What does ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai) mean in the Bible?
ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai): Defense speech requiring argument and explanation, not mere denial or excuse
Greek · G626
ἀπολογέομαι
To defend oneself
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ἀπολογέομαι G626
Pronunciation apologéomai
What does ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai) mean in the Bible?
ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai): Defense speech requiring argument and explanation, not mere denial or excuse
Full entry for ἀπολογέομαι (G626) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G626?
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] began his defense (1), could make [his] defense (1), defending [them] (1), defense (1), how to defend yourselves (1).
Where does ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 12:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), Luke (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Romans (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 [and] began his defense 1× Acts 26:1
could make [his] defense 1× Acts 19:33
defending [them] 1× Romans 2:15
defense 1× Acts 26:24
how to defend yourselves 1× Luke 21:14
I gladly make my defense 1× Acts 24:10
made his defense 1× Acts 25:8
to defend myself 1× Acts 26:2
to defend yourselves 1× Luke 12:11
we were making a defense 1× 2 Corinthians 12:19
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 12:11 ἀπολογήσησθε to to defend yourselves Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 2nd Person Plural Luke 21:14 ἀπολογηθῆναι to how to defend yourselves Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive Acts 19:33 ἀπολογεῖσθαι to could make [his] defense Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive Acts 24:10 ἀπολογοῦμαι to I gladly make my defense Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular Acts 25:8 ἀπολογουμένου to made his defense Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Singular Acts 26:1 ἀπελογεῖτο to [and] began his defense Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular Acts 26:2 ἀπολογεῖσθαι to to defend myself Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive Acts 26:24 ἀπολογουμένου to defense Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Singular Romans 2:15 ἀπολογουμένων to defending [them] Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural 2 Corinthians 12:19 ἀπολογούμεθα to we were making a defense Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 12:11
Aligned rows 10
Books represented 4
Luke 2 Acts 6 Romans 1 2 Corinthians 1
Source forms
ἀπολογεῖσθαι 2x apologeisthai Acts 19:33, Acts 26:2
ἀπολογουμένου 2x apologoumenou Acts 25:8, Acts 26:24
ἀπελογεῖτο 1x apelogeito Acts 26:1
ἀπολογηθῆναι 1x apologēthēnai Luke 21:14
ἀπολογήσησθε 1x apologēsēsthe Luke 12:11
ἀπολογοῦμαι 1x apologoumai Acts 24:10
ἀπολογούμεθα 1x apologoumetha 2 Corinthians 12:19
ἀπολογουμένων 1x apologoumenōn Romans 2:15
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive 2x Acts 19:33, Acts 26:2
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Singular 2x Acts 25:8, Acts 26:24
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive 1x Luke 21:14
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 2nd Person Plural 1x Luke 12:11
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 26:1
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Plural 1x 2 Corinthians 12:19
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular 1x Acts 24:10
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural 1x Romans 2:15
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Defense speech requiring argument and explanation, not mere denial or excuse
Strong's G626
Lexical occurrences 10 verses Greek text appearances 10 times Word forms 4 forms 10 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 12:11 Source Gloss
to defend oneself
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Defense speech requiring argument and explanation, not mere denial or excuse
(ἀπό, λόγος), [in LXX: Jer.12:1 (רִיב) Jer.31:6, 2Ma.13:26 * ;]
1to defend: with accusative, Rom.2:15.
2to defend one's self: absol., Luk.21:14, Act.26:1; before ὅτι, Act.25:8; τί, to adduce something in one's defence, Luk.12:11, Act.26:24 (ταῦτα) Act.24:10 (τὰ περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ); περί, with genitive of thing(s), and ἐπί, with genitive of person(s), Act.26:2; with dative of person(s), Act.19:33, 2Co.12:19.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 12:11 Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Middle Deponent Subjunctive
ἀπολογήσησθε, apologhshsqe
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Luke 21:14 Verb Aorist Passive Deponent Infinitive
ἀπολογηθῆναι· apologhqhnai
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Acts 19:33 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Infinitive
ἀπολογεῖσθαι apologeisqai
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Acts 24:10 Verb First Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἀπολογοῦμαι, apologoumai
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Acts 25:8 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Genitive Singular Masculine
ἀπολογουμένου apologoumenou
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Acts 26:1 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἀπελογεῖτο, apelogeito
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Acts 26:2 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Infinitive
ἀπολογεῖσθαι apologeisqai
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Acts 26:24 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Genitive Singular Masculine
ἀπολογουμένου, apologoumenou
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse Romans 2:15 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
ἀπολογουμένων, apologoumenwn
I give a defense, defend myself
Read verse 2 Corinthians 12:19 Verb First Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἀπολογούμεθα; apologoumeqa
I give a defense, defend myself
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 4 Aligned forms 10 Tenses Present, Aorist, Imperfect Voices Middle, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 3×
Present Middle Acts 19:33 · Acts 26:2 2×
Aorist Passive Luke 21:14 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 3×
Present Middle Acts 25:8 · Acts 26:24 · Rom 2:15 3×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Middle Luke 12:11 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Present Middle Acts 24:10 · 2 Cor 12:19 2×
Imperfect Middle Acts 26:1 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 10 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 7 aorist 2 imperfect 1
Voice
middle 9 passive 1
Mood
indicative 3 infinitive 3 participle 3 subjunctive 1
NT Occurrences
Luke 12:11 ἀπολογήσησθε aorist middle subjunctive subjunctive Luke 21:14 ἀπολογηθῆναι aorist passive infinitive infinitive Acts 19:33 ἀπολογεῖσθαι present middle infinitive infinitive Acts 24:10 ἀπολογοῦμαι present middle indicative ongoing Acts 25:8 ἀπολογουμένου present middle participle participle Acts 26:1 ἀπελογεῖτο imperfect middle indicative background Acts 26:2 ἀπολογεῖσθαι present middle infinitive infinitive Acts 26:24 ἀπολογουμένου present middle participle participle Romans 2:15 ἀπολογουμένων present middle participle participle 2 Corinthians 12:19 ἀπολογούμεθα present middle indicative ongoing
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
instructing disciples to defend themselves before authorities when brought to trial
Paul formally defending himself and his conduct before the governor Felix
Paul permitted to defend himself before King Agrippa regarding accusations
conscience and thoughts defending or accusing human moral conduct
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 10 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
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