Original Word: ἀπολύω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: apoluó
Pronunciation: ah-po-LOO-oh
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-ol-oo'-o)
Definition: To release, to set free, to dismiss, to send away, to divorce.
Meaning: I release, let go, send away, divorce, am rid; mid: I depart.

Word Origin: From the preposition ἀπό (apo, meaning "from") and the verb λύω (luó, meaning "to loose" or "to release").

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: The Hebrew equivalent often associated with the concept of release or dismissal is שָׁלַח (shalach, Strong's H7971), which means "to send" or "to let go."

Usage: The verb ἀπολύω (apoluó) is used in the New Testament to convey the act of releasing or setting someone or something free. It can refer to the physical release of a person from captivity or bondage, the dismissal of a crowd or gathering, or the act of divorce in a marital context. The term is often used in the context of Jesus releasing individuals from physical or spiritual bondage, as well as in legal or social settings where individuals are sent away or dismissed.

Cultural and Historical Background: In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of release or dismissal was common in various aspects of life, including legal, social, and religious contexts. The act of releasing a slave or prisoner was a significant event, often accompanied by formal procedures. In Jewish culture, the concept of divorce was regulated by Mosaic Law, and the term ἀπολύω is used in the New Testament to discuss the legal and moral implications of divorce. The cultural understanding of release and dismissal would have been familiar to the original audience of the New Testament writings.

630 apolýō (from 575 /apó, "away from" and 3089 /lýō, "to loose, release") – properly, to let go; release (discharge), dismiss. This term implies the release (annulment) of an existing bond.

630 /apolýō ("to release") is specifically used of divorcing a marital partner (Mt 1:19, 5:31,32, 19:7-9 – parallels at Mk 10:2-12; Lk 16:18).

Note: The Bible never contradicts itself and hence "the divorce passages" in the Gospels uttered by Jesus (following on fornication) are not contrary to the lengthy treatment of marriage/divorce by Paul in 1 Cor 6:15-7:16 (which permits divorce on a broad definition of constructive or actual abandonment).

Word Origin
from apo and luó
Definition
to set free, release
NASB Translation
dismissed (1), divorce (3), divorced (2), divorces (5), freed (1), leaving (1), let...go (2), pardon (1), pardoned (1), release (20), released (8), releasing...to depart (1), send...away (9), sending...away (1), sending away (1), sends...away (1), sent...away (6), sent away (2), set free (1).

STRONGS NT 630: ἀπολύω

ἀπολύω; (imperfect ἀπελυον); future ἀπολύσω; 1 aorist ἀπελυσα; passive, perfect ἀπολελυμαι; 1 aorist ἀπελυθην; (future ἀπολυθήσομαι); imperfect middle ἀπελυομην (Acts 28:25); used in the N. T. only in the historical books and in Hebrews 13:23; to loose from, sever by loosening, undo (see ἀπό, V.);

1. to set free: τινα τίνος (so in Greek writings even from Homer down), to liberate one from a thing (as from a bond), Luke 13:12 (ἀπολέλυσαι (thou hast been loosed i. e.) be thou free from (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 40, 4) τῆς ἀσθενείας (L T ἀπό τῆς ἀσθενείας)).

2. to let go, dismiss (to detain no longer); τινα, a. a suppliant to whom liberty to depart is given by a decisive answer: Matthew 15:23; Luke 2:29 (`me whom thou hadst determined to keep on earth until I had seen the salvation prepared for Israel, cf. Luke 2:26, thou art now dismissing with my wish accomplished, and this dismission is at the same time dismission also from life' — in reference to which ἀπολύειν is used in Numbers 20:29; Tobit 3:6; (cf. Genesis 15:2; 2 Macc. 7:9; Plutarch, consol. ad Apoll. § 13 cf. 11 at the end)); (Acts 23:22).

b. to bid depart, send away: Matthew 14:15, 22; Matthew 15:32, 39; Mark 6:36, 45; Mark 8:3, 9; Luke 8:38; Luke 9:12; Luke 14:4; Acts 13:3; Acts 19:41 (τήν ἐκκλησίαν); passive Acts 15:30, 33.

3. to let go free, to release;

a. a captive, i. e. to loose his bonds and bid him depart, to give him liberty to depart: Luke 22:68 (R G L Tr in brackets); ; John 19:10; Acts 16:35; Acts 26:32 (ἀπολελύσθαι ἐδύνατο (might have been set at liberty, cf. Buttmann, 217 (187), § 139, 27 c.; Winers Grammar, 305 (286) i. e.) might be free; perfect as in Luke 13:12 (see 1 above, and Winer's Grammar, 334 (313))); Acts 28:18; Hebrews 13:23; ἀπολύειν τινα τίνι, to release one to one, grant him his liberty: Matthew 27:15, 17, 21, 26; Mark 15:6, 9, 11, 15; Luke 23:(), (R L in brackets), ; (John 18:39).

b. to acquit one accused of a crime and set him at liberty: John 19:12; Acts 3:13.

c. indulgently to grant a prisoner leave to depart: Acts 4:21, 23; Acts 5:40; Acts 17:9.

d. to release a debtor, i. e. not to press one's claim against him, to remit his debt: Matthew 18:27; metaphorically, to pardon another his offences against me: Luke 6:37 (τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπολύεσθαι, 2 Macc. 12:45).

4. used of divorce, as ἀπολύω τήν γυναῖκα to dismiss from the house, to repudiate: Matthew 1:19; Matthew 5:31; Matthew 19:3, 7-9; Mark 10:2, 4, 11; Luke 16:18; (1 Esdr. 9:36); and improperly a wife deserting her husband is said τόν ἄνδρα ἀπολύειν in Mark 10:12 (cf. Diodorus 12, 18) (unless, as is more probable, Mark, contrary to historic accuracy (yet cf. Josephus, Antiquities 15, 7, 10), makes Jesus speak in accordance with Greek and Roman usage, according to which wives also repudiated their husbands (references in Meyer, at the passage)); (cf. שִׁלַּח, Jeremiah 3:8; Deuteronomy 21:14; Deuteronomy 22:19, 29).

5. Middle ἀπολύομαι, properly, to send oneself away; to depart (Winer's Grammar, 253 (238)): Acts 28:20 (returned home; Exodus 33:11).

dismiss, divorce, abandon, release.

From apo and luo; to free fully, i.e. (literally) relieve, release, dismiss (reflexively, depart), or (figuratively) let die, pardon or (specially) divorce -- (let) depart, dismiss, divorce, forgive, let go, loose, put (send) away, release, set at liberty.

see GREEK apo

see GREEK luo

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