# G0863 - aphiemi **Strong's:** [G0863](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g863/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** af-ee'-ay-mee **Part of speech:** verb **Root:** from *apo* (G575, "from") + *hiēmi* (to send), literally *"to send away from"* **Noun cognate:** [G0859 - aphesis](/codex/g0859-aphesis/), *aphesis* ("remission, release, forgiveness") **Hebrew equivalents (LXX):** *nāśāʾ* (to lift, carry away, [Ps 32:1](/codex/psalms-32-1/), "blessed is he whose transgression is *forgiven*"); *sālach* (the priestly forgiveness verb of [Lev 4](/codex/leviticus-4/)-5); *kāphar* (to cover, atone) in cognate-loaded contexts. **NT occurrences:** ~143, distributed across all four Gospels (heavy in Synoptics), Acts, the Pauline corpus (sparser), and the Johannine letters. ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **To send away / dismiss / release**, the pragmatic core sense. A crowd is *sent away* ([Matt 13:36](/codex/matthew-13-36/)), a wife is *put away* ([1 Cor 7:11-13](/codex/1-corinthians-7-11-13/)), a fever *leaves* the patient ([Mark 1:31](/codex/mark-1-31/)). 2. **To forgive (a debt or sin)**, the dominant theological sense in the NT. The same verb covers monetary debt ([Matt 18:27](/codex/matthew-18-27/), the king *forgave* the slave's debt) and moral/covenantal debt ([Matt 6:12](/codex/matthew-6-12/), *"forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors"*). 3. **To leave / abandon / let alone**, disciples *leave* nets ([Matt 4:20](/codex/matthew-4-20/), [22](/codex/matthew-4-22/)), a husband *leaves* a wife ([Mark 10:11-12](/codex/mark-10-11-12/)), the dead are *left* to bury their own ([Matt 8:22](/codex/matthew-8-22/)). Mark uses it for the negative case as well: at Gethsemane the disciples *abandon* Christ ([Mark 14:50](/codex/mark-14-50/)). 4. **To permit / allow / let**, *"let it be so now"* ([Matt 3:15](/codex/matthew-3-15/), of the baptism), *"let the little children come to Me"* ([Mark 10:14](/codex/mark-10-14/)), *"allow them to perform sacrifices"* ([Acts 6](/codex/acts-6/) contexts). Often paired with imperative force. 5. **To remit / cancel / yield up**, a technical-legal sense in fiscal contexts; the king *cancels* (*aphēken*) the debt ([Matt 18:27](/codex/matthew-18-27/), [32](/codex/matthew-18-32/)). ## Theological force, forgiveness as remission The forgiveness sense underwrites the entire NT theology of remission of sins. The Greek verb is *the same lexeme* in: - ***"forgive us our debts"*** ([Matt 6:12](/codex/matthew-6-12/)) and ***"forgive us our sins"*** ([Luke 11:4](/codex/luke-11-4/)), the Lord's Prayer, with its two-clause petition-and-warrant structure (*"as we have forgiven our debtors"*) - ***"Father, forgive them"*** ([Luke 23:34](/codex/luke-23-34/)), Christ's intercession from the cross - ***"Son, your sins are forgiven"*** ([Mark 2:5](/codex/mark-2-5-7/)), the Capernaum absolution that the scribes recognize as a divine prerogative - ***"if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins"*** ([1 John 1:9](/codex/1-john-1-9/)), the apostolic absolution promise - ***"if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them"*** ([John 20:23](/codex/john-20-23/)), the post-resurrection commissioning The verb sits at the structural center of the NT's atonement vocabulary. Its noun-cognate [G0859 - aphesis](/codex/g0859-aphesis/) (*aphesis*, "remission") supplies the term in the Pauline summary at [Ephesians 1:7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/) / [Colossians 1:14](/codex/colossians-1-14/) (*"in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins"*); the verb itself supplies the personal-relational form. ### Stream 1, Forgiveness as divine prerogative (the Capernaum absolution) The Synoptic centerpiece is [Mark 2:5-10](/codex/mark-2-5-7/) (paralleled [Matt 9:2-8](/codex/matthew-9-2-8/); [Luke 5:17-26](/codex/luke-5-17-26/)), where Christ's pronouncement *"Son, your sins are forgiven"* (*aphientai sou hai hamartiai*) provokes the scribes' theological alarm: *"who can forgive sins but God alone?"* (*tis dunatai aphienai hamartias ei mē heis ho theos*, [Mk 2:7](/codex/mark-2-7/)). The narrative trades on the recognition that forgiveness-of-sins (*aphienai hamartias*) is a divine prerogative no human agent possesses; Christ's claim therefore functions as a Christological self-disclosure, and the healing-miracle that follows authenticates the claim. The *aphiēmi* lexeme is doing the load-bearing work in the controversy. The same divine-prerogative logic surfaces at [Luke 7:47-49](/codex/luke-7-47-49/) (the sinful woman anointing Christ's feet, *"her sins, which are many, are forgiven"*, with the same shocked reaction: *"who is this who even forgives sins?"*) and at [John 20:23](/codex/john-20-23/) (Christ delegating the proclamation of remission to the apostles). ### Stream 2, The forgiveness-and-debt structure ([Matthew 6](/codex/matthew-6/) / 18) The Lord's Prayer petition ([Matt 6:12](/codex/matthew-6-12/)) and the *unmerciful servant* parable ([Matt 18:21-35](/codex/matthew-18-21-22/)) deploy *aphiēmi* with a **debt-metaphor** that the parable then makes explicit. The same verb covers (a) the disciple's plea for divine forgiveness, (b) the disciple's obligation to forgive others, and (c) the king's cancellation of a literal financial debt. Matthew underscores the structural reciprocity: failure to *aphiēmi* (cancel/release) the brother's offense reveals that one has not received the divine *aphiēmi* in the way it was given. The lexical unity ties forgiveness, debt-remission, and release into a single covenantal-economic frame. (See [Forgiveness](/codex/g0859-aphesis/) for the broader concept hub.) ### Stream 3, Forgiveness as cruciform intercession ([Luke 23:34](/codex/luke-23-34/)) Christ's words from the cross, *"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"* ([Luke 23:34](/codex/luke-23-34/)), deploy *aphes autois* (aorist active imperative). The cry models the forgiveness Christ teaches: *aphes* is unilateral, asked of the Father, offered toward perpetrators in the moment of the offense itself. Stephen repeats the pattern at [Acts 7:60](/codex/acts-7-60/) (*"Lord, do not hold this sin against them"*), making explicit the Christ-to-Stephen forgiveness-imitation chain that the early church preserved as paradigmatic. The textual question, some early manuscripts (𝔓⁷⁵, B, D*, W, Θ) omit the saying, is contested; the patristic citation (Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius) is early and broad, and the saying coheres with the Lucan-Stephen pattern. The longer reading is retained by NA28 in double-brackets; most English translations include it. ### Stream 4, The Pauline / Johannine *aphesis* summary Outside the Gospel narratives, the verb yields ground to its noun-cognate *aphesis* in the Pauline summary formulae: - ***"in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses"*** ([Eph 1:7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/), *tēn aphesin tōn paraptōmatōn*) - ***"in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins"*** ([Col 1:14](/codex/colossians-1-14/), *tēn aphesin tōn hamartiōn*) - [Acts 2:38](/codex/acts-2-38/); 10:43; 13:38; 26:18, the apostolic kerygma uses *aphesis hamartiōn* as the standard summary of the gospel's offer The verb-noun pairing means the Gospel narratives' personal absolutions (Christ *forgives*) and the apostolic preaching (the gospel *offers forgiveness*) are lexically the same act, distributed across encounter and proclamation. ## Notable verses ### Forgiveness, divine prerogative - **[Mark 2.5-7](/codex/mark-2-5-7/)**, *"Son, your sins are forgiven... who can forgive sins but God alone?"* - **[Matthew 9:2-6](/codex/matthew-9-2-6/)**, parallel Capernaum absolution - **[Luke 7.47-49](/codex/luke-7-47-49/)**, the sinful woman: *"who is this who even forgives sins?"* - **[John 20:23](/codex/john-20-23/)**, *"if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them"* ### Forgiveness, the disciple's obligation - **[Matt 6:12](/codex/matthew-6-12/)**, *"forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors"* - **[Matt 6:14-15](/codex/matthew-6-14-15/)**, the warrant clause: forgiveness withheld is forgiveness lost - **[Matt 18:21-22](/codex/matthew-18-21-22/)**, *"seventy times seven"* - **[Matt 18:23-35](/codex/matthew-18-23-35/)**, the unmerciful servant - **[Mark 11:25](/codex/mark-11-25/)**, *"whenever you stand praying, forgive"* - **[Luke 11:4](/codex/luke-11-4/)**; **[Luke 17:3-4](/codex/luke-17-3-4/)**, *"if he sins seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times, saying 'I repent,' forgive him"* ### Forgiveness, cruciform intercession - **[Luke 23.34](/codex/luke-23-34/)**, *"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"* - **[Acts 7:60](/codex/acts-7-60/)**, Stephen's parallel: *"Lord, do not hold this sin against them"* ### Forgiveness, apostolic absolution promise - **[1 John 1.9](/codex/1-john-1-9/)**, *"He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins"* - **[1 John 2:12](/codex/1-john-2-12/)**, *"your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake"* ### Leaving / abandoning sense - [Matt 4:20](/codex/matthew-4-20/), [22](/codex/matthew-4-22/); [Mark 1:18](/codex/mark-1-18/), [20](/codex/mark-1-20/), disciples *leave* nets - [Matt 19:27](/codex/matthew-19-27/); [Mark 10:28](/codex/mark-10-28/), *"we have left everything"* - [Mark 14:50](/codex/mark-14-50/), at Gethsemane, the disciples *abandon* Christ - [Mark 10:11-12](/codex/mark-10-11-12/), the divorce question, husband *putting away* wife ### Permit / let sense - [Matt 3:15](/codex/matthew-3-15/), *"let it be so now"* (the baptism) - [Mark 10:14](/codex/mark-10-14/), *"let the children come to Me"* - [Rev 11:9](/codex/revelation-11-9/), *"will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb"* ## Patristic / scholarly note The patristic engagement with *aphiēmi* concentrates on the Capernaum absolution ([Mk 2:5-7](/codex/mark-2-5-7/)) as a Christological text. **Athanasius** (*Orationes contra Arianos* 2.14) cites the verse for the Son's divine prerogative, the scribes' own admission (*"who can forgive sins but God alone?"*) supplies the major premise; Christ's act supplies the minor; the Son's deity is the conclusion. **Chrysostom** (*Homilies on Matthew* 29) develops the same logic on the Matthean parallel. **Cyril of Alexandria** (*Commentary on Luke*, on 5:17-26) reads the controversy as the Synoptics' equivalent of John's *"before Abraham was, I am"*, the divine self-disclosure embedded in act. The Reformation tradition leans heavily on the *aphesis hamartiōn* (forgiveness of sins) clause of the Apostles' Creed, anchored lexically in *aphiēmi* and its noun. **Luther** (*Smalcald Articles*) treats *aphesis hamartiōn* as the heart of the gospel; **Calvin** (*Institutes* III.4-5) builds the doctrine of *justification* on the forensic-remission sense of the verb (sin *sent away* / *not reckoned*) against the Tridentine *infusion* model. Modern lexical work (BDAG; Moulton-Milligan papyri evidence; D.A. Carson on [Luke 23:34](/codex/luke-23-34/)'s textual question) confirms the verb's range from pragmatic-release through fiscal-cancellation to theological-remission, and confirms that the same lexeme covers all three, the NT's choice of *aphiēmi* for both the debt-image and the sin-image is deliberate and load-bearing. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [Matthew 6.12](/codex/matthew-6-12/) (Lord's Prayer), [Mark 2.5-7](/codex/mark-2-5-7/) (Capernaum absolution), [Matthew 18.21-22](/codex/matthew-18-21-22/) (seventy times seven), [Luke 7.47-49](/codex/luke-7-47-49/) (the sinful woman), [Luke 23.34](/codex/luke-23-34/) (the cry from the cross), [1 John 1.9](/codex/1-john-1-9/) (apostolic promise), [Ephesians 1.7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/) / [Colossians 1.14](/codex/colossians-1-14/) (Pauline summary). ## See also - [G0859 - aphesis](/codex/g0859-aphesis/), *aphesis*, the noun cognate "remission, forgiveness, release" - [G2433 - hilaskomai](/codex/g2433-hilaskomai/), *hilaskomai*, the propitiation verb; how forgiveness is grounded in atonement - [G2434 - hilasmos](/codex/g2434-hilasmos/), *hilasmos*, the propitiation noun - [Forgiveness](/codex/g0859-aphesis/), doctrinal hub - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), the framework in which forgiveness is grounded - [Justification by Faith](/codex/justification-by-faith/), the forensic-remission doctrine that builds on *aphiēmi* - [Lords Prayer](/codex/lords-prayer/), where the disciple's forgiveness-petition lives - Passages: [Matthew 6.12](/codex/matthew-6-12/), [Mark 2.5-7](/codex/mark-2-5-7/), [Matthew 18.21-22](/codex/matthew-18-21-22/), [Luke 7.47-49](/codex/luke-7-47-49/), [Luke 23.34](/codex/luke-23-34/), [1 John 1.9](/codex/1-john-1-9/), [Ephesians 1.7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/), [Colossians 1.14](/codex/colossians-1-14/)