noun · feminine
akrobustias
Strong’sG203
foreskin
stem akrobusti-20 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books4 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
The word denotes the foreskin, the literal piece of skin removed in circumcision 134.
From this it also came to mean, in an abstract sense, the state of not being circumcised, i.e. uncircumcision 123.
By extension it can refer to uncircumcised people themselves, used of Gentiles as a group, and figuratively of an unregenerate state or person 12.
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
† ἀκροβυστία, -ας, ή
(perh. an Alexandrian form of cl. ἀκροποσθία; cf. MM, VGT, s.v.) [in LXX for עׇרְלָה;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G203 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidak-rob-oos-tee'-ah
the prepuce; by implication, an uncircumcised (i.e. gentile, figuratively, unregenerate) state or person
Fromfrom G206 and probably a modified form of πόσθη (the penis or male sexual organ);
King Jamesnot circumcised, uncircumcised (with <span data-strongs="G2192">G2192</span>), uncircumcision.
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
foreskin, LXX+1st c.AD+
II state of having the foreskin, uncircumcision, NT
II.2 collective, the uncircumcised, Refsbuśtu 'pudenda', Heb. bōsheth 'shame': wrongly derived from ἄκρος, βύω by 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 | akrobustias9×ἀκροβυστία | akrobustiais |
| object accusative | akrobustian3×ἀκροβυστίαν | akrobustiain |
| direct address vocative | akrobustiar | akrobustiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | akrobustiau2×ἀκροβυστίας | akrobustiaiu |
| to, for dative | akrobustia6×ἀκροβυστίᾳ | akrobustiai |
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
akrobustia 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.
20 occurrences, every one of them listed
akrobustias“uncircumcision”subjectnominative singular9×
Romans 2:25… parabatos nomou aseiō, tas peritomas su akrobustias genatē.… the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
Romans 2:26“uncircumcised”ean oun tas akrobustias teim dikaiōmeim tou nomou fulassateiō, ouk …If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision …
Romans 2:26… dikaiōmeim tou nomou fulassateiō, ouk tas akrobustias autou eis peritoman logiziti?… of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Romans 2:27kai krinati tas ek fusiau akrobustias ton nomon telarōntas sin ton dia …The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn …
1 Corinthians 7:19tas peritomas oudenem atō, kai tas akrobustias oudenem atō, alla tērēsias entolaiu theou.Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is …
Galatians 5:6… Iēso oute peritomas tinem ischuatō oute akrobustias, alla pistias dia agapau energorōntas.… in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is …
Galatians 6:15oute gar peritomas tinem atō oute akrobustias, alla kainas ktisias.For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a …
Ephesians 2:11“uncircumcision”… teim ethneim en sarka, tois legorōntois akrobustias hupo tau legorōntau peritomau en sarka …… who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body …
Colossians 3:11… eniatō Hellēnos kai Ioudaios, peritomas kai akrobustias, barbaros, Skuthos, doulos, eleutheros, alla teim …… no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but …
akrobustian“uncircumcised”objectaccusative singular3×
Acts 11:3legarōntois hoti Eiserchasa pros androin akrobustian echarōntoin kai sunesthiasa autoi.and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Romans 3:30… hos dikaiati peritoman ek pistiau kai akrobustian dia tau pistiau.… the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
Romans 4:9… tan peritoman ē kai epi tan akrobustian? leganō gar; Logizita to Abraam tas …… the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s …
akrobustiau“uncircumcised”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Romans 4:11“without being circumcised”… auton patron pantoiu toiu pisteuarōntoiu dia akrobustiau, eis tem logizira autoi tan dikaiosunan,… So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
Galatians 2:7… horarantois hoti pisteuomē tem euangeliem tau akrobustiau kathōs Petros tau peritomau,… to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to …
akrobustia“uncircumcised”to, fordative singular6×
Romans 4:10“uncircumcised”… logizita? en peritoma arōnto ē en akrobustia? ouk en peritoma alla en akrobustia;… was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.
Romans 4:10“uncircumcised”… akrobustia? ouk en peritoma alla en akrobustia;… It was not after, but before.
Romans 4:11… dikaiosunau tau pistiau tau en ta akrobustia, eis tem arō auton patron pantoiu …… by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father …
Romans 4:12“uncircumcised”… toi stoicharōntoi tei ichnei tau en akrobustia pistiau tou patrou nu Abraam.… walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was …
1 Corinthians 7:18peritemorēntos tinos kalita? mē epispotōr; en akrobustia kalotē tinos? mē peritemotōr.… was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when …
Colossians 2:13… arōntoin en tei paraptōmei kai ta akrobustia tau sarkau vu, suzōopoiata vin sun …… in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made …