To deny
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 the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Arneomai means to deny, disown, repudiate, refuse, or say no to a claimed relationship or reality. Jesus warns against denying Him before others; Paul says failure to provide for one's household can deny the faith, and he describes people whose conduct denies the God they profess.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀρνέομαι (G720) · Open the biblical lexicon
Arneomai means to deny, disown, repudiate, refuse, or say no to a claimed relationship or reality. Jesus warns against denying Him before others; Paul says failure to provide for one's household can deny the faith, and he describes people whose conduct denies the God they profess.
The BSB source-word alignment has 33 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include denies (5), he denied [it] (4), denied [it] (3), denying (2), rejected (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:33. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Timothy (4), Acts (4), John (4), Luke (4).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Arneomai means to deny, disown, repudiate, refuse, or say no to a claimed relationship or reality. Jesus warns against denying Him before others; Paul says failure to provide for one's household can deny the faith, and he describes people whose conduct denies the God they profess. The verb can concern spoken confession, practical contradiction, refusal of truth, or God's just response to persistent repudiation.
It does not make every fear-driven failure final apostasy, nor does it allow verbal profession to cancel a life set against the gospel. Peter's restoration shows that grievous denial may meet repentance and grace. Teaching must preserve both the warning's seriousness and Christ's readiness to restore those who turn back.
Arneomai names repudiation expressed in speech, allegiance, responsibility, doctrine, or conduct. Its contexts place sober warnings beside the possibility of repentance and the faithfulness of Christ.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:33 warns that whoever denies Jesus before people will be denied before the Father. Public allegiance matters under pressure.
If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
First Timothy 5:8 says a professing believer who refuses necessary provision for relatives, especially the household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
If we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;
Second Timothy 2:12 warns that if believers deny Christ, He also will deny them. The saying joins endurance, reign, denial, and divine faithfulness.
Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
Second Timothy 3:5 describes people holding an outward form of godliness while denying its power. Religious appearance can repudiate the reality it claims.
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
Titus 1:16 says false teachers profess to know God but deny Him by their works, being detestable, disobedient, and unfit for good work.
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. to deny
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 31 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
Read verseI deny, repudiate
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 33 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)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 7 selected witnesses from 33 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀρνέομαι is built from these roots:
Expresses explicit disowning of Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Peter's fearful rejection. John 18:12–27
Describes Peter’s fearful rejection under pressure. Mark 14:66–72
Paul warns that rejecting Christ carries eternal consequences.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Arneomai refuses to separate confession from allegiance. A disciple may deny Jesus with words under public pressure, but denial also appears when a person repudiates the faith's concrete obligations, retains religious form while refusing transforming power, or professes God while works consistently contradict Him. These warnings are not rhetorical decoration.
Christ tells the truth about final accountability. Yet the canonical picture includes Peter, who denied Jesus repeatedly, wept, returned, and was restored. Churches should therefore neither soften settled repudiation into harmless weakness nor pronounce final judgment over every frightened failure. They should call people to confess Christ openly, provide faithfully, repent concretely, and seek restoration with evidence appropriate to the harm and responsibility involved.
Titus.1.16
Arneomai can mean deny, disown, repudiate, refuse, or disclaim knowledge or relationship. The object and context determine whether denial is verbal, practical, doctrinal, or relational.
Israel sometimes confessed covenant identity while denying God through idolatry and injustice. Prophets expose the contradiction, while repentant failures such as David show that serious sin can meet truthful mercy.
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