Understanding the Significance of Apostello in the Greek

ἀποστέλλω expresses the act of sending, and in these passages it describes sending persons, messengers, angels, or even animals in motion for a purpose. The selected occurrences show the word used for ordinary dispatch, authoritative commissioning, and the larger theme of being sent by another.

Occurrences

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. (Matthew 2:16)

Here the sending is an act of initiating violent action: Herod “sent out” as a step that leads directly into the killing described in the same sentence. The word frames the decree not as a private impulse but as a dispatched operation reaching “Bethlehem and … all the surrounding countryside,” broad in scope and deliberate in timing.

The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.” (Matthew 8:31)

Although the plea centers on permission to “go away,” the scene’s tension is about who determines movement and destination. In this context, sending is bound up with authority over where spirits may be directed once expelled; the request assumes an outside decision that would allow a relocation into “the herd of pigs.”

Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans. (Matthew 10:5)

The word marks the beginning of a mission: Jesus sends “these twelve out” and immediately sets boundaries for where their going is not to be directed. Sending is paired with “commanded,” presenting dispatch as purposeful and regulated rather than simply letting them leave.

“Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

Sending here includes an image of vulnerability and danger: those dispatched are “sheep among wolves.” The instruction that follows (“be wise… harmless…”) shows sending as not merely relocation but a commissioning into a situation that requires a particular manner of conduct.

He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. (Matthew 10:40)

This use places sending inside a chain of representation. Reception of the ones sent (“you”) is linked to reception of Jesus, and then to reception of “him who sent me,” so the act of sending establishes relational accountability between sender, sent one, and recipient.

For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ (Matthew 11:10)

Sending is cast as a preparatory act: a “messenger” is sent “before your face” with the explicit role “who will prepare your way.” The word thus contributes the idea of advance dispatch—someone sent ahead to ready the route for the one who follows.

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, (Matthew 13:41)

Here sending extends beyond human messengers to “his angels,” whose dispatch results in a sweeping action of gathering “out of his Kingdom.” The word introduces the Son of Man as the one who initiates and directs a comprehensive operation with defined targets (“all things that cause stumbling… those who do iniquity”).

When the people of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region, and brought to him all who were sick; (Matthew 14:35)

The sending is communal and communicative: “the people of that place” act once they “recognized him,” and they “sent into all that surrounding region.” The result is movement toward Jesus—people are alerted and the sick are “brought to him”—so sending functions as the trigger for gathering the needy.

But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)

Sending defines purpose and audience: Jesus describes his own mission in terms of being “sent,” and he specifies its intended recipients, “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The word thus carries a sense of assignment, with a delimited focus that explains his response in the moment.

When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. (Matthew 20:2)

This is practical dispatch following agreement: once wages are set, the laborers are sent “into his vineyard.” Sending here accomplishes a transfer from contract to worksite, placing the workers where their agreed labor is to be performed.

When they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, (Matthew 21:1)

As the group nears Jerusalem, sending becomes a logistical act that supports what comes next. The location markers (“Bethsphage… the Mount of Olives”) set a concrete scene, and the word indicates Jesus directing “two disciples” on an errand as part of a larger movement toward the city.

If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.” (Matthew 21:3)

Sending is portrayed as immediate compliance: upon the stated need (“The Lord needs them”), “immediately he will send them.” The word frames the expected response of the owner as prompt release—granting transfer of control so the requested animals can be taken for the Lord’s purpose.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, ἀποστέλλω repeatedly ties movement to an originating will: someone sends, and what follows is not random motion but directed action. In Matthew 2:16 the sending initiates a harmful campaign; in Matthew 20:2 it initiates ordinary labor; in Matthew 14:35 it initiates a region-wide alert that results in the sick being brought. The word itself does not supply the moral quality of what happens—each scene provides that coloring—but it consistently marks the decisive moment when intention becomes outward action through dispatch.

The word frequently implies authority relationships. Jesus “sent these twelve out” and “commanded them” (Matthew 10:5), and he speaks in the first person—“I send you out” (Matthew 10:16)—so sending operates as commissioning, not mere suggestion. Matthew 10:40 pushes this further: reception of the sent one is linked to reception of the sender, showing that sending creates a representative connection in which the sent person stands in relation to the sender. Similarly, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24) uses sending to define identity and task as something received, with a specified target group.

Several occurrences highlight sending as strategic ordering of space and time. The messenger in Matthew 11:10 is sent “before your face” to “prepare your way,” and the angels in Matthew 13:41 are sent out to gather particular people and things from the Kingdom; both depict dispatch that organizes what comes next. Matthew 21:1–3 keeps the same pattern on a smaller scale: two disciples are sent near Jerusalem for a practical purpose, and the anticipated outcome is immediate release (“immediately he will send them”), emphasizing that sending can be an efficient, goal-directed transfer that removes obstacles.

Even where the verb is not overtly phrased as a formal commission, it still signals control over direction. The request in Matthew 8:31—“permit us to go away into the herd of pigs”—leans on the assumption that another’s permission governs the movement. Read alongside the other scenes, the word’s contribution is the same: sending (or the authority to allow it) determines where agents go and what their going accomplishes.

Imagery

These passages attach vivid pictures to sending: vulnerable emissaries “as sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16), a messenger dispatched ahead to “prepare your way” (Matthew 11:10), angels sent out for a sweeping gathering (Matthew 13:41), and practical errands near Jerusalem involving animals that can be “immediately” released (Matthew 21:3). The repeated image is purposeful motion under direction—actions set in motion because someone sends.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).