ἀποτάσσω

From the study of Acts 18:21

Range of meaning

In the active voice: to set apart or assign to a post. In the middle voice, as here: to separate oneself from someone, that is, to say goodbye and take leave. In New Testament times the middle could also be used figuratively for parting with things, meaning to renounce or give them up.

Against the English

“Bade them farewell” (KJV), “took leave” (YLT, WEB) and “as he left” (BSB) are all accurate. The BSB folds the farewell into the departure, so the reader loses the sense of a deliberate, courteous parting, which is part of the picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in papyrus letters and later Greek for saying farewell. In the New Testament: Mark 6:46 (Jesus dismisses the crowd), Luke 9:61 (“let me first say goodbye to those at home”), Acts 18:18 (Paul leaves the brothers at Corinth) and 2 Cor 2:13. In Luke 14:33 it is used figuratively: whoever does not “bid farewell to” (renounce) all he has cannot be a disciple. Later church Greek used the noun apotaxis for the renunciation of Satan at baptism, which grew out of this figurative sense.

From the study of 2 Corinthians 2:13

Range of meaning

In the active voice, to set apart or assign. In the middle voice, used here, it means to separate oneself: to say goodbye or take leave of someone. It can also mean to renounce or give something up (Luke 14:33).

Against the English

BSB 'said goodbye' and KJV/WEB/YLT 'taking my leave' all capture it. The participle form is 'having said goodbye', so the farewell comes first and the departure follows.

Used elsewhere in the period

It has the same farewell sense in Mark 6:46, Luke 9:61, and Acts 18:18, 21, where Paul also takes leave of believers. BDAG lists this usage and also cites it from Josephus. The later Christian sense of 'renouncing' the devil at baptism is a separate development and is not in view here.

From the study of Luke 14:33

Range of meaning

The root idea is 'to set or station apart' (apo, 'away', + tassō, 'arrange, post'). In Koine Greek the middle form had two main senses: (1) to say farewell to, take leave of someone, the normal word for parting company; (2) by extension, to renounce, give up, part with something, to 'say goodbye' to it for good. BDAG lists Luke 14:33 under sense (2), 'renounce, give up'.

Against the English

KJV 'forsaketh', ESV/WEB 'renounce', BSB/NIV/NASB 'give up', YLT 'take leave of'. Only YLT keeps the picture of a farewell. 'Renounce' can sound like a formal verbal statement. 'Give up' can sound like a single transaction (selling off or handing over) rather than a standing farewell to ownership.

How it drifted

Latin renuntiare (Vulgate 'renuntiat') gave English 'renounce'. Later Christian use, especially the baptismal 'I renounce you, Satan' and monastic 'renunciation', gave the word a formal, ceremonial feel that the everyday Greek verb did not have in Jesus' day.

Used elsewhere in the period

Elsewhere in the New Testament it always means saying goodbye to people: Mark 6:46; Luke 9:61 ('let me first say farewell to those at my home'); Acts 18:18, 21; 2 Corinthians 2:13. The papyri use it the same way (Moulton & Milligan). The sense 'renounce' appears in Jewish Greek writers such as Philo and Josephus, and in early Christian texts: 2 Clement 6:4–5 speaks of renouncing 'this age'; Ignatius, To the Philadelphians 11:1, of someone who 'bade farewell to this life'; Hermas, Mandate 6.2.9, 'renounce' the evil angel. From the 4th century it became the technical term for the renunciation of Satan at baptism (Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses 1).