What does ἀφορίζω (aphorízō) mean in the Bible?
ἀφορίζω (aphorízō): Separation marked by divine purpose: either excluding from community or setting apart for God's service.
Greek · G873
ἀφορίζω
To separate
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ἀφορίζω G873
Pronunciation aphorízō
What does ἀφορίζω (aphorízō) mean in the Bible?
ἀφορίζω (aphorízō): Separation marked by divine purpose: either excluding from community or setting apart for God's service.
Full entry for ἀφορίζω (G873) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G873?
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).
Where does ἀφορίζω (aphorízō) appear in Scripture?
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).
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 separate 2× Matthew 13:49, Galatians 2:12
[and] set apart 1× Romans 1:1
[Paul] took 1× Acts 19:9
be separate 1× 2 Corinthians 6:17
He will separate 1× Matthew 25:32
separates 1× Matthew 25:32
Set apart 1× Acts 13:2
set me apart 1× Galatians 1:15
they exclude [you] 1× Luke 6:22
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 13:49 ἀφοριοῦσιν to separate Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 25:32 ἀφορίσει to He will separate Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 25:32 ἀφορίζει to separates Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 6:22 ἀφορίσωσιν to they exclude [you] Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 13:2 Ἀφορίσατε to Set apart Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural Acts 19:9 ἀφώρισεν to [Paul] took Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Romans 1:1 ἀφωρισμένος to [and] set apart Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular 2 Corinthians 6:17 ἀφορίσθητε to be separate Verb - Aorist Imperative Passive - 2nd Person Plural Galatians 1:15 ἀφορίσας to set me apart Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Galatians 2:12 ἀφώριζεν to separate Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 13:49
Aligned rows 10
Books represented 6
Matthew 3 Luke 1 Acts 2 Romans 1 2 Corinthians 1 Galatians 2
Source forms
ἀφορίζει 1x aphorizei Matthew 25:32
ἀφοριοῦσιν 1x aphoriousin Matthew 13:49
ἀφορίσας 1x aphorisas Galatians 1:15
Ἀφορίσατε 1x Aphorisate Acts 13:2
ἀφορίσει 1x aphorisei Matthew 25:32
ἀφορίσθητε 1x aphoristhēte 2 Corinthians 6:17
ἀφορίσωσιν 1x aphorisōsin Luke 6:22
ἀφώριζεν 1x aphōrizen Galatians 2:12
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural 1x Acts 13:2
Verb - Aorist Imperative Passive - 2nd Person Plural 1x 2 Corinthians 6:17
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 19:9
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Galatians 1:15
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Luke 6:22
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Matthew 13:49
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Matthew 25:32
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Galatians 2:12
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Separation marked by divine purpose: either excluding from community or setting apart for God's service.
Strong's G873
Lexical occurrences 10 verses Greek text appearances 10 times Word forms 4 forms 10 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 13:1-12 Source Gloss
to separate
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Separation marked by divine purpose: either excluding from community or setting apart for God's service.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 13:49 Verb Third Person Plural Future Active Indicative
ἀφοριοῦσι aforiousin
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Matthew 25:32 Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ἀφοριεῖ aforiei
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Matthew 25:32 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἀφορίζει aforizei
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Luke 6:22 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀφορίσωσιν aforiswsin
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Acts 13:2 Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Active Imperative
Ἀφορίσατε aforisate
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Acts 19:9 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἀφώρισε afwrisen
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Romans 1:1 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀφωρισμένος afwrismenov
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse 2 Corinthians 6:17 Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Passive Imperative
ἀφορίσθητε, aforisqhte
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Galatians 1:15 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀφορίσας aforisav
I rail off, separate, place apart
Read verse Galatians 2:12 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἀφώριζεν afwrizen
I 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.
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 4 Aligned forms 10 Tenses Future, Present, Aorist, Perfect, Imperfect Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 5×
Future Active Matt 13:49 · Matt 25:32 2×
Present Active Matt 25:32 1×
Aorist Active Acts 19:9 1×
Imperfect Active Gal 2:12 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Active Luke 6:22 1×
Imperative command or strong request 2×
Aorist Active Acts 13:2 1×
Aorist Passive 2 Cor 6:17 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Perfect Passive Rom 1:1 1×
Aorist Active Gal 1:15 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 10 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 5 future 2 imperfect 1 present 1 perfect 1
Voice
active 8 passive 2
Mood
indicative 5 imperative 2 participle 2 subjunctive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 13:49 ἀφοριοῦσιν future active indicative prospective Matthew 25:32 ἀφορίσει future active indicative prospective Matthew 25:32 ἀφορίζει present active indicative ongoing Luke 6:22 ἀφορίσωσιν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Acts 13:2 Ἀφορίσατε aorist active imperative imperative Acts 19:9 ἀφώρισεν aorist active indicative completed Romans 1:1 ἀφωρισμένος perfect passive participle participle 2 Corinthians 6:17 ἀφορίσθητε aorist passive imperative imperative Galatians 1:15 ἀφορίσας aorist active participle participle Galatians 2:12 ἀφώριζεν imperfect active indicative background
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 designate or separate for a specific purpose.
Showing 1 selected witness from 10 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀφορίζω is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Highlights divine commissioning for missionary work. Acts 13:1-12
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