Exploring the Meaning of Parabasis in Greek

παράβασις names “transgression” as it is discussed in Romans, Galatians, 1 Timothy, and Hebrews. In these passages it is consistently framed in relation to law, covenantal administration, and the moral accountability that follows.

Occurrences

“You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?” (Romans 2:23)

Here παράβασις stands in the spotlight of a direct challenge: someone boasts in having “the law” yet brings “dishonor” to God through disobedience to that very law. The force of the word in this scene lies in its contradiction—confidence in the law is emptied when conduct crosses its boundary. The verse connects transgression not merely with a private failure but with a public outcome: the dishonoring of God.

“For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.” (Romans 4:15)

παράβασις is tied to the presence of law as the setting in which transgression becomes a defined reality. The logic runs through cause and effect: “the law produces wrath,” and the reason given is that without law there is no such “disobedience.” In this usage, the word is not treated as a vague moral category but as something that arises when there is a known requirement—an act measured against a stated norm.

“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.” (Romans 5:14)

In this statement, παράβασις is anchored to Adam as a reference-point for disobedience. The verse distinguishes later people’s sins from being “like Adam’s disobedience,” yet it says death reigned even over them. The word therefore contributes a comparative function: Adam’s transgression is treated as a particular kind of disobedience that can be used to classify other human sin, while the reign of death is portrayed as extending beyond cases that match Adam’s pattern.

“Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.” (Galatians 3:19)

παράβασις is used to explain the role of “the law” within a timeline that also includes “the promise” and “the offspring.” The law’s addition is linked “because of transgressions,” and its function is explicitly temporary: “until the offspring should come.” The verse further places the law within an administered arrangement—“ordained through angels” and mediated—so the word sits within a structured framework where transgressions are addressed within a defined period and under a mediated legal order.

“Adam wasn’t deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience;” (1 Timothy 2:14)

Here παράβασις is portrayed as a condition entered—“has fallen into disobedience.” The verse links that fall to deception, contrasting Adam and the woman: Adam “wasn’t deceived,” but the woman “being deceived” enters the state described by the word. In this context, transgression is not presented primarily as a legal abstraction but as a concrete moral event with an identifiable path into it: deception leading to disobedience.

“For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,” (Hebrews 2:2)

παράβασις appears in a judicial frame: the “word spoken through angels” is “steadfast,” and as a consequence “every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty.” The pairing with “disobedience” places the word among actions that are liable to penalty, and the adjective “just” underscores the fittingness of the consequence. Transgression, in this scene, is treated as punishable under a firm and reliable spoken word.

“For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:15)

In this occurrence, παράβασις is plural and located “under the first covenant.” The verse joins several elements: a “new covenant,” mediation, death, redemption, calling, promise, and inheritance. Within that chain, transgressions are presented as the specific burden for which “a death has occurred,” and their “redemption” is stated as the reason the mediator’s work reaches those called to receive what is promised. The word thus contributes a concrete object to redemption: definite transgressions connected to a prior covenantal order.

Sense and Usage

Across these seven passages, παράβασις is consistently placed where moral failure meets an articulated standard. Romans 4:15 states the principle most directly: transgression is discussed in relation to the existence of “law,” so that disobedience is not treated as an undefined inner flaw but as a violation that becomes recognizable against a known requirement. Romans 2:23 then turns that principle into an ethical confrontation: the law can be a source of boasting, yet transgression makes that boast self-incriminating because it “dishonor[s] God.” In other words, the word carries an outward-facing dimension in Romans 2: it marks conduct that contradicts professed allegiance and results in dishonor.

Romans 5:14 adds historical and comparative weight. It uses Adam’s transgression as a kind of benchmark—some later sins are “not like Adam’s disobedience”—yet death reigns broadly. In that setting, παράβασις is not merely one instance among others; it is a representative disobedience that helps frame how later wrongdoing is assessed. The verse’s contrast implies that the term can point to a distinct kind of disobedience associated with Adam while still allowing for other sins that are not identical in form.

Galatians 3:19 and Hebrews 2:2 both set transgression within formal administration. Galatians asks, “Then why is there the law?” and answers that it was “added because of transgressions,” with a defined endpoint “until the offspring should come.” This places transgression in a pedagogical or regulatory environment: law is added in response to the reality of transgressions and functions within a time-bounded arrangement that is “ordained through angels” and mediated. Hebrews 2:2 likewise speaks of a “word spoken through angels” that is “steadfast,” and it portrays transgressions as receiving “a just penalty.” In both passages, the word fits naturally into a world where commands are issued, mediated, and enforced; transgression is what incurs liability within that order.

Hebrews 9:15 moves from liability to remedy. Transgressions are not merely counted or punished; they become the object of “redemption.” The verse places them “under the first covenant,” thereby giving them a covenantal address, and it links their redemption to a death that grounds the mediator’s work of the “new covenant.” In this passage, παράβασις is closely tied to the problem a covenant mediator must deal with: concrete transgressions that stand within a defined covenantal framework and require a decisive act for redemption.

Finally, 1 Timothy 2:14 shows παράβασις as an entered state or condition—“has fallen into disobedience”—and it associates that fall with deception. This usage highlights a personal and narrative dimension: transgression can be described not only as an infraction under a law but also as a moral fall with a discernible pathway. Even here, though the verse is brief, the term retains its character as a real breach rather than a mere mistake: it is the outcome of being deceived and crossing into disobedience.

Imagery and Framing

These passages repeatedly picture transgression in courtroom and covenant terms: boasting versus dishonor (Romans 2:23), wrath linked to law (Romans 4:15), the reign of death over humanity (Romans 5:14), law added and mediated in an ordered way (Galatians 3:19), a fall into disobedience through deception (1 Timothy 2:14), penalties that are described as just (Hebrews 2:2), and redemption of transgressions within the movement from first covenant to new covenant (Hebrews 9:15). Taken together, παράβασις is presented as a serious breach—defining guilt under law and covenant, and serving as the concrete target of penalty and redemption within those same frameworks.

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).