To disbelieve
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G569 is a Greek verb for disbelieving, refusing belief, lacking faith, or proving faithless. Romans 3:3 asks whether the faithlessness of some can nullify God's faithfulness and answers within a sustained defense of God's truth.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀπιστέω (G569) · Open the biblical lexicon
G569 is a Greek verb for disbelieving, refusing belief, lacking faith, or proving faithless. Romans 3:3 asks whether the faithlessness of some can nullify God's faithfulness and answers within a sustained defense of God's truth.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [to those who] do not believe (1), did not have faith (1), does not believe (1), refused to believe (1), they did not believe (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 16:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Mark (2), 1 Peter (1), 2 Timothy (1).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G569 is a Greek verb for disbelieving, refusing belief, lacking faith, or proving faithless. Romans 3:3 asks whether the faithlessness of some can nullify God's faithfulness and answers within a sustained defense of God's truth. Luke 24:11 reports that the apostles initially regarded the women's resurrection testimony as nonsense and did not believe them, exposing how authorized witnesses may be wrongly dismissed.
Acts 28:24 distinguishes hearers persuaded by Paul's message from others who refused to believe. Luke 24:41 also portrays a moment of unbelief entangled with joy and amazement, while Second Timothy 2:13 contrasts human faithlessness with Christ's abiding faithfulness. G569 opens doubt, refusal, failed trust, and disloyalty. It corrects both shame-based treatment of honest uncertainty and complacent claims that unbelief has no moral or relational significance.
G569 can describe not believing a report, refusing persuasion, lacking faith, or acting faithlessly. The object, available testimony, emotional state, history, and response to further evidence help distinguish confusion, astonishment, resistance, and covenant disloyalty.
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
Paul denies that human faithlessness can cancel God's faithfulness, keeping divine truth rather than human performance at the center.
But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.
The apostles dismiss the women's truthful resurrection report before the risen Jesus confronts the wider group's unbelief.
Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.
Paul's hearers divide between those persuaded by his testimony and those who refuse belief.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Disbelief or unfaithfulness toward God's word; sometimes overlaps with disobedience to divine command.
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 am unfaithful, I disbelieve
Read verseI am unfaithful, I disbelieve
Read verseI am unfaithful, I disbelieve
Read verseI am unfaithful, I disbelieve
Read verseI am unfaithful, I disbelieve
Read verseI am unfaithful, I disbelieve
Read verseI am unfaithful, I disbelieve
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.
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)
ἀπιστέω is built from this root:
G569 places human unbelief beside God's faithfulness without confusing them. Romans 3 does not protect people from accountability; it insists that their failure cannot make God false. Luke 24 shows respected male disciples dismissing truthful women, warning churches that status can distort judgments about credibility. The chapter also describes disbelief mingled with joy and amazement, so a single label does not disclose a person's motives or spiritual condition.
Pastoral care should welcome honest questions, attend to trauma and prior betrayal, offer reasons patiently, and avoid demanding instant trust in human leaders. Claims of abuse or danger require careful safeguarding and evidence, not a reflexive accusation of unbelief. At the same time, Scripture can name stubborn refusal and call for repentance. Christian hope finally rests not in flawless human believing but in the trustworthy risen Christ, who meets confused disciples, corrects them, supplies testimony, and remains faithful.
Communities should pursue truthful witness without coercion and courageous faith without pretending uncertainty is simple.
Rom.3.3
G569 is related to the Greek faith and trust word group with a negating prefix. Depending on grammar and context, it can mean fail to believe, refuse belief, or act without faithfulness; it should not be reduced to intellectual doubt alone.
Israel's Scriptures repeatedly contrast human breach of trust with God's steadfast character. The Gospels show Jesus receiving questions and confronting hard-hearted refusal, while the letters ground perseverance in the faithfulness of God and Christ.