ἀποκαταλλάσσω (apokatallássō) means to reconcile or restore a broken relationship. Its three New Testament uses occur in Ephesians 2:16 and Colossians 1:20,22, where God acts through Christ and His cross.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀποκαταλλάσσω (G604) · Open the biblical lexicon
ἀποκαταλλάσσω (apokatallássō) means to reconcile or restore a broken relationship. Its three New Testament uses occur in Ephesians 2:16 and Colossians 1:20,22, where God acts through Christ and His cross.
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include He has reconciled [you] (1), reconciling (1), to reconcile (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Ephesians 2:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Colossians (2), Ephesians (1).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G604 means to reconcile or restore a broken relationship. Its three New Testament uses occur in Ephesians 2:16 and Colossians 1:20,22, where God acts through Christ and His cross. Ephesians speaks of Jews and Gentiles reconciled to God in one body after Christ has put their hostility to death. Colossians 1:20 places the reconciliation of all things beside peace made through the blood of Christ's cross, while verses 21-23 address people once alienated and hostile who are now reconciled through Christ's physical body in death.
The verb does not make reconciliation sentimental, automatic between every human party, or proof from one word that every person will finally be saved.
The selected artifact reflects three uses of G604. Each places reconciliation in God's action through Christ, while Ephesians and Colossians give the action different objects and argumentative settings.
And reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.
Ephesians describes both groups reconciled to God in one body through the cross, within Christ's work of creating one new humanity and ending hostility.
And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
The hymn gives reconciliation an all-things scope and explicitly joins it to peace made through the blood of Christ's cross. The verse does not by itself define the final condition of every person.
But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—
Paul addresses the Colossians' former alienation and present reconciliation, then names holy presentation and continuing in the faith within the same sentence and exhortation.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Complete restoration of relationship, not merely ending hostility but full cosmic reconciliation through Christ.
Complete restoration of relationship, not merely ending hostility but full cosmic reconciliation through Christ.
(cf. καταλλάσσω: ἀπό here signifies completely, see Lft., Col., l.with; Ellic., Eph., l.with; but also Mey., Eph., l.with), to reconcile completely: Eph.2:16, Col.1:20-21.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I reconcile
Read verseI reconcile
Read verseI reconcile
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀποκαταλλάσσω is built from these roots:
G604 gives a preacher three tightly related but nonidentical reconciliation settings. Ephesians 2 centers both groups reconciled to God in one body and locates the ending of hostility in Christ's cross. Colossians 1:20 makes the broad all-things claim, then verses 21-23 address the congregation's former alienation, Christ's physical body through death, holy presentation, and perseverance.
Good teaching should retain this whole movement. The word does not reduce reconciliation to an inner feeling or a generic technique for resolving conflict. It also does not allow one clause to settle universal salvation without the letter's wider argument. The pastoral emphasis belongs on God's action in Christ, the costly peace named by the passage, and the new relationships that follow.
Col.1.20
The verb belongs to the Greek reconciliation word family and is sometimes glossed reconcile fully. Any intensifying force must remain secondary to the three actual uses; the compound's parts do not establish a separate degree or mechanism of reconciliation.
Ephesians 2 draws on Israel's covenant privileges, exclusion, and promised peace before describing Gentiles brought near in Christ. Colossians supplies its own creation and new-creation horizon. Those textual links are firmer than assigning G604 a single Old Testament lexical equivalent.