Greek word · G655
ἀποστυγέω
apostygeō
to abhor
"To loathe, abhor, detest." Stygeō already means "hate, abhor" (it is related to the Styx, the river of loathing in Greek myth). The prefix apo- adds the sense of shrinking away from something, or simply intensifies it.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
"To loathe, abhor, detest." Stygeō already means "hate, abhor" (it is related to the Styx, the river of loathing in Greek myth). The prefix apo- adds the sense of shrinking away from something, or simply intensifies it.
- Against the English
"Abhor" (KJV, WEB, ESV) and "detest" (BSB) catch the strength. "Hate" (NIV, NLT) is correct but slightly flatter. A mild "disapprove of" would badly understate it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It occurs only here in the New Testament and does not appear in the Septuagint. It is a strong, somewhat literary word from classical Greek. A related adjective, stygētos ("hateful"), appears in Titus 3:3. The idea itself is thoroughly biblical: "Hate evil, and love good" (Amos 5:15; LXX: "we have hated the evil things and loved the good"); "You who love the LORD, hate evil" (Ps 97:10).
Where it appears
Romans · 1
-
Romans 12:9 ἀποστυγοῦντες abhorring
Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
Here: A strong word for hatred that recoils, made stronger by the prefix apo- ("away from"). It appears only here in the New Testament. The present participle describes an ongoing stance. It is masculine plural, so it describes the believers themselves, not the noun "love," and works like a command: "(be people) loathing."
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.