Exploring the Meaning of Apairo in Greek

ἀπαίρω means “to take away.” In the Gospels it appears in three closely parallel sayings in which Jesus speaks of the bridegroom being taken away, a future change that leads to fasting.

Root and Related Words

ἀπαίρω (Apairo) is formed from ἀπό (apo), meaning “away from” (Strong’s G575), and αἴρω (airo), meaning “to take up” (Strong’s G142). The combination frames the action as a taking that results in separation: a removal away from those who had previously had the bridegroom “with them.”

Occurrences

Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15)

Here the saying is built around a contrast in time and presence. While the bridegroom is “with them,” mourning is posed as out of place; the pivotal future change is expressed as the bridegroom being “taken away from them.” ἀπαίρω supplies the hinge between these two conditions: the move from shared presence to absence. The effect is relational and communal—he is not merely gone in an unspecified way, but removed “from them,” so that the same group (“the friends of the bridegroom”) experiences the loss as a concrete separation. That separation then sets the conditions for a new practice: “then they will fast.”

But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. (Mark 2:20)

Mark’s wording concentrates on the future moment: “the days will come” and “in that day.” Within that compression, ἀπαίρω carries the decisive event that defines the time: the bridegroom “will be taken away from them.” The verb presents the absence as something that happens to the bridegroom—an action performed upon him that results in his removal from the community he had been “with.” The response (“then they will fast”) is tied directly to that removal, so that the practice is not portrayed as a general habit but as a fitting reaction to the bridegroom’s being taken away.

But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.” (Luke 5:35)

Luke preserves the same sequence but emphasizes the duration after the change: “those days.” ἀπαίρω marks the transition into that extended period, in which the bridegroom’s absence persists. The removal is again specified as “from them,” keeping the focus on the community’s altered situation rather than on mere location. With the bridegroom removed, fasting becomes the characteristic act of that ensuing span (“in those days”), suggesting that the consequences of being taken away are not momentary; they shape the rhythm of life for the group across a stretch of time.

Sense and Usage

Across all three occurrences, ἀπαίρω functions in a consistent setting: a wedding image, a group defined by its relationship to the bridegroom, and a time-based contrast (“as long as,” “the days will come,” “in that day,” “in those days”). Within that frame, “to take away” is not an abstract idea but an event that changes what is appropriate for the community. The sayings turn on the logic that certain responses match certain conditions: when the bridegroom is present, mourning is questioned; when he is taken away, fasting follows.

The repeated phrase “taken away from them” highlights a directional and relational result. The action is not described as the bridegroom simply departing on his own; instead, the verb portrays him as removed, with “from them” naming those who experience the resulting lack. This makes the word’s contribution more than the bare statement of absence: it conveys a shift from togetherness (“with them”) to separation (“from them”) that is imposed rather than chosen within the scene’s language.

In these passages, ἀπαίρω also marks a boundary between two kinds of time. Before the taking away, the friends are pictured in celebratory proximity to the bridegroom; after it, fasting becomes the appropriate embodied expression. Matthew pairs the removal with “then they will fast,” Mark attaches it to a specific “day,” and Luke extends it to “those days.” Each variation keeps the same core use: the taking away is the defining event that explains why practices change.

Imagery

The word’s imagery in these sayings is shaped by the wedding setting: the bridegroom’s presence creates a world where mourning does not fit, and his being taken away introduces a different emotional and communal landscape. ἀπαίρω gives that change a sharp edge—an abrupt removal that reorders what the friends of the bridegroom do, moving them from companionship to longing expressed through fasting.

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).