ἀφίστημι

Luke 2:37 ἀφίστατο was departing

and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Here: The imperfect tense, which describes ongoing action in the past: "she was not going away from." It describes a settled pattern of life, not one day. The idea is that she was constantly present, not that she physically never stepped outside.

Luke 4:13 ἀπέστη departed

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Luke 8:13 ἀφίστανται. fall away.

The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

Here: "They withdraw, stand off." The word is used for deserting a cause or defecting from an allegiance, and it is related to the noun "apostasy." The present tense presents it as what such people characteristically do.

Luke 13:27 ἀπόστητε do depart

And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’

Here: An aorist imperative: a single, decisive command to go away. It is word for word the opening of Psalm 6:8 in the Greek Old Testament (6:9 in its numbering), so Jesus is speaking in the voice of the psalm's vindicated sufferer.

Acts 5:37 ἀπέστησεν drew away

After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

Here: In this transitive form (taking an object) it means 'made people stand off', that is, pulled them away from their allegiance. It is the standard Greek word for stirring up a revolt, and it is the same verb Gamaliel uses in v. 38 ('stand off from these men').

Acts 5:38 ἀπόστητε do withdraw

So in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone. Let them go! For if their purpose or endeavor is of human origin, it will fail.

Here: 'Step back from' or 'keep your hands off'. It is a command to stop taking action. It is the same verb used of Judas in verse 37, who 'drew away' people. Judas made people stand away from the established order, and now the council should stand away from the apostles.

Acts 12:10 ἀπέστη departed

They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him.

Acts 15:38 ἀποστάντα having withdrawn

But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.

Here: Literally 'having stood away from.' This is a stronger word than the neutral 'went away' Luke used for the same event in 13:13. Here it tells the story from Paul's side, as a pulling away from the team.

Acts 19:9 ἀποστὰς having departed

But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

Here: "Having withdrawn." Paul removes himself from them. The verb can elsewhere mean "fall away" (Luke 8:13), but here it is the plain physical and social act of leaving.

Acts 22:29 ἀπέστησαν departed

At once those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

2 Corinthians 12:8 ἀποστῇ it may depart

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

Here: "It/he might withdraw, go away." The thorn or messenger is the subject: Paul asks that it leave him. In the New Testament the verb is often used of persons leaving, including the devil leaving Jesus (Luke 4:13) and an angel leaving Peter (Acts 12:10).

1 Timothy 4:1 ἀποστήσονταί will depart from

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

Here: "Will stand off from," that is, desert. The same word family gives "apostasy". It was used for political revolt and for Israel turning away from God, so it describes a break of loyalty, not just a change of opinion.

2 Timothy 2:19 ἀποστήτω should depart

Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

Here: A third-person command: 'let him stand off from', 'he must withdraw'. It is a requirement, not a permission. The same verb gives English 'apostasy', and here it is turned around: the right kind of 'falling away' is falling away from wrongdoing.

Hebrews 3:12 ἀποστῆναι falling away

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.

Here: 'To stand off from, withdraw, desert.' This is the verb behind 'apostasy'. It describes active defection, not stumbling by accident. It echoes Joshua and Caleb's plea in Num 14:9 (Greek Old Testament): 'do not become rebels (apostatai) against the Lord.'