Away from
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apo is a Greek preposition that commonly marks movement, separation, source, origin, or distance. It can say that something comes from a place, begins from a time, is removed from a condition, or turns away from an old allegiance.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀπό (G575) · Open the biblical lexicon
apo is a Greek preposition that commonly marks movement, separation, source, origin, or distance. It can say that something comes from a place, begins from a time, is removed from a condition, or turns away from an old allegiance.
The BSB source-word alignment has 646 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include from (353), . . . (51), of (50), - (24), By (19).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (125), Matthew (115), Acts (114), Mark (47).
Apo is a Greek preposition that commonly marks movement, separation, source, origin, or distance. It can say that something comes from a place, begins from a time, is removed from a condition, or turns away from an old allegiance. The word has pastoral value because Scripture often names salvation and repentance with separation language. Jesus saves His people from their sins.
The kingdom proclamation begins from a point in time. Hearts may be far from God. The Deliverer removes godlessness from Jacob. Converts turn to God from idols. A teacher should not treat apo as a dramatic word every time it appears, but it often helps readers see where a person is being separated from sin, false worship, danger, or a previous standing before God.
Apo marks separation, source, origin, distance, or movement away from something. These anchors show salvation from sins, public ministry beginning from a time, hearts distant from God, ungodliness removed, hope not shifted away from the gospel, and converts turning from idols to serve God.
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus' name is tied to saving His people from their sins. apo helps mark the separation from guilt and bondage that His saving mission accomplishes.
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Jesus begins to preach from that time onward. Here the word marks a temporal starting point in Matthew's presentation of the kingdom proclamation.
‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
Jesus cites the charge that the people's hearts are far from God. The word supports the distance image and warns against merely outward honor.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
The Deliverer removes godlessness from Jacob. apo helps express separation from covenant-breaking ungodliness within Paul's larger hope for Israel.
If indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul warns believers not to be moved away from the hope of the gospel. The preposition supports perseverance language without making stability self-generated.
For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
The Thessalonians turned to God from idols. apo marks the old allegiance left behind as they serve the living and true God.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. away from
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 658 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Apo helps a preacher speak clearly about the from side of the gospel without reducing salvation to distance language alone. Matthew can say Jesus saves His people from their sins, and Paul can describe converts turning to God from idols. That separation is not a bare moral improvement; it is part of God's saving action, covenant mercy, and gospel hope. The word also marks ordinary source or time relations, so it must be handled with restraint.
When the passage is about rescue, repentance, or removal, apo helps the congregation see that grace not only receives sinners but also breaks the old claim of sin, idols, and godlessness.
1Thess.1.9
Apo normally takes the genitive and often expresses from, away from, or separation from. It can mark physical distance, temporal starting point, source, or figurative separation, so the object of the preposition controls the pastoral force.
Biblical redemption repeatedly includes separation: the Lord brings His people out from bondage, turns them from idols, and removes iniquity by His covenant mercy. apo participates in that pattern when New Testament passages speak of rescue and repentance.