The Greek verb ekptuo is a compound of ek (out) and ptuo (to spit), meaning to spit out or reject with strong contempt. It appears only once in the NT (Galatians 4:14), where Paul declares that despite his bodily illness, the Galatians did not despise or reject him — they received him as an angel of God.
In Galatians 4:14, Paul uses ekptuo in the negative — "you did not... spit out" his bodily condition. The cultural significance is striking: spitting was a gesture of contempt and rejection (Numbers 12:14; Job 30:10; Isaiah 50:6). Paul's physical ailment apparently made him an unappealing preacher, yet the Galatians received him warmly. This reminds us that the gospel comes through weak, afflicted vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7). The Galatians' initial reception of Paul — their refusal to ekptuo him — stands as a rebuke to their current drift from the gospel. How had they gone from receiving him as Christ to now abandoning what he taught (Galatians 4:15)?