UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to shake off, to shake out, to shake from

Semantic entry: 16.8

Semantic domains: Non-Linear Movement

Definition: to shake something out or off, in order to get rid of an object or a substance

Notes: In a number of languages quite different terms for shaking will be required for the contexts of RV ACT 28:5 · LV ACT 28:5 · Read together ACT 28:5 and RV LUK 9:5 · LV LUK 9:5 · Read together LUK 9:5, since in the first instance it is an animate being which clings, and in the second instance it is simply a substance that adheres.|In a number of languages, however, the symbolic meaning of ‘shaking dust off one’s feet’ is not at all clear, so that it may be necessary to add a type of classifier to indicate that such an action symbolizes the breaking off of association. It is for this reason that the expression ἐκτιναξάμενος τὰ ἱμάτια in RV ACT 18:6 · LV ACT 18:6 · Read together ACT 18:6 is often translated as ‘he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes.’