Word study
Refuse
9 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: refused, refuse, refusing, refuses. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “refuse” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מָאֵן mâênrefusetranslated this way 37 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H3985Verb · Translated: refused 20, refuse 8, refuses 3, refusing 3Full study and all 39 verses →
Genesis 37:35 All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No, ” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
Exodus 7:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 32 times of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb · Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
Genesis 24:41 And when you go to my kindred, if they refuse to give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’
Exodus 4:8 And the LORD said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second.
- מָאֵן mâênrefusingtranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3986Adjective · Translated: refuse 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Exodus 8:2 But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.
Jeremiah 38:21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:
- חָדַל châdalceasetranslated this way 4 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H2308Verb · Translated: stopped 9, stop 6, refrain 5, cease 4Full study and all 55 verses →
Ezekiel 2:5 And whether they listen or refuse to listen— for they are a rebellious house— they will know that a prophet has been among them.
Ezekiel 2:7 But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.
- בִּלְתִּי biltînot, excepttranslated this way 3 times of its 104 uses · Strong’s H1115Preposition-l · Translated: not 12, no 8, nothing 4, without 4Full study and all 101 verses →
Exodus 8:29 “As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will pray to the LORD, so that tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceitfully again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 17:12 But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
- מָנַע mânawithhold, hold backtranslated this way 2 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H4513Verb · Translated: withheld 7, withhold 5, denied 2, withholds 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Proverbs 30:7 Two things I ask of You — do not refuse me before I die:
Ecclesiastes 2:10 Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
- לָא lânottranslated this way 2 times of its 71 uses · Strong’s H3809Adverb · Translated: no 10, not 9, cannot 4, without 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Daniel 3:12 But there are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — who have ignored you, O king, and have refused to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”
Daniel 3:15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”
- אָבָה âbâhbe willing, consenttranslated this way 2 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H14Verb · Translated: unwilling 8, would 5, willing 5, yield 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Judges 20:13 Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites.
1 Chronicles 11:19 saying, “Far be it from me, my God, to do this! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” Because they had brought it at the risk of their lives, David refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.
- מָאַס mâasrejecttranslated this way 2 times of its 75 uses · Strong’s H3988Verb · Translated: rejected 36, reject 15, despise 5, despises 3Full study and all 69 verses →
Job 30:1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.
Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
Greek words (New Testament)
- θέλω thélōI will, wish, desiretranslated this way 8 times of its 207 uses · Strong’s G2309Verb · Translated: want 65, wants 21, willing 16, wanted 15Full study and all 198 verses →
Matthew 2:18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Luke 15:28 The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
- παραιτέομαι paraitéomaiI make excuse, refuse, rejecttranslated this way 4 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G3868Verb · Translated: refuse 3, reject 3, excuse 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Acts 25:11 If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
1 Timothy 5:11 But refuse to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they will want to marry,
- οὐ ouno, nottranslated this way 2 times of its 704 uses · Strong’s G3756Adverb · Translated: not 470, no 123, never 26, nothing 12Full study and all 643 verses →
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 10:26 But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe.
- ἀπειθέω apeithéōI disobey, rebel, am disloyaltranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G544Verb · Translated: disobeyed 4, disobedient 2, disobey 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Acts 19:9 But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
- μή mḗnot, lesttranslated this way 2 times of its 411 uses · Strong’s G3361Adverb · Translated: not 284, no 44, without 18, Otherwise 9Full study and all 381 verses →
1 Peter 3:6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
- δέχομαι déchomaiI take, receive, accept, welcometranslated this way 2 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s G1209Verb · Translated: welcomes 10, welcome 9, receives 6, receive 6Full study and all 45 verses →
Luke 9:53 But the people there refused to welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- παρακούω parakoúōI refuse to hear, disobey, disregardtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3878Verb · Translated: refuses to listen 2, overheard 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.