Greek word · G617

ἀποκυλίω

apokyliō

to roll away

To roll away or roll off. Used of heavy objects moved from an opening.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀπο-κυλίω

(see: κυλίω), [in LXX: Genesis 29:3, 8 29:10 (גָּלַל) Judith 13:9 * ;]

to roll away: Matthew 28:2, Mark 16:3, Luke 24:2.†

(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 Matthew 28:2

Range of meaning

To roll away or roll off. Used of heavy objects moved from an opening.

Against the English

'Rolled away' (BSB, WEB) and 'rolled back' (KJV, ESV) are both fine. The English cannot show the Greek wordplay: Joseph 'rolled to' (proskylisas) the stone in 27:60, and the angel 'rolls away' (apekylisen) the same stone.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint uses it in Gen 29:3, 8 and 10: 'rolled the stone from the mouth of the well'. It was a heavy task that normally needed several shepherds, but Jacob did it alone. Judith 13:9 uses it for rolling a body off a bed. Mark 16:3–4 and Luke 24:2 use it of the same tomb stone.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 28:2 ἀπεκύλισεν he rolled away

    Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it.

    Here: 'He rolled away.' This undoes Joseph's act in 27:60, where he 'rolled a great stone' (proskylisas) against the door. The stone that was sealed and guarded (27:66) is now moved without effort.

Mark · 2

  1. Mark 16:3 ἀποκυλίσει will roll away

    They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

  2. Mark 16:4 ἀποκεκύλισται has been rolled away

    But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 24:2 ἀποκεκυλισμένον rolled away

    They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

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