ἀφίημι

ἀφίημι (Hom.+) pres. act. ind. 2 sg. ἀφεῖς (Rob. 315; W-S. §14, 16; M-M.) and ἀφίεις (ApcSed 12:4 p. 135, 14 Ja.), 3 sg. ἀφίησιν (TestSim 3:2) and ἀφίει (TestJud 18:3); 1 pl. ἀφίομεν (ἀφίεμεν v.l.; B-D-F §94, 3) Lk 11:4; 3 pl. ἀφίουσιν Rv 11:9. Impf. 2 sg. ἠφίεις Sus 53 LXX, 3 sg. ἤφιε (B-D-F §69, 1); ptc. ἀφίοντες Hs 8, 6, 5. Fut. ἀφήσω. 1 aor. ἀφῆκα, 2 sg. ἀφῆκες Rv 2:4 (W-H.; B-D-F §83, 2); impv. ἄφησον ApcEsdr 1:3 p. 24, 8 Tdf.; 2 aor. impv. ἄφες (as אֲפֶס in rabb.), ἄφετε; subj. ἀφῶ, 2 pl. ἀφῆτε; inf. ἀφεῖναι Mt 23:23 v.l.; Lk 5:21; ptc. ἀφείς. Mid. aor. impv. 2 sg. ἄφησαι (TestAbr A 20 p. 102, 29 [Stone p. 52]). Pass.: pres. ἀφίεμαι, 3 pl. ἀφίονται Mt 9:2 D; fut. ἀφεθήσομαι; 1 aor. ἀφέθην, 3 sg. ἀφείθη Just. D. 141, 3; pf. 3 pl. ἀφέωνται Mt 9:2 v.l.; Mk 2:5 v.l.; Lk 5:20, 23; 7:48; J 20:23; 1J 2:12 (B-D-F §97, 3); impv. 3 sg. ἀφείσθω Ath. 2:4. Gener., to cause someone or someth. to undergo separation.

① to dismiss or release someone or someth. from a place or one’s presence

ⓐ w. personal obj. let go, send away (X., Cyr. 1, 2, 8; Polyb. 33, 1, 6; Tob 10:5; Sir 27:19; Jos., Ant. 16, 135 τ. ἐκκλησίαν) crowds Mt 13:36; Mk 4:36; 8:13 (mng. 3a is also prob.).

ⓑ w. impers. obj. give up, emit obj. τὸ πνεῦμα give up one’s spirit Mt 27:50 (cp. ἀ. τ. ψυχήν Hdt. 4, 190 and oft. in Gk. lit.; Gen 35:18; 1 Esdr 4:21; Jos., Ant. 1, 218; 14, 369 al.). φωνὴν μεγάλην utter a loud cry Mk 15:37 (φων. ἀ. Hdt. et al.; Appian, Bell. Civ. 3, 68 §279; Epict. 2, 22, 12 al.; Gen 45:2; Philo, Sacr. Abel. 34; Jos., Bell. 4, 170, Ant. 8, 325, Vi. 158).

ⓒ in a legal sense divorce γυναῖκα (Hdt. 5, 39) 1 Cor 7:11ff.—Lit.—LEpstein, Marriage Law in the Bible and the Talmud ’42; MHumbert, Le remariage à Rome ’72; CPréaux, in La Femme I, ’79, 161–65 [Hellen. period]; JMurphy-O’Connor, JBL 100, ’81, ’601–6; JMoiser, JSNT 18, ’83, 103–22.

② to release from legal or moral obligation or consequence, cancel, remit, pardon τὸ δάνειον the loan Mt 18:27 (OGI 90, 12; PGrenf I, 26, 9; Dt 15:2). ὀφειλήν a debt vs. 32 (cp. 1 Macc 15:8 πᾶν ὀφείλημα βασιλικὸν ἀ.). Also of remission of the guilt (debt) of sin (Hdt. 6, 30 ἀπῆκέ τʼ ἂν αὐτῷ τὴν αἰτίην; 8, 140, 2; Lysias 20, 34 ἀφιέντας τ. τῶν πατέρων ἁμαρτίας; Herodas 5, 26 ἄφες μοι τὴν ἁμαρτίην ταύτην; 38, 72f; 1 Macc 13:39.—In another construction Diod S 9, 31, 4 Κῦρος αὐτὸν ἀφίησι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων=absolves him of his misdeeds), in OT and NT predom. in sense of divine forgiveness. W. dat. of pers. and acc. of thing: ὀφειλήματα remit, forgive debts (Appian, Ital. 9 §1 ἠφίει τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ χρήσταις τὰ ὀφλήματα) Mt 6:12a; cp. b (s. Sir 28:2 and ὡς 3aβ; FFensham, The Legal Background of Mt 6:12: NovT 4, ’60, 1f [Deut 15:2 LXX]; on the text FBurkitt, ‘As we have forgiven’ Mt 6:12: JTS 33, ’32, 253–55); forgive ἁμαρτίας (Ex 32:32; Num 14:19; Job 42:10 al.; Jos., Ant. 6, 92) Lk 11:4; 1J 1:9. παραπτώματα Mt 6:14f; Mk 11:25; vs. 26 v.l. Pass. (Lev 4:20; 19:22; Is 22:14; 33:24 al.) ἁμαρτίαι Lk 5:20, 23; 7:47b; 1J 2:12; 1 Cl 50:5; Hv 2, 2, 4; Hs 7:4; PtK 3 p. 15, 12; ἁμαρτήματα Mk 3:28 (s. GDalman, Jesus-Jeshua [Eng. tr. PLevertoff 1929], 195–97; JWilliams, NTS 12, ’65, 75–77); PtK 3 p. 15, 27; cp. Mt 12:31f. W. dat. of pers. only Mt 18:21, 35; Lk 17:3f; 23:34 (ELohse, Märtyrer u. Gottesknecht, Exkurs: Lk 23:34, ’55). Pass. (Lev 4:26, 31, 35; Num 15:25f al.) Lk 12:10; Js 5:15.—J 20:23b (s. JMantey, JBL 58, ’39, 243–49 and HCadbury ibid. 251–54). W. impers. obj. only Mt 9:6; Mk 2:7, 10; Lk 5:21, 24; 7:49; J 20:23. Pass. Mt 9:2, 5; Mk 2:5, 9 (s. HBranscomb, JBL 53, ’34, 53–60; B-D-F §320); Lk 7:47f. ἀνομίαι Ro 4:7; 1 Cl 50:6 (both Ps 31:1). Abs. ἀφίετε 1 Cl 13:2.

③ to move away, w. implication of causing a separation, leave, depart from

ⓐ lit. of pers. or physical things as obj. (PGrenf I, 1, 16; BGU 814, 16; 18) Mt 4:11; 8:15; 26:44; Mk 1:20, 31; 12:12; Lk 4:39. The spirit left the possessed man 9:42 D; abandon (Soph., Phil. 486; Hyperid. 5, 32; X., Hell. 6, 4, 5) Mt 26:56; Mk 14:50.—W. impers. obj. (PFay 112, 13; Jer 12:7; Eccl 10:4; 1 Esdr 4:50): J 10:12; house Mk 13:34; cp. Mt 23:38; Lk 13:35 (Diod S 17, 41, 7: Apollo appears and explains that he would leave Tyre, which is doomed to destruction); Judaea J 4:3 (Jos., Ant. 2, 335 τ. Αἴγυπτον); the way Hv 3, 7, 1; everything Mt 19:27, 29; 10:28f; Lk 5:11; 18:28f.

ⓑ fig. of impers. obj. give up, abandon (Aeschyl., Prom. 317 ὀργάς; Arrian, Anab. 1, 10, 6; Jos., Ant. 9, 264 ἀ. τ. ἄρτι βίον) τὴν πρώτην ἀγάπην Rv 2:4; τ. φυσικὴν χρῆσιν Ro 1:27; leave (behind) to go on to someth. else (in orators; Plut., Mor. 793a; Epict. 4, 1, 15 al.) τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ Χρ. λόγον Hb 6:1; neglect (Diod S 1, 39, 11; POxy 1067, 5) also omit (Diod S 8, 12, 11) τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου what is more important in the law Mt 23:23; τὴν ἐντολήν Mk 7:8 (Hyperid. 5, 22 νόμον).

④ to have someth. continue or remain in a place. Leave standing/lying (without concerning oneself further about it as, in a way, Diod S 5, 35, 3 a fire without putting it out) αὐτόν Mt 22:22; τὰ δίκτυα 4:20; Mk 1:18; ἐκεῖ τὸ δῶρον Mt 5:24; cp. 18:12; J 4:28; ἡμιθανῆ half dead Lk 10:30 (cp. Jdth 6:13).—Leave (behind) w. pers. obj. (2 Km 15:16; 3 Km 19:3; Tob 11:2) as orphans J 14:18 (Epict. 3, 24, 14; Jos., Ant. 12, 387). τινὰ μόνον 8:29; 16:32.—τινί τι ἀ. let someone have someth. (cp. Jos., Ant. 7, 274 τ. υἱὸν ἄφες μοι) Mt 5:40. W. acc. only τέκνον, σπέρμα Mk 12:19ff; vs. 21 v.l. τινί τι leave, give (Eccl 2:18; Ps 16:14); Mt 22:25; εἰρήνην ἀφίημι ὑμῖν I leave you peace (cp. Diod S 25, 16 τὸν πόλεμον ἀφίημι=I leave [you] war) J 14:27; leave (over, remaining) (Da 4:15) Hb 2:8.—Pass. be left, remain (Da 4:26) οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ λίθος ἐπὶ λίθον not a stone will be left on another Mt 24:2; Mk 13:2; cp. Lk 21:6 (on the hyperbole cp. Reader, Polemo p. 338).

⑤ to convey a sense of distancing through an allowable margin of freedom, leave it to someone to do something, let, let go, allow, tolerate

ⓐ w. acc. (Arrian, Anab. 1, 25, 2; Himerius, Or. [Ecl.] 4, 1; 4 Km 4:27; PsSol 17:9) Mt 15:14; Mk 5:19; 11:6; 14:6; Lk 13:8; Ac 5:38. ἀφεῖς τ. γυναῖκα Ἰεζάβελ you tolerate the woman Jezebel Rv 2:20. ἐὰν ἀφῶμεν αὐτὸν οὕτως if we let him go on like this (i.e. doing miracles) J 11:48.—Related types of usage allow, let, permit, leave w. double acc. οὐκ ἀμάρτυρον αὐτὸν ἀφῆκεν God has not left himself without a witness Ac 14:17 (cp. Soph., Oed. Col. 1279 ἀ. τινὰ ἄτιμον; PFay 112, 13; POxy 494, 5f ἐλεύθερα ἀφίημι δοῦλά μου σώματα; 1 Macc 1:48). W. acc. and inf. (BGU 23, 7; POxy 121, 15; Ex 12:23; Num 22:13; PsSol 17:27) Mt 8:22; 13:30; 19:14; 23:13; Mk 1:34; 7:12, 27; 10:14; Lk 8:51; 9:60; 12:39; 18:16; J 11:44; 18:8; Rv 11:9; Hv 1, 3, 1; 3, 1, 8; Hs 9, 11, 6. W. ἵνα foll. Mk 11:16.

ⓑ The imperatives ἄφες, ἄφετε are used w. the subjunctive esp. in the first pers. (this is the source of Mod. Gk. ἄς; B-D-F §364, 1 and 2; Rob. 931f) ἄφες ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος let me take out the speck Mt 7:4; Lk 6:42 (cp. Epict. 4, 1, 132 ἄφες σκέψωμαι; POxy 413, 184 [II 1d] ἄφες ἐγὼ αὐτὸν θρηνήσω). ἄφες (ἄφετε) ἴδωμεν let us see Mt 27:49; Mk 15:36 (cp. Epict. 3, 12, 15 ἄφες ἴδω). It is also used w. the third pers. (Epict. 1, 15, 7 ἄφες ἀνθήσῃ). And w. ἵνα in a colloquially expressed sentence ἄφες αὐτήν, ἵνα τηρήσῃ αὐτό let her be, so that she can keep it for the day of my burial J 12:7. (The usage Epict. 4, 13, 19 ἄφες οὖν, ἵνα κἀγὼ ταὐτὰ ὑπολάβω is not strictly parallel, for the impv. is not followed by a pronoun. The rendering let her keep it [s. Mlt. 175f] treats ἄφες as an auxiliary. NRSV’s addition, ‘She bought it’, is unnecessary.) The second pers. is rare ἄφες ἴδῃς Hs 8, 1, 4 acc. to PMich. Abs. let it be so, let it go (Chariton 4, 3, 6) Mt 3:15; GEb 18, 40 (w. ὅτι foll.=‘for’).—B. 768; 839; 1174. DELG s.v. ἵημι. M-M. TW. Sv.