Word study
Reject
6 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: rejected, reject, rejects, rejecting. 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 “reject” 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)
- מָאַס mâasrejecttranslated this way 53 times of its 75 uses · Strong’s H3988Verb · Translated: rejected 36, reject 15, despise 5, despises 3Full study and all 69 verses →
Leviticus 26:15 and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,
Numbers 11:20 but for a whole month— until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous— because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
- זָנַח zânachreject, spurntranslated this way 14 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H2186Verb · Translated: rejected 10, reject 2Full study and all 20 verses →
1 Chronicles 28:9 As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
2 Chronicles 11:14 For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
- נָאַץ nâatscontemn, spurntranslated this way 3 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H5006Verb · Translated: despised 6, despise 3Full study and all 24 verses →
Deuteronomy 31:20 When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant.
Proverbs 15:5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction is prudent.
- עָזַב âzableave, forsake, loosetranslated this way 3 times of its 214 uses · Strong’s H5800Verb · Translated: forsaken 47, forsake 36, leave 23, abandoned 22Full study and all 206 verses →
1 Kings 12:13 And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders
2 Chronicles 10:13 And the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders
- שׁוּב shûbturn back, returntranslated this way 2 times of its 1,007 uses · Strong’s H7725Verb · Translated: return 218, returned 105, restore 62, turn 56Full study and all 920 verses →
- סָלָה sâlâhmake light of, toss asidetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H5541Verb · Translated: valued 2, reject 1, rejected 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Psalm 119:118 You reject all who stray from Your statutes, for their deceitfulness is in vain.
Lamentations 1:15 The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀθετέω athetéōI annultranslated this way 10 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G114Verb · Translated: rejects 6, rejected 2, reject 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.
John 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
- ἀποδοκιμάζω apodokimázōI reject after testing, I disqualifytranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G593Verb · Translated: rejected 9Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Mark 8:31 Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.
- ἀπωθέομαι apōthéomaiI push or thrust away, rejecttranslated this way 5 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G683Verb · Translated: reject 3, rejected 2, pushed 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Acts 7:39 But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
Romans 11:1 I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- παραιτέομαι paraitéomaiI make excuse, refuse, rejecttranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G3868Verb · Translated: refuse 3, reject 3, excuse 2Full study and all 10 verses →
1 Timothy 4:7 But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.
2 Timothy 2:23 But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.
- ἀρνέομαι arnéomaiI deny, repudiatetranslated this way 3 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s G720Verb · Translated: deny 10, denied 10, denies 5, rejected 3Full study and all 29 verses →
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.
Acts 3:14 You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
- 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 →
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
Romans 2:8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- ἀποστρέφω apostréphōI turn away, restore, rejecttranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G654Verb · Translated: turn away 1, Put 1, inciting 1, turning 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Titus 1:14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.
Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
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.