative
ὑπεστειλάμην upesteilamhn
I draw back, conceal
Read verse Acts 20:27 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Middle Indicative
ὑπεστειλάμην upesteilamhn
I draw back, conceal
Read verse Galatians 2:12 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ὑπέστελλε upestellen
I draw back, conceal
Read verse Hebrews 10:38 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Subjunctive
ὑποστείληται, uposteilhtai
I draw back, conceal
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 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.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 4 Tenses Aorist, Imperfect Voices Middle, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Aorist Middle Acts 20:20 · Acts 20:27 2×
Imperfect Active Gal 2:12 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Middle Heb 10:38 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 3
Voice
middle 3
Mood
indicative 2 subjunctive 1
NT Occurrences
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)
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
Peter physically separated himself from gentile believers out of fear
Paul denies withdrawing from declaring the full counsel of God
Paul affirms he did not withhold any beneficial teaching from believers
Drawing back in faith results in divine displeasure, contrasted with faith
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain