Exploring the Meaning of Paraphero in Greek

παραφέρω describes an act of taking something away. It appears in prayers about removing a “cup,” in warnings about being “carried away” by teaching, and in a picture of clouds “carried along” by winds.

Root and Related Words

παραφέρω (Paraphero) is formed from παρά (para), “from/with/beside” (Strong’s G3844), and φέρω (phero), “to bear/lead” (Strong’s G5342). The compound sets the action in terms of movement in relation to something else—an idea that fits the varied scenes where something is removed, borne off, or swept along.

Occurrences

“He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”” (Mark 14:36)

Here the verb is spoken as a request directed to the Father: “Please remove this cup from me.” The wording places the taking away in a personal and immediate frame—something is envisioned as present (“this cup”) and located in relation to the speaker (“from me”), and the plea is that it be taken away from that proximity. The request is coupled with surrender—“not what I desire, but what you desire”—so the act of taking away is treated as possible (“all things are possible to you”) yet subject to the Father’s will rather than the speaker’s preference.

“saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”” (Luke 22:42)

This occurrence parallels the same request, but it is framed with an explicit condition: “if you are willing.” The action of taking away is again tied to a definite object (“this cup”) and a definite relationship (“from me”), which gives the request concreteness rather than abstraction. The second clause—“not my will, but yours, be done”—sets the removal of the cup within a larger contrast of wills: the taking away is desired, yet the speaker yields the decision to the Father’s will.

“Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.” (Hebrews 13:9)

In Hebrews, the verb is applied metaphorically to the inner life of a community: “Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings.” The language portrays teachings as exerting a pull strong enough to remove someone from a stable position. The surrounding clauses clarify what that stability looks like: “it is good that the heart be established by grace.” Against this establishing, being “carried away” is a kind of removal—drawn off course by teaching that is described as “various and strange.” The verse contrasts what strengthens (“grace”) with what fails to benefit (“food… those who were so occupied were not benefited”), so the taking-away imagery functions as a warning against displacement from what actually establishes the heart.

“These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;” (Jude 1:12)

Jude uses the verb within a chain of vivid images describing disruptive people and their effects. The clause “clouds without water, carried along by winds” paints a natural scene where movement happens because of external forces. A cloud normally suggests the promise of rain, but this one is “without water,” and instead of giving anything, it is simply “carried along.” The taking-away idea is expressed through this being borne off by winds: the cloud is removed from one place to another without purpose or provision, driven rather than directed. Within the verse’s broader sequence—“hidden rocky reefs… shepherds… feed themselves… autumn trees without fruit… plucked up by the roots”—the image of being carried along contributes to the portrayal of instability and emptiness: motion without the expected substance.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, “to take away” operates on different levels while keeping the same core direction of movement: an object is removed from where it is presently situated. In Mark and Luke, the request concerns “this cup,” which is spoken of as something that can be removed “from me.” The taking away is not described as destruction or denial; it is conceived as a relocation—an object no longer remaining in the speaker’s immediate experience. Both prayers bind that request tightly to divine will, making the act of removal something that may be granted, yet is not demanded as the controlling outcome.

In Hebrews and Jude, the same removal is applied to persons and things that are moved by influence. Hebrews describes people as capable of being “carried away” by “teachings,” which shifts the focus from an object being removed to a person being removed from steadiness. The verse anchors the antidote in the heart being “established by grace,” so the implied danger of being carried away is that one is taken away from an established center. Jude, by contrast, keeps the imagery in the natural world: “clouds… carried along by winds.” Winds do not persuade as teachings do; they push and sweep. Yet the point is similar: movement occurs because something external acts upon what is moved, and what is moved contributes nothing substantial (“without water”) even as it is borne along.

These uses show how “taking away” can describe a requested removal in prayer and an experienced removal under pressure—whether intellectual pressure (“various and strange teachings”) or environmental force (“winds”). In each case, the word contributes the picture of displacement: something does not remain where it is, but is borne away from its present location or state.

Imagery

The passages cluster around two strong images: the “cup” that may be removed, and the being “carried along” by forces outside oneself. Mark 14:36 and Luke 22:42 set the word in a quiet, direct appeal—an intimate request that something near and burdensome be taken away. Hebrews 13:9 and Jude 1:12 set it in motion and drift, where what is taken away is not a cup but stability itself: people can be swept off by teachings, and clouds can be swept along by winds.

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).