Exploring the Meaning of Anapeitho in Greek

Anapeitho means “to persuade” and appears in a single New Testament setting where an accusation is voiced about a man’s religious influence. The term is heard on the lips of opponents who frame persuasion as a serious public concern.

Root and Related Words

Anapeitho is connected with

ana (ἀνά), “each”

and

peitho (πείθω), “to persuade”

. In this form, the verb stands as a compound built from those related elements.

Occurrences

“saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”” (Acts 18:13)

In Acts 18:13, anapeitho is used as the heart of a public charge: “This man persuades men.” The sentence portrays persuasion as an active force exerted by “this man,” directed toward “men,” and aimed at shaping their religious practice—“to worship God.” The opponents’ concern is not merely that worship is occurring, but that it is being prompted and redirected by a person’s influence. The verb therefore functions here as a description of intentional interpersonal action: someone is presented as successfully moving others toward a particular response.

The accusation further specifies the alleged result of that persuasion: worship “contrary to the law.” Within the quoted wording, the persuasive activity is treated as consequential and potentially disruptive, since it is described as pushing people into a form of worship that the speakers deem out of bounds. The verb thus carries an implied seriousness in this scene: persuasion is not neutral rhetoric but a means of producing real, visible behavior, and the behavior is evaluated as being in conflict with an established norm (“the law”).

Because the line is phrased as an allegation (“saying”), anapeitho is also framed from the standpoint of adversaries. It is the opponents who interpret the man’s impact as persuasion and who define the direction of that impact. In the logic of their claim, the verb links speaker, audience, and outcome in one chain: the man acts upon people, the people are moved, and the movement is toward worship characterized as unlawful.

Sense and Usage

The lone occurrence gives anapeitho a distinctly social and public setting. Persuasion is depicted as a relational act—one person pressing upon the convictions or choices of others—and the object is explicitly personal (“men”), not an abstract concept. The verb sits at the intersection of speech and practice: the persuasion culminates in a concrete activity (“to worship God”), suggesting that the action described is effective enough to be noticed and contested.

In Acts 18:13 the meaning “to persuade” is sharpened by the way the clause is constructed. The accusers do not describe a private conversation but a broader influence that can be summarized in a single line: “This man persuades men.” That compression implies a pattern that the speakers consider established and ongoing, not a one-off attempt. The accusation treats persuasion as a defining feature of the man’s conduct—something that can be presented as evidence of wrongdoing when paired with the charge “contrary to the law.” In other words, the verb is the mechanism by which the alleged offense spreads: the issue is not only what the man believes or practices, but that he induces others to do likewise.

The immediate infinitival purpose, “to worship God,” also helps clarify how anapeitho is being understood in the scene. The persuasion is not described as pushing people away from worship, but toward worship, though judged as misaligned with legal expectations. This gives the term a directionality: it is influence with a goal, with worship as the targeted outcome. The content of that worship is not detailed in the verse, but its characterization as “contrary to the law” makes clear that persuasion is being treated as a catalyst for nonconformity—bringing people into a practice the speakers deem unacceptable.

Finally, the verse shows how the verb can be used polemically. “This man persuades men” is not presented as a compliment but as part of a prosecutorial framing. Persuasion here is construed as a threat precisely because it works: if the man were merely speaking without effect, there would be no need to highlight his ability to move others. In this way, anapeitho in Acts 18:13 functions as a word of contested influence—an assertion that someone’s appeal has traction and produces followers, with the contested point being the legitimacy of the resulting worship.

Imagery

The verse supplies a courtroom-like verbal picture: a speaker points to “this man” and sums up his impact in one charged verb, “persuades.” The imagery is not of physical force but of words and influence strong enough to redirect people’s public worship and to provoke an accusation of acting “contrary to the law.”

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).