anthistemi denotes standing or acting against a person, claim, authority, or hostile force in the situations shown in Scripture.

The occurrences consistently show active opposition or resistance: people oppose Moses, the truth, spoken words, or an authority, while others are told to resist hostile forces or are unable to withstand wisdom and speech. The same use can describe direct confrontation, as when the speaker acts against Cephas face-to-face in Galatians 2:11, and resistance to a will or authority in Romans 9:19 and Romans 13:2.

1. Acting or standing against someone or something · dominant

   Across the occurrences, the verb marks opposition directed at a person, message, authority, or force. In Acts 13:8 the imperfect middle form occurs as Elymas seeks to turn the proconsul away from the faith; in Galatians 2:11 the first-person aorist form is used of confronting Cephas face-to-face; and in Romans 13:2 the perfect forms concern acting against authority and God's ordinance. Imperative plural forms in James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:9 call the hearers to resist the devil and to be strong amid suffering.

   Acts 13:8Galatians 2:11Romans 13:2James 4:71 Peter 5:92 Timothy 3:8

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously uses “oppose,” “resist,” and “withstand” in these verses. Because its English is a whole-verse translation, those renderings show the verses' opposition context without assigning each English choice as a separate meaning.