ἀποσπάω, ἀποσπῶ; 1 aorist ἀπέσπασα; 1 aorist passive ἀπεσπασθην; to draw off, tear away: τήν μάχαιραν, to draw one's sword, Mat_26:51 (ἐκσπαν τήν μάχαιραν (or ῤομφαίαν), 1Sa_17:51 (Alex., etc.); σπαν, 1Ch_11:11; Mar_14:47); ἀποσπᾶν τούς μαθητάς ὀπίσω ἑαυτῶν to draw away the disciples to their own party, Act_20:30 (very similarly, Aelian v. h. 13, 32). Passive reflexively: ἀποσπασθεντες ἀπ' αὐτῶν having torn ourselves from the embrace of our friends, Act_21:1; ἀπεσπάσθη ἀπ' αὐτῶν he parted, tore himself, from them about a stone's cast, Luk_22:41; cf. Meyer at the passage (In secular authors from (Pindar and) Herodotus down.)

ἀποσπάω apospaō 4x to draw away from; to draw out or forth, Mat_26:51 ; to draw away, seduce, Act_20:30 ; to separate one s self, to part, Luk_22:41 ; Act_21:1

ἀπο -σπάω , -ῶ , [in LXX for H5423 : ni ., hi ., etc.;] to draw off or away, tear away ( MM , s.v. ): Act_20:30 ; μάχαιραν , draw a sword, Mat_26:51 ; pass ., to be parted or withdrawn ( Field, Notes , 134; but v. Thayer , s.v. ), Luk_22:41 , Act_21:1 .†

ἀποσπάω [page 68] For the use of this verb in Act_20:30 ἀποσπᾶν τοὺς μαθητὰς ὀπίσω ἑαυτῶν , cf. P Petr III. 43(3) .12 (iii/B.C.), ἔγραψάς μοι μὴ ἀποσπάσαι τὸ π [λή ]ρωμα ἐκ Φιλωτερίδος ἕως οὗ τὰ ἔργα συντελέσαι , you wrote me not to withdraw the gang (of workmen engaged in the copper mines) from Philoteris before they had finished the work (Edd.). Withdraw, with no suggestion of violence, though with breach of contract, is the sense in numerous formal documents. Thus P Oxy IX. 1206 .13 (A.D. 335) in a case of adoption. BGU IV. 1125 .9 (B.C. 13), in the indenture of a slave : οὐκ ἀποσπάσω αὐτὸν ἀπὸ σοῦ [ἐντὸ ]ς τοῦ χρόνου . P Oxy II. 275 .22 (A.D. 66), where in a contract of apprenticeship a father is not to have the power of removing his son from his master until the completion of the period οὐκ ἐξόντος τῷ Τρύφωνι ἀποσπᾶν τὸν παῖδα ἀπὸ τοῦ Πτολεμαίου μέχρι τοῦ τὸν χρόνον πληρωθῆναι , so 28 and ib. IV. 724 .13 (A.D. 155), also X. 1295 .4, .6 (ii/iii A.D.), where a widow threatens to take away her son from a man in whose charge he had been left. Add the illiterate P Gen I. 54 .21 , [ο ]ὐκ αἰδυνήθημεν ἕνα ἄνθροπον ἀποσπάσαι ἐκεῖθεν , and BGU I. 176 .9 (Hadrian). In the marriage contract, P Oxy III. 496 .9 (A.D. 127), provision is made that in the event of a separation taking place, the bride shall have the power to withdraw a certain female slave, who forms part of her dowry ἐπει [δὰν ]ἡ ἀπαλλαγὴ [γ ]ένηται γ̣αμ̣ο̣υ̣[μέ ]ν̣η̣ sc. ἡ γ . ) μὲν ἀποσπάτω τ̣ὴ̣ν̣ δ [ο ]υ̣λην , and so .15 . Perhaps the verb itself must not be credited with the stronger sense imparted by the context in P Oxy I. 37 i. 14 (A.D. 49) λειμανχουμέν [ο ]υ τοῦ σωματ [ί ]ου ἀπέσπασεν ὁ Πεσοῦρις , as the foundling was being starved Pesouris carried it off, so ii. 1 , and still more in ib. 38 .9 (A.D. 49 50), ἐπικεχειρηκότος ἀποσπάσαι εἰς δουλαγωγία [ν ] τὸν ἀφήλικά μου υἱόν . The passive, as in Luk_22:41 , Act_21:1 , appears in an inscr. from the Fayϋm (B.C. 57 6) in Chrest. I. 70 .24 (p. 99), οὐ δυνάμενοι δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀποσπᾶσθαι , which in Wilcken s opinion means no more than the detention of these priests in the temple by ritual duties, preventing them from appearing in person. It would seem that the ordinary use of this verb does not encourage the stronger meaning Grimm finds in the Lucan passages, where the RV is adequate. For ἀποσπᾶν c. acc. rei , see Gosp. Petr. 6 .1 (ed. Swete), ἀπέσπασαν τοὺς ἥλους .

ἀποσπάω "to tear or drag away from", τινός Soph. , Plat. , etc.; ἀπ. τινα ἀπὸ γυναικός Hdt. ; τὸ τέκνον ἐκ χερῶν Eur. ; also c. dupl. acc. "to tear" a thing "from" one, Soph. :— ἀπ. τινά "to tear" him "away", Hdt. :—Mid. "to drag away for oneself", Plut. :—Pass. "to be dragged away, detached, separated from", τινός Pind. , Eur. ; ἐξ ἱροῦ Hdt. ; ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν Thuc. ἀπ. πύλας "to tear off" the gates, Hdt. ἀπ. τὸ στρατόπεδον "to draw off" the army, Xen. ; absol., ἀποσπάσας "having drawn off", id=Xen. :—Pass., of troops, "to be separated" or "broken", Thuc.

ἀπο-σπάω, -ῶ [in LXX for נָתַק: ni., hi., etc. ;] to draw off or away, tear away (MM, see word): Act.20:30; μάχαιραν, draw a sword, Mat.26:51; pass., to be parted or withdrawn (Field, Notes, 134; but see Thayer, see word), Luk.22:41, Act.21:1.† (AS)