Greek word · G648
ἀποστεγάζω
apostegazō
to unroof
The verb apostegazō means to take off a roof or covering, to unroof. The noun stegē means a roof, or by extension the house under it (as in the expression "come under my roof", Matt 8:8).
Appears once in 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
The verb apostegazō means to take off a roof or covering, to unroof. The noun stegē means a roof, or by extension the house under it (as in the expression "come under my roof", Matt 8:8). Putting a verb and a noun from the same root side by side ("they unroofed the roof") is a blunt, physical way of saying it.
- Against the English
"Uncovered the roof" (KJV, YLT, BSB) and "removed the roof" (WEB, ESV, NASB) are both fair. "Uncovered" can sound as if a tarp was pulled back. "Removed the roof" can sound as if the whole roof came off, when the next clause makes clear they opened a hole over one spot.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Rare in Greek generally. Its only New Testament use is here. Ancient lexicons (BDAG) cite it for stripping the roof off a building. Greek writers use stegē commonly for the roof of a house.
Where it appears
Mark · 1
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Mark 2:4 ἀπεστέγασαν they removed
Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
Here: "They unroofed": they stripped off the roof covering. It appears only here in the New Testament. Paired with the noun stegē it makes a deliberately blunt phrase, "unroofed the roof".
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.