Greek word · G520

ἀπάγω

apagō

to lead away

ἄγω: lead, bring, guide, drive (animals), carry off; in the passive, be led or driven. ἀπάγω: lead away, take off, especially take someone into custody, to court, to prison or to execution (BDAG).

Appears 15 times in 15 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀπ-άγω

[in LXX for נָהַג, הָלַךְ hi., etc. ;]

to lead away: Luke 13:15, Acts 23:17 24:7 (R, mg.), 1 Corinthians 12:2; esp. of leading to trial (so as law term in Attic), prison and death (MM, VGT, see word): Matthew 26:57 27:2, 31, Mark 14:44, 53 15:16, Luke 21:12 22:66 23:26, Acts 12:19; of the direction of a way: Matthew 7:13-14 (cf. συν-απ-άγω).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Corinthians 12:2

Range of meaning

ἄγω: lead, bring, guide, drive (animals), carry off; in the passive, be led or driven. ἀπάγω: lead away, take off, especially take someone into custody, to court, to prison or to execution (BDAG).

Against the English

BSB, ESV, NASB and NIV say "led astray," which turns the image into a moral one (wandering off the path). KJV/YLT's "carried away" and WEB's "led away" are closer to the Greek. Paul's picture is of people being moved by a force outside themselves, not of people who simply wandered off.

How it drifted

"Led astray" is a natural English idiom for idolatry, and it is not wrong as a description of the result. But it moves the stress from being under someone else's control to making a moral mistake.

Used elsewhere in the period

ἀπάγω for arrest and leading off to judgment: Mark 14:44, 53; 15:16; Acts 12:19; in the papyri, for leading off prisoners and animals. ἄγω passive of being driven by an outside power: Rom 8:14 and Gal 5:18 (by the Spirit); 2 Tim 3:6 ("led by various desires"). Greek writers described religious frenzy (Dionysiac mania, the Pythia at Delphi) as being seized and carried by the god.

From the study of Acts 24:7

Range of meaning

To lead away or take off. It is often used in legal contexts for taking someone off to custody, trial, prison or execution (Matthew 26:57; 27:31; Acts 12:19).

Against the English

KJV 'took him away' is accurate but neutral. The Greek can sound more like taking someone into custody.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Gospels it is the standard verb for leading Jesus away under arrest (Mark 14:44, 53; 15:16). In classical Athenian law, apagōgē was the name of a summary arrest procedure.

From the study of Matthew 26:57

Range of meaning

"Lead away, take off." Used for leading animals away, and in legal settings for taking a prisoner to custody, to a court, or to execution (BDAG notes this legal use). In Acts 12:19 the passive form, "to be led away", is a polite way of saying the guards were executed.

Against the English

"Led him away" (KJV, BSB, WEB) keeps the sense of leading off. "Took him" (NIV) is smoother but loses the courtroom and prisoner feel.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical Attic law used it for summary arrest: apagōgē was the procedure of hauling an offender before a magistrate. Josephus and the papyri use it for taking prisoners off. Elsewhere in Matthew's Passion: 27:2 (led to Pilate) and 27:31 (led away to crucify him).

Where it appears

Matthew · 5

  1. Matthew 7:13 ἀπάγουσα is leading

    Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

    Here: Present tense: the road "is leading", continually, wherever travellers on it go. Elsewhere in Matthew the verb is used for leading someone off under guard, to prison or execution (26:57; 27:2, 31); here it is the road that carries its walkers off.

  2. Matthew 7:14 ἀπάγουσα is leading

    But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.

    Here: Present participle: the road is the kind that leads off to a destination. It is the same word used of the broad road leading off to destruction in verse 13, so the two roads match exactly and differ only in where they end.

  3. Matthew 26:57 ἀπήγαγον led [Him] away

    Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered.

    Here: "They led [him] away." In legal settings it was the ordinary word for taking a prisoner off to custody, to a judge, or to execution. Matthew uses it again when Jesus is led to Pilate (27:2) and led out to be crucified (27:31).

  4. Matthew 27:2 ἀπήγαγον they led away [Him]

    They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.

    Here: "They led (him) away". This is the ordinary verb for marching a prisoner off to a court, a jail or an execution. Matthew uses it when Jesus is taken to Caiaphas (26:57) and again when he is led out to be crucified (27:31).

  5. Matthew 27:31 ἀπήγαγον led away

    After they had mocked Him, they removed the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.

    Here: "They led him off". This is the usual word for marching a prisoner away to a court, a prison or an execution. Matthew used it in 26:57 (to Caiaphas) and 27:2 (to Pilate), and this is its last use in the story.

Mark · 3

  1. Mark 14:44 ἀπάγετε do lead [him] away

    Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him and lead Him away securely.”

  2. Mark 14:53 ἀπήγαγον they led away

    They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and scribes assembled.

  3. Mark 15:16 ἀπήγαγον led away

    Then the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called the whole company together.

Luke · 4

  1. Luke 13:15 ἀπαγαγὼν having led [it] away

    “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?

    Here: The participle describes a step completed before the watering. They do not just untie the animal; they walk it out of the stall to water, which is extra effort and movement on the Sabbath.

  2. Luke 21:12 ἀπαγομένους leading [you]

    But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors.

    Here: '[You] being led away'. This is the language of escorting a prisoner, used of Jesus being led off to the council and to the cross (Luke 22:66; 23:26).

  3. Luke 22:66 ἀπήγαγον they led away

    At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes, met together. They led Jesus into their Sanhedrin and said,

  4. Luke 23:26 ἀπήγαγον they led away

    As the soldiers led Him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene on his way in from the country, and they put the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 12:19 ἀπαχθῆναι, to be led away [to death],

    After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.

  2. Acts 23:17 ἀπάγαγε do take

    Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”

1 Corinthians · 1

  1. 1 Corinthians 12:2 ἀπαγόμενοι. being carried away.

    You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

    Here: "Being led off." The word was regularly used for marching a prisoner away or leading an animal off. It adds a sense of being taken away under someone else's control. On its own it does not mean "astray" in a moral sense.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.