Greek word · G595
ἀπόθεσις
apothesis
removal
A putting away, laying aside or removal. The related verb ἀποτίθημι is used for taking off clothing (Acts 7:58, the witnesses lay down their garments) and, as a moral metaphor, for 'putting off' the old way of life (Eph 4:22; Col 3:8; Rom 13:12).
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
From the study of 2 Peter 1:14
- Range of meaning
A putting away, laying aside or removal. The related verb ἀποτίθημι is used for taking off clothing (Acts 7:58, the witnesses lay down their garments) and, as a moral metaphor, for 'putting off' the old way of life (Eph 4:22; Col 3:8; Rom 13:12).
- Against the English
'Putting off' (KJV, WEB) and 'laying aside' (YLT, NASB) keep the image. BSB 'will soon be laid aside' turns it into a passive, which hides the fact that in Greek this is a noun ('the putting-off'). The meaning is the same.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Elsewhere in the NT only at 1 Pet 3:21: baptism is 'not the removal (ἀπόθεσις) of dirt from the flesh'. In ordinary Greek it can mean storing something away or taking off clothes.
Similar words
Where it appears
1 Peter · 1
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1 Peter 3:21 ἀπόθεσις a putting away
And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Here: 'A putting-off', a word also used for taking off clothes. Peter denies that baptism is just stripping dirt off the body.
2 Peter · 1
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2 Peter 1:14 ἀπόθεσις putting off
because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
Here: A noun from the verb used for taking off clothes or laying something down. It is a gentle, ordinary image for death: setting down or taking off what one has been living in.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.