ἀπολογέομαιapologéomai
to give an account (legal plea) of oneself, i.e. exculpate (self)
Greek (New Testament) · G626
Meanings
1. to defend: with accusative, Romans 2:15.
2. to defend one's self: absolutely, Luke 21:14, Acts 26:1; followed by ὅτι, Acts 25:8; τί, to adduce something in one's defence, Luke 12:11, Acts 26:24 (ταῦτα) Acts 24:10 (τὰ περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ); περί, with genitive of thing, and ἐπί, with genitive of person, Acts 26:2; with dative of person, Acts 19:33, 2 Corinthians 12:19.
Same root
- ἀπόapó · G575"off," i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative)
- λόγοςlógos · G3056something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ)
- ἀπολογίαapología · G627a plea ("apology")
- ἀναπολόγητοςanapológētos · G379indefensible
Where it appears
Appears 10 times in the Bible.
- Luke 12:11 “And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say,
- Luke 21:14 So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you,
- Acts 19:33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak.
- Acts 24:10 The governor then motioned for Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, so I gladly present my defense before you.
- Acts 25:8 Paul denied the charges. “I am not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government,” he said.
- Acts 26:1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.” So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense:
Source: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), public domain.