Greek word · G1599
ἐκπέμπω
ekpempō
to send away/out
To send out or send off: dispatching a messenger, envoy or delegation on an errand. It can also mean sending someone away, for example for their safety. Adding ek- ('out') to pempō ('send') stresses the moment of departure, being sent out from a place.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To send out or send off: dispatching a messenger, envoy or delegation on an errand. It can also mean sending someone away, for example for their safety. Adding ek- ('out') to pempō ('send') stresses the moment of departure, being sent out from a place.
- Against the English
'Sent forth' (KJV, BSB) and 'sent out' (ESV, NASB, WEB) are accurate. The NIV's 'sent on their way' sounds gentler and more like seeing someone off, so it loses some of the sense of being formally commissioned.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the New Testament the verb appears only here and in Acts 17:10, where the believers in Thessalonica send Paul and Silas off to Berea by night. In wider Greek it is ordinary language for dispatching envoys and messengers (BDAG). Luke also calls Barnabas and Paul apostoloi, 'sent ones', in Acts 14:4 and 14:14, apparently as people sent out on this very mission.
Where it appears
Acts · 2
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Acts 13:4 ἐκπεμφθέντες having been sent forth
So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
Here: 'Having been sent out'. The form is passive and points to an action already finished: someone else sent them, and the next phrase says who. It is the language of sending envoys on a mission.
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Acts 17:10 ἐξέπεμψαν sent away
As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.