apolyō · release, send away

What it means

apolyō (ἀπολύω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “release, send away”.

Release, let go, send away; said of a wife, divorce her.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To set a prisoner free, or cancel a debt.
2. To bid someone farewell and let them go.
3. To end a marriage by sending the wife away.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To release, let go, send away: to undo the tie that holds someone. It is said of releasing a prisoner, dismissing a crowd and, with a wife, of divorcing her. It is a compound of λύω (loose).

• Sending away a wife: divorce Matthew 5:31Mark 10:2Matthew 1:19
• Releasing a prisoner Matthew 27:26Luke 23:16
• Dismissing the crowd or sending people off Mark 6:45Mark 8:9Acts 13:3
• “You are releasing your slave… in peace” Luke 2:29
• Setting free, letting go Luke 13:12Luke 6:37

Historical and cultural background

The law quoted in Matthew 5:31 required the one who sent away his wife to “give her a certificate of divorce”.

How we translate it

“Release” 19 times and “released” 11 when a prisoner is freed (Matthew 27:26); with a wife, “send away” (Matthew 5:31; 1:19) or “divorce” (Mark 10:2); “dismisses” or “sent them away” with a crowd. In Luke 13:12, “you are set free”, and in Luke 6:37, “release, and you will be released”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• release ×19
• released ×11
• divorce ×5
• send away ×5
• divorces ×4
• he sent away ×3
• after sending away ×2
• dismissed ×2
• sends away ×2
• they were sent off ×2
• others ×12

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×20
• Mark×12
• Luke×14
• John×5
• Acts×15
• Hebrews×1

• Matthew 1:19

  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly, decided to send her away secretly.

• Matthew 5:31

  And it was said, ‘Whoever sends away his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

• Matthew 5:32

  But I tell you that everyone who sends away his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been sent away commits adultery.

• Matthew 14:15

  When evening came, the disciples came to him, saying, “The place is deserted, and the hour has already passed; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

• Matthew 14:22

  And at once he made the disciples get into a boat and go ahead of him to the other side, until he sent the crowds away.

• Matthew 14:23

  And after sending the crowds away, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.

• Matthew 15:23

  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and were urging him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

• Matthew 15:32

  And Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been staying with me three days already and they do not have anything to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

• Matthew 15:39

  And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and came into the region of Magadan.

• Matthew 18:27

  And the master of that slave had compassion and released him and forgave him the loan.

• Matthew 19:3

  And Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

• Matthew 19:7

  They say to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to divorce her?”

• Matthew 19:8

  He says to them, “Moses, because of your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.

• Matthew 19:9

  And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

• Matthew 27:15

  Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wanted.

• Matthew 27:17

  So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Messiah?”

• Matthew 27:21

  And the governor answered them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”

• Matthew 27:26

  Then he released Barabbas for them; but after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

• Mark 6:36

  send them away, so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

• Mark 6:45

  And at once he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side, toward Bethsaida, while he dismisses the crowd.

• Mark 8:3

  and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from far away.”

• Mark 8:9

  And there were about four thousand; and he sent them away.

• Mark 10:2

  And they were asking him whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him.

• Mark 10:4

  And they said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.”

• Mark 10:11

  And he says to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her;

• Mark 10:12

  and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

• Mark 15:6

  Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner, whomever they asked for.

• Mark 15:9

  And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

• Mark 15:11

  But the high priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release for them Barabbas instead.

• Mark 15:15

  And Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them, and having flogged Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

• Luke 2:29

  “Now you are releasing your slave, Sovereign, according to your word, in peace;

• Luke 6:37

  And do not judge, and you will never be judged; and do not condemn, and you will never be condemned; release, and you will be released.

• Luke 8:38

  But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging him to be with him; but he sent him away, saying,

• Luke 9:12

  Now the day began to decline, and the Twelve came and said to him, “Send away the crowd, so that going into the surrounding villages and farms, they may find lodging and find provisions; because here we are in a deserted place.”

• Luke 13:12

  And when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your weakness.”

• Luke 14:4

  But they kept silent. And taking hold of him, he healed him and sent him away.

• Luke 16:18

  Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

• Luke 23:16

  So after punishing him I will release him.”

• Luke 23:18

  But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!”

• Luke 23:20

  But Pilate addressed them again, wanting to release Jesus;

And 27 more times.