UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to let go away, to dismiss

Semantic entry: 15.43

Semantic domains: Linear Movement

Subdomains: Leave, Depart, Flee, Escape, Send

Definition: to cause (or permit) a person or persons to leave a particular location{N:001}

Sense 2: to leave, to depart from

Semantic entry: 15.48

Semantic domains: Linear Movement

Subdomains: Leave, Depart, Flee, Escape, Send

Definition: to move away from, with the implication of resulting separation{N:002}

Sense 3: to leave, to leave behind

Semantic entry: 85.45

Semantic domains: Existence in Space

Subdomains: Put, Place

Definition: to let something be put behind in a place

Sense 4: to let remain, to leave

Semantic entry: 85.62

Semantic domains: Existence in Space

Subdomains: Remain, Stay

Definition: to permit something to continue in a place

Sense 5: to divorce, to separate

Semantic entry: 34.78

Semantic domains: Association

Subdomains: Marriage, Divorce

Definition: to dissolve the marriage bond

Notes: Expressions for divorce are often based on terms meaning literally ‘to send away,’ ‘to separate from,’ or ‘to leave one another.’ However, in a number of languages idiomatic expressions are employed, for example ‘to send him off with his clothes,’ ‘to untie the knot between them,’ or ‘to throw away her hearthstones.’|Some persons have attempted to make an important distinction between ἀφίημι in RV CO1 7:11 · RV CO1 7:13 · LV CO1 7:11 · LV CO1 7:13 · Read together CO1 7:11 · Read together CO1 7:13 and χωρίζω [source selector 000001] in RV CO1 7:15 · LV CO1 7:15 · Read together CO1 7:15 on the assumption that ἀφίημι implies legal divorce, while χωρίζω [source selector 000001] only relates to separation. Such a distinction, however, seems to be quite artificial.

Sense 6: to pardon, to forgive, forgiveness

Semantic entry: 40.8

Semantic domains: Reconciliation, Forgiveness

Subdomains: Forgiveness

Definition: to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing

Notes: It is extremely important to note that the focus in the meanings of ἀφίημι[f], ἄφεσις[a], and ἀπολύω[e] is upon the guilt of the wrongdoer and not upon the wrongdoing itself. The event of wrongdoing is not undone, but the guilt resulting from such an event is pardoned. To forgive, therefore, means essentially to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing.|Some languages make a clear distinction between guilt and sin, and terms for forgiveness are therefore related to guilt and not to the wrongdoing. Therefore, ‘to forgive sins’ is literally ‘to forgive guilt.’ Though terms for ‘forgiveness’ are often literally ‘to wipe out,’ ‘to blot out,’ or ‘to do away with,’ it is obviously not possible to blot out or to wipe out an event, but it is possible to remove or obliterate the guilt.

Sense 7: to cancel a debt, to forgive a debt

Semantic entry: 57.223

Semantic domains: Possess, Transfer, Exchange

Subdomains: Owe, Debt, Cancel

Definition: to release a person from the obligation of repaying what is owed

Sense 8: to refuse to listen to, to reject

Semantic entry: 31.63

Semantic domains: Hold a View, Believe, Trust

Subdomains: Change an Opinion Concerning Truth

Definition: to no longer pay attention to previous beliefs

Sense 9: to give up, to stop, to quit

Semantic entry: 68.43

Semantic domains: Aspect

Subdomains: Cease, Stop

Definition: to stop doing something, with the implication of complete cessation

Sense 10: to cease, to stop, to leave

Semantic entry: 13.37

Semantic domains: Be, Become, Exist, Happen

Subdomains: State

Definition: to cease, of a state

Sense 11: to let, to allow, to leave it to

Semantic entry: 13.140

Semantic domains: Be, Become, Exist, Happen

Subdomains: Happen

Definition: to leave it to someone to do something, with the implication of distancing oneself from the event

Sense 12: to produce, to make, to give

Semantic entry: 90.50

Semantic domains: Case

Subdomains: Agent of a Numerable Event

Definition: a marker of an agent relation with numerable events, with the implication of something which proceeds from an agent

Sense 13: that is not what I mean, that is not the issue, that is not the point

Semantic entry: 33.137

Semantic domains: Communication

Subdomains: Interpret, Mean, Explain

Definition: (an idiom, possibly an adage, literally: let the dead bury their dead) the matter in question is not the real issue

Notes: Some scholars, however, understand this expression as merely a figurative reference to various types of people and thus translate ‘let those who are spiritually dead take care of their own dead.’

Collocations: ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς

Sense 14: to die

Semantic entry: 23.109

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Live, Die

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to send away the spirit) interpreted by some as implying voluntarily laying down one’s life, but such an inference is not justified by normal Greek usage)

Collocations: ἀφίημι τὸ πνεῦμα