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Greek

Divorce

ἀποστάσιονStrong’s G0647

apostasion

Appears in 3 verses of the New Testament

In short

Apostasion is the Greek word usually translated “divorce” and “letter of divorce”. It appears in 3 verses of the New Testament.

“It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:”
Matthew 5:31 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “divorce” and “letter of divorce”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • of divorce 2
  • a letter of divorce 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Matthew 2
  • Mark 1

2 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
Greek dictionary

ἀποστάσιον apostasion · divorce

ἀποστάσιον, -ου, τό (ἀφίστημι), [in LXX; Deu.24:1, 3, Jer.3:8, Isa.50:1 (כְּרִיתוּת) * ;] 1. in cl., only in phrase ἀποστασίου δίκη, an action against a freedman for forsaking his προστάτης (Dem.). 2. In LXX, βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, a bill of divorce: Mat.19:7, Mrk.10:4; in same sense ἀ. alone (MM, see word), Mat.5:31 (for other late exx., see MM, l.with; Kennedy, Sources, 121).† (AS)

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “divorce” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

DIVORCE, noun

[Latin See Divert.]

  1. A legal dissolution of the bonds of matrimony, or the separation of husband and wife by a judicial sentence.
  2. The separation of a married woman from the bed and board of her husband, a mensa et thoro.
  3. Separation; disunion of things closely united.
  4. The sentence or writing by which marriage is dissolved.
All definitions and other forms of “divorce”
  1. The cause of any penal separation.

DIVORCE, verb transitive

  1. To dissolve the marriage contract, and thus to separate husband and wife.
  2. To separate, as a married woman from the bed and board of her husband.
  3. To separate or disunite things closely connected; to force asunder.
  4. To take away; to put away.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.