What does ἀπωθέομαι (apōthéomai) mean in the Bible?
To reject or push aside is to refuse a person or something being offered or held. Stephen recounts a man pushing Moses aside while challenging his authority during an attempted reconciliation.
Greek · G683
ἀπωθέομαι
To reject or push aside is to refuse a person or something being offered or held. Stephen recounts a man pushing Moses aside while challenging his authority during an attempted reconciliation.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἀπωθέομαιG683
Pronunciationapōthéomai
What does ἀπωθέομαι (apōthéomai) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀπωθέομαι (G683) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G683?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include did not reject (1), have rejected (1), pushed [Moses] aside (1), reject (1), they rejected [him] (1).
Where does ἀπωθέομαι (apōthéomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 7:27. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Romans (2), 1 Timothy (1).
What This Word Actually Means
To reject or push aside is to refuse a person or something being offered or held. Stephen recounts a man pushing Moses aside while challenging his authority during an attempted reconciliation. Paul asks whether God has rejected His people and emphatically denies it, identifying himself as an Israelite. First Timothy warns about rejecting a good conscience while calling Timothy to hold faith and conscience together.
The verb's presence does not mean rejection has occurred in every sentence: a question and its denial must be heard as a denial. It also matters who rejects what. These passages confront refused reconciliation, defend God's continuing purpose and warn of damaged faith. They do not authorize contempt for Israel or an automatic verdict that anyone who disagrees with a leader has rejected God.
How the Bible Uses It
Moses pushed aside, God's rejection explicitly denied and conscience rejected show different objects and sentence forms. Refusal language requires attention to actor, object and affirmation or denial.
- Acts.7.27
But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
The man abusing his neighbor pushes Moses aside during a reconciliation attempt, within Stephen's retelling of Israel's history.
- Rom.11.1
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Paul asks whether God rejected His people and answers certainly not, using his own Israelite identity in the denial.
- 1Tim.1.19
Holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith.
Some reject the good conscience associated with holding faith, producing the shipwreck warning within Timothy's entrusted charge.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itdid not reject1×Romans 11:2
have rejected1×1 Timothy 1:19
pushed [Moses] aside1×Acts 7:27
reject1×Romans 11:1
they rejected [him]1×Acts 7:39
you reject1×Acts 13:46
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 7:27ἀπώσατοtopushed [Moses] asideVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person SingularActs 7:39ἀπώσαντοtothey rejected [him]Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person PluralActs 13:46ἀπωθεῖσθεtoyou rejectVerb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person PluralRomans 11:1ἀπώσατοtorejectVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person SingularRomans 11:2ἀπώσατοtodid not rejectVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular1 Timothy 1:19ἀπωσάμενοιtohave rejectedVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 7:27
Aligned rows6
Books represented3
Acts3Romans21 Timothy1
Source forms
ἀπώσατο3xapōsatoActs 7:27, Romans 11:1, Romans 11:2
ἀπωθεῖσθε1xapōtheistheActs 13:46
ἀπωσάμενοι1xapōsamenoi1 Timothy 1:19
ἀπώσαντο1xapōsantoActs 7:39
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular3xActs 7:27, Romans 11:1, Romans 11:2
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Plural1xActs 7:39
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Plural1x1 Timothy 1:19
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural1xActs 13:46
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Examine a warning's truth and content instead of enforcing untested leader claims.
- Teach Israel-related passages with humility and Paul's explicit denial intact.
Avoid claiming...
- Romans 11 does not say that God has rejected His people simply because the verb occurs.
- The refusal verb does not make every challenged human instruction a divine command.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To thrust away from oneself; active rejection implying deliberate refusal rather than passive dismissal.
Strong'sG683
Lexical occurrences6 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms2 forms6 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkRomans 11:1-10Source Gloss
to push off, figuratively, to reject
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To thrust away from oneself; active rejection implying deliberate refusal rather than passive dismissal.
to thrust away. Mid., to thrust away from oneself, refuse, reject: with accusative of person(s) (MM, see word), Act.7:27, 39 13:46, Rom.11:1-2, 1Ti.1:19.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 7:27Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἀπώσατοapwsato
I push or thrust away, reject
Read verseActs 7:39Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἀπώσαντο,apwsanto
I push or thrust away, reject
Read verseActs 13:46Verb Second Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἀπωθεῖσθεapwqeisqe
I push or thrust away, reject
Read verseRomans 11:1Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἀπώσατοapwsato
I push or thrust away, reject
Read verseRomans 11:2Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἀπώσατοapwsato
I push or thrust away, reject
Read verse1 Timothy 1:19Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀπωσάμενοιapwsamenoi
I push or thrust away, reject
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 groups2Aligned forms6TensesAorist, PresentVoicesMiddle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality5×
Aorist MiddleActs 7:27 · Rom 11:1 · Rom 11:2 · Acts 7:394×
Present MiddleActs 13:461×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Aorist Middle1 Tim 1:191×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist5present1
Voice
middle6
Mood
indicative5participle1
NT Occurrences
Acts 7:27ἀπώσατοaorist middle indicativecompletedActs 7:39ἀπώσαντοaorist middle indicativecompletedActs 13:46ἀπωθεῖσθεpresent middle indicativeongoingRomans 11:1ἀπώσατοaorist middle indicativecompletedRomans 11:2ἀπώσατοaorist middle indicativecompleted1 Timothy 1:19ἀπωσάμενοιaorist middle participleparticiple
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
God's rejection of Israel as a people, with remnant salvation preserved
A son who rejects or pushes away his father's instruction and shame
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀπωθέομαι is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Romans 11 gives the rejection verb a decisive boundary: Paul poses the question in order to deny that God has rejected His people. An explanation that lifts the verb out of the question reverses his meaning. Acts supplies a narrated human refusal during Moses' intervention between fighting Israelites, while First Timothy supplies a warning about conscience and shipwrecked faith.
Those are serious actions, but their seriousness does not confer automatic authority upon every present leader who feels opposed. The surrounding arguments must identify the actual charge, the object being refused and the response required. Paul later warns against boasting over branches, reinforcing humility rather than ethnic contempt. Teaching can therefore take conscience and reconciliation seriously while preserving the denial of abandonment and refusing to diagnose spiritual rejection from disagreement alone.
Anchor passage
Rom.11.1
Doctrinal connections
- Acts 7:25-29 places Moses' rejection within a failed attempt to reconcile two Israelites.
- Acts 7:39 recounts ancestors refusing Moses and turning their hearts toward Egypt.
- Acts 13:46 records a particular audience's rejection of the proclaimed word.
- Romans 11:1-2 explicitly denies God's rejection of His foreknown people.
- Romans 11:17-20 warns grafted-in hearers against boasting and arrogance.
- First Timothy 1:18-20 joins the entrusted charge with faith, conscience and a concrete warning.
The Greek comparator identifies pushing away or refusing. Negation changes whether the action is asserted, so the lexical gloss must not override Paul's explicit certainly-not answer.
From Old to New Testament
Romans 11:2-5 recounts Elijah's appeal and the Lord's answer about those who had not bowed to Baal. Paul's own scriptural argument supports his denial of rejection; it should be read directly rather than replaced by a generalized ethnic judgment.