ἀπορφανίζω

From the study of 1 Thessalonians 2:17

Range of meaning

'To make someone an orphan' or 'to bereave'. The root ὀρφανός (orphanos) covered anyone left without the family members they depended on or belonged with. Usually that meant a child without parents, but Greek also used it of parents bereft of children and, by extension, of anyone deprived of a loved one or companion. The ἀπο- prefix adds the sense of being cut off or torn away.

Against the English

KJV and NASB say 'taken (away) from'. That is accurate about the fact but loses the grief. BSB and ESV, 'torn away', keep the violence of the separation but not the family image. WEB, 'bereaved', and NIV, 'orphaned', keep the image of family loss.

Used elsewhere in the period

This is the only time the word appears in the New Testament, and it is rare in Greek generally. Its root, orphanos, is common in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) in the formula 'the orphan and the widow' for the most vulnerable people (e.g. Exod 22:22; Deut 10:18). Aeschylus uses a compound with the same root for parents deprived of children (Choephori 247–249, the 'orphaned brood of the eagle'). Philo and later writers use orphan language for people bereft of a guardian or friend. In John 14:18 Jesus promises, 'I will not leave you orphans' (orphanous).