noun · feminine
afesias
Strong’sG859
deliverance, pardon, complete forgiveness
stem afesi-17 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books3 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Release, setting free, liberty — the basic sense of the word is a letting-go or dismissal, used of being set at liberty 13; Strong's gives "freedom" and Dodson "deliverance" for this sense 24.
Forgiveness, pardon, remission (of sins) — used figuratively of the cancelling of a penalty, especially in the phrase "forgiveness of sins" 13; Strong's describes this as the figurative use meaning pardon, and lists forgiveness and remission among its glosses 2, and Dodson likewise glosses the word as pardon and complete forgiveness 4.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἄφεσις, -εως, ἡ
(< ἀφίημι), [in LXX for יוֹבֵל, דְּרוֹר, etc. (v. Deiss., BS, 98 ff.; MM, s.v.);]
SYN.: πάρεσις, q.v. (and cf. Tr., § xxxiii).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G859 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidaf'-es-is
freedom; (figuratively) pardon
Fromfrom G863;
King Jamesdeliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(ἀφίημι) letting go, release, περὶ τῆς τῶν πλοίων ἀφέσεως Philipp. cited in Refs 5th c.BC+; γῆ ἐν ἀφέσει land in private hands, opposed to βασιλική, Refs 2nd c.BC+
b of persons, dismissal: in ritual, λαοῖς ἄ.Refs 4th c.AD+; release, NT+2nd c.BC+
2 with genitive, ἀ. φόνου quittance from murder, Refs 5th c.BC+; discharge from a bond, Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to ἀπόδοσις χρημάτων, Refs 5th c.BC+; exemption from attendance, leave of absence, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἀ. τῆς στρατείας exemption from service, Refs 1st c.AD+; remission of a debt, ταλάντουRefs 2nd c.BC+; χρημάτωνRefs 3rd c.BC+; i.e. καταδίκης, Refs
2.b forgiveness, NT.Mark.3.29; ἁμαρτιῶνNT
3 relaxation, exhaustion, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 divorce, τινὶ πέμπεινRefs 1st c.AD+
5 starting of horses in a race, ἵππων ἄ. ποιεῖνRefs 1st c.BC+: hence, starting-post itself, ἰσώσας τἀφέσει (Musgr. for τῇ φύσει) τὰ τέρματα having made the winning-post one with the starting-post, i.e. having completed the δίαυλος and come back to the starting-post, uncertain conjecture in Refs 5th c.BC+: metaphorically, the first start, beginning of anything, Refs 4th c.AD+
6 discharge, emission, ὕδατοςRefs 4th c.BC+; the dropping of a foal, Refs
6.b discharge, release of an engine, Refs 3rd c.BC+
7 ={ἀφεσμός}, Refs 4th c.BC+
8 release, ὕδατοςRefs 3rd c.BC+: hence, in concrete sense, conduit, sluice,Refs 3rd c.AD+channels, LXX
9 Astrology texts, reckoning of the vital quadrant, Refs 2nd c.AD+ simply, starting from.., Refs
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | afesias3×ἄφεσις | afesiais |
| object accusative | afesian12×ἄφεσιν | afesiain |
| direct address vocative | afesiar | afesiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | afesiau | afesiaiu |
| to, for dative | afesia2×ἀφέσει | afesiai |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
afesia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
afesias“forgiveness”subjectnominative singular3×
Acts 13:38… androir adelfoir, hoti dia houtou vi afesias hamartaiu katangelotō, kai apo panteiu heiu …… you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Hebrews 9:22… nomon, kai chōris haimatekchusiau ouk genotō afesias.… shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 10:18“forgiveness”hopou de afesias houtaiu, ouketi prosforas peri hamartau.And where these have been forgiven, an offering for sin is no longer needed.
afesian“forgiveness”objectaccusative singular12×
Matthew 26:28… diathēkau tem peri polloiu ekchorōntem eis afesian hamartaiu;… poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 1:4… ta erēma kērussarōntos baptismem metanoiau eis afesian hamartaiu.… a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 3:29“forgiveness”… tem pneumem tem hagiem, ouk echatō afesian eis ton aiōnon, alla enochos atō …… blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal …
Luke 3:3… tou Iordanou kērussarōntos baptismem metanoiau eis afesian hamartaiu,… a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
Luke 4:18… euangelizera ptōchoi, apostelatē min kērussara aichmalōtoi afesian kai tufloi anablepsian, apostelara thrauorēntoin en …… of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
Luke 24:47… epi te onome autou metanoian kai afesian hamartaiu eis panteim teim ethneim archerantois …and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to …
Acts 2:38… epi te onome Iēsu Christou eis afesian taiu hamartaiu vu, kai labevi tan …… name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will …
Acts 5:31… teu dōara metanoian to Israēl kai afesian hamartaiu;… in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
Acts 10:43houto pantois tois profētois marturalō, afesian hamartaiu labara dia teu onomeu autou …… everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
Acts 26:18… epi ton theon, teu labara autoin afesian hamartaiu kai klēron en toi hagiazorēntoi …… to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among …
Ephesians 1:7… apolutrōsian dia teu haimeu autou, tan afesian teiu paraptōmeiu, kata tem ploutem tau …… have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the …
Colossians 1:14en ho echanō tan apolutrōsian, tan afesian taiu hamartaiu;in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
afesia“liberty”to, fordative singular2×
Luke 1:77… gnōsian sōtērēau to lao autou en afesia hamartaiu autoiu,… the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
Luke 4:18… kai tufloi anablepsian, apostelara thrauorēntoin en afesia,… He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of …