"an uncompliant disposition; obstinacy, disobedience, unbelief, Rom. 11:30, 32; Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Heb. 4:6, 11; Col. 3:6*"
Definition and meaning
an uncompliant disposition; obstinacy, disobedience, unbelief, Rom. 11:30, 32; Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Heb. 4:6, 11; Col. 3:6*
In the original Greek the word is written: ἀπείθεια
Historical context
Paul wrote Romans from Corinth, one of the most important commercial cities in the empire. Rome had a Jewish population of around 50,000. The letter addresses real tensions between Jewish believers with centuries of Torah tradition and Gentile believers with no such background. Emperor Nero was on the throne. Within ten years he would execute both Paul and Peter.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of apeitheia (G543) across the King James Bible.
For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
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Common questions
Strong's G543 (apeitheia) is a Greek word that means: an uncompliant disposition; obstinacy, disobedience, unbelief, Rom. 11:30, 32; Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Heb. 4:6, 11; Col. 3:6* It appears 7 times in the King James Bible.
The word apeitheia (G543) appears 7 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G543 is apeitheia, a Greek word defined as: an uncompliant disposition; obstinacy, disobedience, unbelief, Rom. 11:30, 32; Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Heb. 4:6, 11; Col. 3:6*. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
apeitheia is a Greek word found in the New Testament.