ἀποστέλλω

ἀποστέλλω — apostéllō

ἀποστέλλω; future ἀποστελῶ; 1 aorist ἀπέστειλα; perfect ἀπέσταλκα (3 person plural ἀπέσταλκαν Act 16:36 L T Tr WH (see γίνομαι at the beginning); passive, present ἀποστέλλομαι); perfect ἀπεστάλμαι; 2 aorist ἀπεστάλην; (from Sophocles down); properly, to send off, send away;

1. to order (one) to go to a place appointed;

a. either persons sent with commissions, or things intended for someone. So, very frequently, Jesus teaches that God sent him, as Mat 10:40; Mar 9:37; Luk 10:16; Joh 5:36, etc. he, too, is said to have sent his apostles, i. e. to have appointed them: Mar 6:7; Mat 10:16; Luk 22:35; Joh 20:21, etc. messengers are sent: Luk 7:3; Luk 9:52; Luk 10:1; servants, Mar 6:27; Mar 12:2; Mat 21:36; Mat 22:3; an embassy, Luk 14:32; Luk 19:14; angels, Mar 13:27; Mat 24:31, etc. Things are said to be sent, which are ordered to be led away or conveyed to anyone, as Mat 21:3; Mar 11:3; τό δρέπανον i. e. reapers, Mar 4:29 (others take ἀποστέλλω here of the putting forth of the sickle, i. e. of the act of reaping; cf. (Joe 3:18); Rev 14:15 (under the word πέμπω, b.)); τόν λόγον, Act 10:36; Act 13:26 (L T Tr WH ἐξαπεστάλη); τήν ἐπαγγελίαν (equivalent to ἐπηγγελμενον, i. e. the promised Holy Spirit) ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, Luk 24:49 (T Tr WH ἐξαποστέλλω); τί διά χειρός τίνος, after the Hebrew בְּיַד, Act 11:30.

b. The place of the sending is specified: ἀποστέλλειν εἰς τινα τόπον, Mat 20:2; Luk 1:26; Act 7:34; Act 10:8; Act 19:22; 2Ti 4:12; Rev 5:6, etc. God sent Jesus εἰς τόν κόσμον: Joh 3:17; Joh 10:36; Joh 17:18; 1Jn 4:9. εἰς (unto, i. e.) among: Mat 15:24; Luk 11:49; Acts (Act 22:21 WH marginal reading);; (ἐν (by a pregnant or a Latin construction) cf. Winers Grammar, § 50, 4; Buttmann, 329 (283): Mat 10:16; Luk 10:3; yet see 1 a. above); ὀπίσω τίνος, Luk 19:14; ἔμπροσθεν τίνος, Joh 3:28; and πρό προσώπου τίνος, after the Hebrew לִפְנֵי־, before (to precede) one: Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27; Luk 10:1. πρός τινα, to one: Mat 21:34; Mat 21:37; Mar 12:2; Luk 7:3; Luk 7:20; Joh 5:33; Act 8:14; 2Co 12:17, etc. Whence, or by or from whom, one is sent: ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ, Luk 1:26 (T Tr WH ἀπό); παρά Θεοῦ, Joh 1:6 (Sir 15:9); ἀπό with the genitive of person, from the house of anyone: Act 10:17 (T WH Tr marginal reading ὑπό), 21 Rec.; ἐκ with the genitive of place: Joh 1:19.

c. The object of the mission is indicated by an infinitive following: Mar 3:14; Mat 22:3; Luk 1:19; Luk 4:18 (Isa 61:1 (on the perfect cf. Winers Grammar, 272 (255); Buttmann, 197 (171))); Luk 9:2; Joh 4:38; 1Co 1:17; Rev 22:6. (followed by εἰς for: εἰς διακονίαν, Heb 1:14. followed by ἵνα: Mar 12:2; Mar 12:13; Luk 20:10; Luk 20:20; Joh 1:19; Joh 3:17; Joh 7:32; 1Jn 4:9. (followed by ὅπως: Act 9:17.) followed by an accusative with infinitive: Act 5:21. followed by τινα with a predicate accusative: Act 3:26 (εὐλογοῦντα ὑμᾶς to confer God's blessing on you (cf. Buttmann, 203ff (176ff)); Act 7:35 (ἄρχοντα, to be a ruler); 1Jn 4:10.

d. ἀποστέλλειν by itself, without an accusative (cf. Winers Grammar, 594 (552); Buttmann, 146 (128)): as ἀποστέλλειν πρός τινα, Joh 5:33; with the addition of the participle λέγων, λέγουσα, λέγοντες, to say through a messenger: Mat 27:19; Mar 3:31 (here φωνοῦντες αὐτόν R G, καλοῦντες αὐτόν L T Tr WH); Joh 11:3; Act 13:15; (Act 21:25 περί τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν ἡμεῖς ἀπεστείλαμεν (L Tr text WH text) κρίναντες etc. we sent word, giving judgment, etc.). When one accomplished anything through a messenger, it is expressed thus: ἀποστείλας or πέμψας he did so and so; as, ἀποστείλας ἀνεῖλε, Mat 2:16; Mar 6:17; Act 7:14; Rev 1:1; (so also the Greeks, as Xenophon, Cyril 3, 1, 6 πέμψας ἠρώτα, Plutarch, de liber. educ. c. 14 πέμψας ἀνεῖλε τόν θεοκριτον; and the Sept. 2Ki 6:13 ἀποστείλας λήψομαι αὐτόν).

2. to send away, i. e. to dismiss;

a. to allow one to depart: τινα ἐν ἀφέσει, that he may be in a state of liberty, Luk 4:18 (19), (Isa 58:6).

b. to order one to depart, send off: Mar 8:26; τινα κενόν, Mar 12:3.

c. to drive away: Mar 5:10. (Compare: ἐξαποστέλλω, συναποστέλλω. Synonym: see πέμπω, at the end)