Opportunity
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ἀφορμή can name a starting point, occasion, opportunity, or opening from which action proceeds. In Romans 7:8 and 7:11, sin seizes an opportunity through the commandment, so the opportunity is exploited by sin rather than caused by a defect in God's law.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀφορμή (G874) · Open the biblical lexicon
ἀφορμή can name a starting point, occasion, opportunity, or opening from which action proceeds. In Romans 7:8 and 7:11, sin seizes an opportunity through the commandment, so the opportunity is exploited by sin rather than caused by a defect in God's law.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [its] opportunity (2), an opportunity (2), - (1), an occasion (1), occasion (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 7:8. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Corinthians (3), Romans (2), 1 Timothy (1), Galatians (1).
ἀφορμή can name a starting point, occasion, opportunity, or opening from which action proceeds. In Romans 7:8 and 7:11, sin seizes an opportunity through the commandment, so the opportunity is exploited by sin rather than caused by a defect in God's law. In Galatians 5:13, Paul warns believers not to turn freedom into an opportunity for the flesh.
The word also occurs in ministry and reputation settings. Paul refuses to give people an opportunity for boastful comparison in 2 Corinthians 5:12, and in 11:12 he works to cut off an opportunity claimed by rival workers. First Timothy 5:14 seeks to give an adversary no occasion for slander within a difficult set of household instructions. Across these texts, an opportunity may be seized, denied, or misused; the noun itself does not tell readers whether the opening is morally good.
ἀφορμή names an occasion or opening for action. Paul uses it for sin's exploitation of the commandment, the flesh's misuse of freedom, and openings that ministry conduct may give to boasting or accusation.
But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.
Paul continues his ministry practice in order to cut off the opportunity sought by people who want to claim equality in what they boast about. The verse concerns a contested apostolic setting, not a general command to suppress comparison.
So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.
The instruction seeks to deny an adversary an occasion for slander within a specific discussion of younger widows. It should not be universalized into suspicion of women or used to make reputation override safety and vocation.
For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
Paul protects Christian freedom while warning that it can be turned into an opening for the flesh. Loving service is the positive alternative in the verse.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Opportunity seized as a base for action, often exploited for wrong motives or sin
Opportunity seized as a base for action, often exploited for wrong motives or sin
prop., a starting point; in war, a base of operations; metaphorically, an occasion, incentive, opportunity (MM, see word): 2Co.11:12, Gal.5:13; ἀφ. λαμβάνειν, Luk.11:24, WH, mg., Rom.7:8, 11; ἀφ. διδόναι, 2Co.5:12, 1Ti.5:14.*
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
an occasion, opportunity
Read versean occasion, opportunity
Read versean occasion, opportunity
Read versean occasion, opportunity
Read versean occasion, opportunity
Read versean occasion, opportunity
Read versean occasion, opportunity
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
ἀφορμή is built from these roots:
Galatians 5:13 gives ἀφορμή a searching pastoral use: freedom must not become an opening for the flesh, but should express itself through loving service. The warning does not make Christian freedom suspect. It identifies the direction in which freedom can be bent when self-interest takes control. Romans 7 supplies another distinction, because sin seizes an opportunity through the commandment while the commandment remains holy and good.
An opening can be exploited without being evil in itself. Churches can therefore examine incentives, habits, and public conduct without blaming God's gifts for sinful misuse. The word supports wise boundaries, but it should not become a pretext for surveillance, coercion, or restrictions that Scripture has not required.
2Cor.11.12
ἀφορμή is a feminine noun that can refer to a starting point, base, occasion, incentive, or opportunity. The local normalized artifact records about seven New Testament occurrences, all in accusative singular forms, including a repeated use in 2 Corinthians 11:12. Identical morphology does not make the moral function identical.
Wisdom literature repeatedly warns about paths, invitations, and circumstances that enable destructive action, providing a broad canonical analogy. That analogy should not be presented as a direct lexical equivalence with ἀφορμή.
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