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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #859 - ἄφεσις
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- release from bondage or imprisonment
- forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty
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did not use
this Strong's Number
ἄφεσις, εως, ἡ, (ἀφίημι)
1. letting go, release, περὶ τῆς τῶν πλοίων ἀφέσεως Philipp. ap. D. 18.77, cf. Pl. Plt. 273c; καρπῶν PAmh. 2.43.9 (ii B. C.); γῆ ἐν ἀφέσει land in private hands, opp. βασιλική, PTeb. 5.37 (ii B. C.), etc. of persons, dismissal: in ritual, λαοῖς ἄ. Apul. Met. 11.17; release, Plb. 1.79.12, IG 2.314.21, Luke 4:18.
2. c. gen., ἀ. φόνου quittance from murder, Pl. Lg. 869d: so abs., Hermog. Stat. 8; discharge from a bond, D. 33.3; ἄ. ἐναντίον μαρτύρων ποιήσασθαι Id. 45.41; opp. ἀπόδοσις χρημάτων, Isoc. 17.29; exemption from attendance, leave of absence, Arist. Ath. 30.6; ἀ. τῆς στρατείας exemption from service, Plu. Ages. 24; remission of a debt, ταλάντου Michel 1340 B7 (Cnidus, ii B. C.); χρημάτων IPE 12.32 B 70 (Olbia, iii B. C.); sc. καταδίκης, Inscr.Magn. 93c16. forgiveness, Mark 3:29; ἁμαρτιῶν Matthew 26:28.
3. relaxation, exhaustion, Hp. Epid. 3.6.
4. divorce, τινὶ πέμπειν Plu. Pomp. 42.
5. starting of horses in a race, ἵππων ἄ. ποιεῖν D.S. 4.73: hence, starting-post itself, ἰσώσας τἀφέσει (Musgr. for τῇ φύσει) τὰ τέρματα having made the winning-post one with the starting-post, i.e. having completed the δίαυλος and come back to the starting-post, dub. cj. in S. El. 686, cf. Paus. 5.15.5, 6.20.9: metaph., the first start, beginning of anything, Man. 3.405, etc.
6. discharge, emission, ὕδατος Arist. PA 697a24; βέλους D.S. 17.41; τοῦ θοροῦ, τοῦ ᾠοῦ Arist. GA 756a12; τοῦ κυήματος Id. HA 608a1; the dropping of a foal, ib. 576a25. discharge, release of an engine, Ph. Bel. 58.24.
7. = cross ἀφεσμός, Arist. HA 625a20 (pl.).
8. release, ὕδατος PPetr. 2p.34 (iii B. C.): hence, in concrete sense, conduit, sluice, ib. 3p.88, PFlor. 388.44 (iii A. D.): pl., ἀφέσεις θαλάσσης channels, LXX 2 Kings 22:16.
9. Astrol., reckoning of the vital quadrant, Ptol. Tetr. 127, cf. Vett.Val. 136.2 (but ἀπὸ Λέοντος τὴν ἄφεσιν ποιούμενοι, simply, starting from.., Id. 31.8).
ἄφεσις, ἀφέσεως, ἡ (ἀφίημι);
1. release, as from bondage, imprisonment, etc.: Luke 4:18 (19) (Isaiah 61:1f; Polybius 1, 79, 12, etc.).
2. ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν forgiveness, pardon, of sins (properly, the letting them go, as if they had not been committed (see at length Trench, § xxxiii.)), remission of their penalty: Matthew 26:28; Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77; Luke 3:3; Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38; Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:14; τῶν παραπτωμάτων, Ephesians 1:7; and simply ἄφεσις: Mark 3:29; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:18 (φόνου, Plato, legg. 9, p. 869 d.; ἐγκληματων, Diodorus 20, 44 (so Dionysius Halicarnassus 50:8 § 50, see also 7, 33; 7, 46; especially 7, 64; ἁμαρτημάτων, Philo, vit. Moys. 3:17; others.)).
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ἄφεσις , -εως , ἡ
(< ἀφίημι ),
[in LXX for H3104, H1865, etc. (v. Deiss., BS, 98 ff.; MM, s.v.);]
1. dismissal, release: Luke 4:18.
2. Metaph., of sins (never in LXX), pardon, remission of penalty: ἁμαρτιῶν , Matthew 26:28, Mark 1:4, Luke 1:77; Luke 3:3; Luke 24:47, Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38; Acts 26:18, Colossians 1:14; παραπτωμάτων , Ephesians 1:7; absol., Mark 3:29, Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:18 (cf. DB, ii, 56; DCG, i, 437, ii, 605; Cremer, 297 f.).†
SYN.: πάρεσις G3929, q.v. (and cf. Tr., § xxxiii).
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
In Egypt ἄφεσις τοῦ ὕδατος was apparently a technical expression for the ";release"; of the water from the sluices or canals for the purpose of irrigation, e.g. P Petr II.13(2).12 ff. (B.C. 258–3) ἵνα ἐπισκευασθῶσι πρὸ τῆς τ ́οῦ ὕδατος ἀφέσεως , ";in order that they (sc. bridges) may be finished before the letting loose of the water"; (Ed.), ib. III. 39.12, and 44 verso ii. 19 f. τ [ῶν κατ ]ὰ Πτολεμαίδα ἀ [φ ]έσεων ἠνώιξαμεν β ̄ θῦ [ρας ]. In this sense the noun may be concrete, meaning apparently a ";channel"; or ";sluice"; : P Oxy VI. 918v. 20 (ii/A.D.) ἀπηλ (ιώτου ) ὁδὸ (ς ) δημοσί (α ) ἐν η ἄφεσις λιθίνη . Hence, as Deissmann has shown (BS p. 98 ff.), the increased vividness for the Egyptians of the pictures in Joel 1:20, Lamentations 3:47 through the use of ἀφέσεις by the LXX translators. The word is similarly employed to denote the official ";release"; of the harvest after the taxes had been paid, in order that the cultivators might then use it for their own purposes, as P Petr II. 2(1).9 f. (B.C. 260–59) τῆς μ ]ισθώσεως διαγορευούσης κομίσασθαι [αὐτὸ ]ν τ [ὰ ] ἐκφόρια ὅταν ἡ ἄφεσις δοθῇ , P Amh II. 43.9 (B.C. 173) ὅταν ἡ ἄφεσις τῶν πυρίνων καρπῶν γένηται , ";whenever the release of the wheat crops takes place"; (Edd. : see their note ad l. and cf. Archiv iv. p. 60). The editors regard it as very doubtful whether the difficult phrase γῆ ἐν ἀφέσει , P Tebt I. 5.37 al (B.C. 118), is to be explained in the same way, and in their note on P Tebt II. 325.5 they suggest ";in reduction,"; or ";on reduced terms"; as a possible rendering. Mahaffy (P Petr III. p. 35) translates the same phrase in P Par 63.177 (B.C. 165) by ";privileged land."; A nearer approach to the Pauline use for ";forgiveness"; is afforded by the occurrence of the word in inscriptions for remission from debt or punishment, e.g. Michel 1340b. .7 (Cnidus, ii/B.C.) τᾶς τε ἀφέσιος τοῦ ταλάντου ὅ φαν [τι ] ἀφεῖσθαι Καλύμνιοι ὑπὸ Παυσιμάχου , Syll 226.166 (Olbia on the Euxine, ii/i/B.C.) τοῖς μὲν ἀφέσεις ἐποιήσατο τῶν χρημάτων (and exacted no interest from other debtors), Magn 93(c).14 ff. τὰ γὰρ ὀφειλόμ [ενα κατὰ τ ]ὴν καταδίκην τῆς καθηκούσης τετευχέναι ἐξαγωγῆς ἤτοι εἰσ [πραχθείσης τ ]ῆς καταδίκης ἤ ἀφέσεως γενομένης : see also CIG 2058b. .70 (Olbia, ii/i B.C.), 2335.6 (Delos, time of Pompey) (Nägeli, p. 56). With a gen. pers. it denotes the ";release"; of prisoners or captives, as Luke 4:18, Syll 197.21 (B.C. 284–3) ὅσοι δ ]ὲ αἰχμάλωτοι ἐγένοντο , ἐμφανίσας τῷ βα [σιλεῖ καὶ ] λαβὼν αὐτοῖς ἄφε [σ ]ιν κτλ ., or ";release"; from some public duty, as P Oxy VII. 1020.6 (A.D. 198–201) ο ̣̔ ἡγούμ [ενος ] τοῦ ἔθνους τὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς ἀφέσε ̣ως ἐκδικ [ήσει . In P Tebt II. 404.1 (late iii/A.D.) what seems to be the heading of a set of accounts runs Λόγο [ς ] ἀφέσε ̣ως στατήρων ρ ̣̄λ ̣̄ : the editors render ";expenditure (?)."; It should also be noted that the word was a term. techn. in astrology : see index to Vettius, p. 377. Thus p. 225.16 χρὴ ταῖς λοιπαῖς τῶν ἀστέρων ἀφέσεσι καὶ μαρτυρίαις καὶ ἀκτινοβολίαις προσέχειν . See also Abbott Joh. Voc. p. 178 f., with a correction in Fourfold Gospel, p. 59.
[Supplemental from 1930 edition]
Add P Strass I. 55, introd.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.