What does ἀστοχέω (astochéō) mean in the Bible?
ἀστοχέω (astochéō): Missing intended target; in Paul, falling away from faith or sound doctrine through error.
Greek · G795
ἀστοχέω
To deviate
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ἀστοχέω G795
Pronunciation astochéō
What does ἀστοχέω (astochéō) mean in the Bible?
ἀστοχέω (astochéō): Missing intended target; in Paul, falling away from faith or sound doctrine through error.
Full entry for ἀστοχέω (G795) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G795?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and [thus] swerved away (1), have deviated (1), have strayed (1).
Where does ἀστοχέω (astochéō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Timothy 1:6. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (2), 2 Timothy (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 [thus] swerved away 1× 1 Timothy 6:21
have deviated 1× 2 Timothy 2:18
have strayed 1× 1 Timothy 1:6
Show sample aligned rows
1 Timothy 1:6 ἀστοχήσαντες to have strayed Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1 Timothy 6:21 ἠστόχησαν to and [thus] swerved away Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2 Timothy 2:18 ἠστόχησαν to have deviated Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row 1 Timothy 1:6
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 2
1 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 1
Source forms
ἠστόχησαν 2x ēstochēsan 1 Timothy 6:21, 2 Timothy 2:18
ἀστοχήσαντες 1x astochēsantes 1 Timothy 1:6
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x 1 Timothy 6:21, 2 Timothy 2:18
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x 1 Timothy 1:6
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Missing intended target; in Paul, falling away from faith or sound doctrine through error.
Strong's G795
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 2 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Timothy 6:20-21 Source Gloss
to deviate
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Missing intended target; in Paul, falling away from faith or sound doctrine through error.
(στόχος, a mark), [in LXX: Sir.7:19 8:9 * ;] to miss the mark, fail: with genitive, 1Ti.1:6 (so in π., MM, see word); before περί, 1Ti.6:21, 2Ti.2:18.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
1 Timothy 1:6 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀστοχήσαντες astochsantev
I miss the mark, miss my aim, make a false aim
Read verse 1 Timothy 6:21 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἠστόχησαν. hstochsan
I miss the mark, miss my aim, make a false aim
Read verse 2 Timothy 2:18 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἠστόχησαν, hstochsan
I miss the mark, miss my aim, make a false aim
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 2 Aligned forms 3 Tenses Aorist Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 2×
Aorist Active 1 Tim 6:21 · 2 Tim 2:18 2×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Aorist Active 1 Tim 1:6 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 3
Voice
active 3
Mood
indicative 2 participle 1
NT Occurrences
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 Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
To turn aside from the intended path.
Showing 1 selected witness from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀστοχέω is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Doctrinal deviation leads to real spiritual loss. 1 Timothy 6:20-21
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.
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