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Send

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

lit., "to send forth" (apo, "from"), akin to apostolos, "an apostle," denotes (a) "to send on service, or with a commission." (1) of persons; Christ, sent by the Father, Matthew 10:40; 15:24; 21:37; Mark 9:37; 12:6; Luke 4:18,43; 9:48; 10:16; John 3:17; 5:36,38; 6:29,57; 7:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 17:3,8,18 (1st part),21,23,25; 20:21; Acts 3:20 (future); 3:26; 1 John 4:9,10,14; the Holy Spirit, Luke 24:49 (in some texts; see No. 3); 1 Peter 1:12; Revelation 5:6; Moses, Acts 7:35; John the Baptist, John 1:6; 3:28; disciples and apostles, e.g., Matthew 10:16; Mark 11:1; Luke 22:8; John 4:38; 17:18 (2nd part); Acts 26:17; servants, e.g., Matthew 21:34; Luke 20:10; officers and officials, Mark 6:27; John 7:32; Acts 16:35; messengers, e.g., Acts 10:8,17,20; 15:27; evangelists, Romans 10:15; angels, e.g., Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27; Luke 1:19,26; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 1:1; 22:6; demons, Mark 5:10; (2) of things, e.g., Matthew 21:3; Mark 4:29 , RV, marg., "sendth forth," text, "putteth forth" (AV, "... in"); Acts 10:36; 11:30; 28:28; (b) "to send away, dismiss," e.g., Mark 8:26; 12:3; Luke 4:18 , "to set (at liberty)." See Note below, No. 2.

"to send," is used (a) of persons: Christ, by the Father, Luke 20:13; John 4:34; 5:23,24,30,37; 6:38-40,44; 7:16,18,28,33; 8:16,18,26,29; 9:4; 12:44,45,49; 13:20 (2nd part); 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; Romans 8:3; the Holy Spirit, John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7; Elijah, Luke 4:26; John the Baptist, John 1:33; disciples and apostles, e.g., Matthew 11:2; John 20:21; servants, e.g., Luke 20:11,12; officials, Matthew 14:10; messengers, e.g., Acts 10:5,32,33; 15:22,25; 2 Corinthians 9:3; Ephesians 6:22; Philippians 2:19,23,25; 1 Thessalonians 3:2,5; Titus 3:12; a prisoner, Acts 25:25,27; potentates, by God, 1 Peter 2:14; an angel, Revelation 22:16; demons, Mark 5:12; (b) of things, Acts 11:29; Philippians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; Revelation 1:11; 11:10; 14:15,18 , RV, "send forth" (AV, "thrust in").

Notes: (1) Pempo is a more general term than apostello; apostello usually "suggests official or authoritative sending" (Thayer). A comparison of the usages mentioned above shows how nearly (in some cases practically quite) interchangeably they are used, and yet on close consideration the distinction just mentioned is discernible; in the Gospel of John, cp. pempo in John 5:23,24,30,37 , apostello in John 5:33,36,38; pempo in John 6:38,39,44 , apostello in John 6:29,57; the two are not used simply for the sake of variety of expression. Pempo is not used in the Lord's prayer in ch. 17, whereas apostello is used six times.

(2) The "sending" of the Son by the Father was from the glory which He had with the Father into the world, by way of the Incarnation, not a "sending" out into the world after His birth, as if denoting His mission among and His manifestation to the people. "Hofmann, in support of his view that Jesus is called the Son of God only in virtue of His being born of man, vainly urges that the simple accusative after apostello also denotes what the Person is or becomes by being sent. What he states is true but only when the name of the object spoken of is chosen to correspond with the purposed mission, as e.g., in Mark 1:2; Luke 14:32; 19:14 . We can no more say, "God sent Jesus that He should be His Son' than we can render 'he sent his servants,' Matthew 21:34 , in this manner. That the Sonship of Christ is anterior to His mission to the world ... is clear from John 16:28; cp. especially also the double accusative in 1 John 4:14 , 'the Father sent the Son the Savior of the world.' The expression that Jesus is sent by God denotes the mission which He has to fulfill and the authority which backs Him" (Cremer, Lexicon of NT Greek).

denotes (a) "to send forth:" of the Son by God the Father, Galatians 4:4; of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 4:6; Luke 24:49 in the best texts (some have No. 1); an angel, Acts 12:11; the ancestors of Israel, Acts 7:12; Paul to the Gentiles, Acts 22:21; of the word of salvation, Acts 13:26 (some mss. have No. 1); (b) "to send away," Luke 1:53; 20:10,11; Acts 9:30; 11:22; 17:14 .

denotes (a) "to send up" (ana, "up," and No. 2), to a higher authority, Luke 23:7,15; Acts 25:21 (in the best texts; some have No. 2); this meaning is confirmed by examples from the papyri (Moulton and Milligan), by Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 229); see also Field, Notes on the Trans. of the NT; (b) "to send back," Luke 23:11; Philemon 1:12 .

denotes "to send forth" (ek, "out of"), Acts 13:4 , "being sent forth;" Acts 17:10 , "sent away."

"to cast, throw," is translated "to send (peace)" in Matthew 10:34 (twice), (RV, marg., "cast"). See CAST.

"to cast out," or "send out," is translated "sent out" in Mark 1:43 , RV (AV, "sent away"), and in AV and RV in James 2:25 . See CAST , No. 5.

"to set free, to let go," is translated "to send away" in Matthew 14:15,22,23; Mark 6:36,45; 8:3,9; Luke 8:38; Acts 13:3 , where the "sending" is not that of commissioning, but of letting go, intimating that they would gladly have retained them (contrast ekpempo, the act of commissioning by the Holy Spirit in ver. 4).

"to send after or for, fetch" (meta, "after"), is used only in the Acts; in the Middle Voice, translated "to send for" in Acts 10:22,29 (2nd part: Passive Voice in the 1st part); 20:1, RV only (some texts have proskaleo); Acts 24:24,26; 25:3; in Acts 10:5; 11:13 , RV, "fetch." See FETCH.

"to be full to bursting," was used of the earth in producing vegetation, of plants in putting forth buds; in James 3:11 it is said of springs gushing with water, "(doth the fountain) send forth ...?"

"to send along with," is used in 2 Corinthians 12:18 . In the Sept., Exodus 33:2,12 .

"to send along with," is used in 2 Corinthians 8:18,22 .

Notes: (1) In Matthew 13:36 , AV, aphiemi, "to leave," is translated "He sent ... away" (RV, "He left"); so in Mark 4:36 , AV, "they had sent away," RV, "leaving." (2) In Mark 6:46 , apotassomai, "to take leave of" (RV) is translated "He had sent ... away." (3) In John 13:16 apostolos is rendered "one (AV, he) that is sent," RV marg., "an apostle." (4) Paristemi is rendered "send" in Matthew 26:53 , RV.