To separate
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G873 describes marking off or separating people, either by setting someone apart for a calling, withdrawing from fellowship, excluding a person, or distinguishing groups for judgment. The same verb can serve holy vocation, fearful social division, hostile exclusion, practical withdrawal, or final separation, so separation itself is not automatically righteous.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀφορίζω (G873) · Open the biblical lexicon
G873 describes marking off or separating people, either by setting someone apart for a calling, withdrawing from fellowship, excluding a person, or distinguishing groups for judgment. The same verb can serve holy vocation, fearful social division, hostile exclusion, practical withdrawal, or final separation, so separation itself is not automatically.
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include separate (2), [and] set apart (1), [Paul] took (1), be separate (1), He will separate (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:49. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (3), Acts (2), Galatians (2), 2 Corinthians (1).
G873 describes marking off or separating people, either by setting someone apart for a calling, withdrawing from fellowship, excluding a person, or distinguishing groups for judgment. The same verb can serve holy vocation, fearful social division, hostile exclusion, practical withdrawal, or final separation, so separation itself is not automatically righteous.
In Acts. 13. 2, during worship and fasting, the Holy Spirit commands the church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a called work. In Gal. 2. 12, peter draws back and separates himself from Gentile believers because he fears members of the circumcision group. G873 opens teaching on separation by asking who acts, what purpose governs the boundary, and whether the action serves mission, holiness, fear, prejudice, protection, or judgment.
It corrects sectarian teaching that treats distance as holiness by itself and boundaryless teaching that ignores the need for protection, vocation, moral discernment, and accountable communal order. G873 names sharply different separations: the Spirit sets Barnabas and Saul apart for mission, Peter separates from Gentile tables because of fear, and the Son of Man separates gathered peoples in final judgment.
For G873, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable. The verb does not authorize racial, ethnic, class, disability, or caste segregation, make every church boundary holy, or give believers authority to enact final judgment before Christ.
G873 appears across passages that develop calling, mission, holiness, communal boundaries, exclusion, fear, judgment, and reconciliation across difference. For G873, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
During worship and fasting, the Holy Spirit commands the church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a called work.
For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.
Peter draws back and separates himself from Gentile believers because he fears members of the circumcision group.
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Jesus depicts the Son of Man separating gathered peoples as a shepherd separates sheep from goats at judgment.
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. Separation marked by divine purpose: either excluding from community or setting apart for God's service.
Separation marked by divine purpose: either excluding from community or setting apart for God's service.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
Read verseI rail off, separate, place apart
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 10 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 1 selected witness from 10 lexical occurrence verses.
Highlights divine commissioning for missionary work.Acts 13:1-12
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G873 names sharply different separations: the Spirit sets Barnabas and Saul apart for mission, Peter separates from Gentile tables because of fear, and the Son of Man separates gathered peoples in final judgment. G873 describes marking off or separating people, either by setting someone apart for a calling, withdrawing from fellowship, excluding a person, or distinguishing groups for judgment.
The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: Acts. 13. 2 shows that during worship and fasting, the Holy Spirit commands the church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for a called work. , while Gal. 2. 12 shows that peter draws back and separates himself from Gentile believers because he fears members of the circumcision group.. Matt. 25. 32 adds that jesus depicts the Son of Man separating gathered peoples as a shepherd separates sheep from goats at judgment..
G873 opens teaching on separation by asking who acts, what purpose governs the boundary, and whether the action serves mission, holiness, fear, prejudice, protection, or judgment. It corrects sectarian teaching that treats distance as holiness by itself and boundaryless teaching that ignores the need for protection, vocation, moral discernment, and accountable communal order.
A church teaching G873 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support. The verb does not authorize racial, ethnic, class, disability, or caste segregation, make every church boundary holy, or give believers authority to enact final judgment before Christ.
Acts.13.2
G873 is a Greek verb built around marking off a boundary; active, middle, and passive uses can emphasize separating others, withdrawing oneself, or being set apart for a purpose.
The Old Testament distinguishes Israel, priests, holy things, and moral practices within covenant life. The New Testament directs set-apart vocation toward the gospel while confronting separation that denies table fellowship and leaving final judgment to Christ.