What does ἀπολογία (apología) mean in the Bible?
ἀπολογία (apología): A formal defense speech, especially before authorities; not apology but legal vindication or reasoned justification.
Greek · G627
ἀπολογία
A plea ("apology")
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ἀπολογία G627
Pronunciation apología
What does ἀπολογία (apología) mean in the Bible?
ἀπολογία (apología): A formal defense speech, especially before authorities; not apology but legal vindication or reasoned justification.
Full entry for ἀπολογία (G627) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G627?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include defense (4), [the] defense (1), defend himself (1), eagerness to clear yourselves (1), give a defense (1).
Where does ἀπολογία (apología) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 22:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), Philippians (2), 1 Corinthians (1), 1 Peter (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 defense 4× Acts 22:1, 1 Corinthians 9:3, Philippians 1:7, 2 Timothy 4:16
[the] defense 1× Philippians 1:16
defend himself 1× Acts 25:16
eagerness to clear yourselves 1× 2 Corinthians 7:11
give a defense 1× 1 Peter 3:15
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 22:1 ἀπολογίας to defense Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Acts 25:16 ἀπολογίας to defend himself Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 1 Corinthians 9:3 ἀπολογία to defense Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 7:11 ἀπολογίαν to eagerness to clear yourselves Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Philippians 1:7 ἀπολογίᾳ to defense Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Philippians 1:16 ἀπολογίαν to [the] defense Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2 Timothy 4:16 ἀπολογίᾳ to defense Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 1 Peter 3:15 ἀπολογίαν to give a defense Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 22:1
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 6
Acts 2 1 Corinthians 1 2 Corinthians 1 Philippians 2 2 Timothy 1 1 Peter 1
Source forms
ἀπολογίαν 3x apologian 2 Corinthians 7:11, Philippians 1:16, 1 Peter 3:15
ἀπολογίᾳ 2x apologia Philippians 1:7, 2 Timothy 4:16
ἀπολογίας 2x apologias Acts 22:1, Acts 25:16
ἀπολογία 1x apologia 1 Corinthians 9:3
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 3x 2 Corinthians 7:11, Philippians 1:16, 1 Peter 3:15
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2x Philippians 1:7, 2 Timothy 4:16
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2x Acts 22:1, Acts 25:16
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 9:3
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A formal defense speech, especially before authorities; not apology but legal vindication or reasoned justification.
Strong's G627
Lexical occurrences 8 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 4 forms 8 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Peter 3:15 Source Gloss
a plea ("apology")
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
A formal defense speech, especially before authorities; not apology but legal vindication or reasoned justification.
(ἀπολογέομαι), [in LXX: Wis.6:10 * ;] a speech in defence: Act.25:16, 2Co.7:11, Php.1:7, 16, 2Ti.4:16; with dative of person(s), 1Co.9:3, 1Pe.3:15; before πρός, Act.22:1.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 22:1 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίας. apologiav
a verbal defense
Read verse Acts 25:16 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίας apologiav
a verbal defense
Read verse 1 Corinthians 9:3 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἀπολογία apologia
a verbal defense
Read verse 2 Corinthians 7:11 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίαν, apologian
a verbal defense
Read verse Philippians 1:7 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίᾳ apologia
a verbal defense
Read verse Philippians 1:17 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίαν apologian
a verbal defense
Read verse 2 Timothy 4:16 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίᾳ apologia
a verbal defense
Read verse 1 Peter 3:15 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἀπολογίαν apologian
a verbal defense
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 4 Aligned forms 8 Case pattern Accusative (3) Number pattern Singular (8)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine 1 Cor 9:3 1×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Acts 22:1 · Acts 25:16 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Phil 1:7 · 2 Tim 4:16 2×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine 2 Cor 7:11 · Phil 1:16 · 1 Pet 3:15 3×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
defense of faith given to those who demand an account of Christian hope
Showing 1 selected witness from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀπολογία is built from this root:
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