To leave
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Aphistemi means to depart, withdraw, leave, or fall away, with context deciding whether the departure is physical, relational, moral, or spiritual. Anna never left the temple, the devil left Jesus until another time, John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia, and later texts warn about abandoning the faith or turning away from iniquity.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀφίστημι (G868) · Open the biblical lexicon
Aphistemi means to depart, withdraw, leave, or fall away, with context deciding whether the departure is physical, relational, moral, or spiritual. Anna never left the temple, the devil left Jesus until another time, John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia, and later texts warn about abandoning the faith or turning away from iniquity.
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] left (1), Depart (1), drew away (1), had deserted (1), he left (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 2:37. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (6), Luke (4), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Corinthians (1).
Aphistemi means to depart, withdraw, leave, or fall away, with context deciding whether the departure is physical, relational, moral, or spiritual. Anna never left the temple, the devil left Jesus until another time, John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia, and later texts warn about abandoning the faith or turning away from iniquity. The word is therefore broader than apostasy, but it can carry that weight when the object is the living God or the faith.
It must not be flattened into one meaning everywhere. In warning passages, aphistemi exposes the danger of moving away from God through unbelief or demonic teaching. In 2 Timothy, the same family of withdrawal is commanded in a holy direction: everyone who names the Lord must turn away from iniquity.
Aphistemi can describe remaining or leaving in ordinary narrative, but its theological weight rises when the departure concerns faith, evil, or the living God. Luke shows both faithful non-departure and shallow hearers falling away. Acts uses the word for desertion or withdrawal. Paul warns that some will abandon the faith, yet also commands believers to turn away from iniquity. Hebrews warns against a heart that turns away from the living God.
And then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Anna never left the temple but worshiped with fasting and prayer. The word can describe steadfast non-departure before it carries warning force elsewhere.
The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
The rocky-ground hearers believe for a season but fall away in testing. The word marks temporary reception that does not endure trial.
But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.
Paul judges John Mark to have deserted them in Pamphylia. The word can describe relational and mission withdrawal in narrative conflict.
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
The Spirit warns that some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits. Here departure becomes explicitly doctrinal and spiritual danger.
Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
Those who name the Lord must turn away from iniquity. The word can describe holy separation from evil, not only sinful departure from truth.
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
Hebrews warns against a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. The word presses the congregation toward watchful perseverance.
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.
Greek word. Departure carrying sense of apostasy or defection, especially withdrawal from covenant allegiance to God.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
15 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
Read verseI lead away, seduce, depart, abstain from
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 this verb appears across 14 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)
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
ἀφίστημι is built from these roots:
The danger is real abandonment of apostolic faith, not minor disagreement.1 Timothy 4:1-5
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Aphistemi requires careful contextual teaching because departure is morally different depending on what someone leaves. Anna's non-departure from temple worship is commendable. John Mark's departure from the missionary work becomes a painful ministry conflict. The rocky-ground hearer falls away under testing. Some abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits.
Hebrews warns against turning away from the living God. Yet 2 Timothy commands a different departure: those who name the Lord must turn away from iniquity. The same lexical family therefore exposes both danger and duty. The pastoral question is not simply whether a person moves away, but what is being left and why. That keeps warning, restoration, holiness, and perseverance in their proper relation.
1 Timothy 4:1
Aphistemi is a verb of standing away, withdrawing, leaving, or departing. Its moral force depends on the object or direction of departure, so the same word can warn against apostasy and command separation from evil.
The biblical story repeatedly contrasts departing from the Lord with turning from evil. Aphistemi gathers that contrast in New Testament language, warning against unbelieving withdrawal while calling believers to leave iniquity behind.