Understanding the Significance of Apotino in Greek

ἀποτίνω means “to repay” and appears in Paul’s letter to Philemon in a personal commitment stated in his own handwriting. In that single setting, the verb functions as an explicit promise of reimbursement within a relationship already shaped by obligations.

Root and Related Words

ἀποτίνω is built from two related elements: ἀπό (apo), “away from” (Strong’s G575), and τίνω (tino), “to pay” (Strong’s G5099). The combination frames the idea of payment with the directional force of ἀπό, giving the verb a sense of payment rendered in a way that addresses what is outstanding.

Occurrences

“I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides).” (Philemon 1:19)

Here ἀποτίνω stands at the center of Paul’s written assurance: “I will repay it.” The statement is emphatic in two ways within the sentence itself. First, Paul anchors the promise in personal authorship—“I, Paul, write this with my own hand”—so the repayment is not abstract or delegated; it is tied to his own responsibility. Second, the pledge of repayment is immediately placed beside a reminder of another obligation—“you owe to me even your own self besides”—which creates a deliberate contrast between what Paul offers to cover (“I will repay it”) and what he notes Philemon already owes. In this context, ἀποτίνω contributes the concrete, transactional idea of settling a matter through repayment, while the surrounding words show that this repayment is spoken within an existing moral and relational ledger of debts and gratitude.

The pronoun “it” leaves the object of repayment in the background of the sentence, but the verb itself brings the focus to the act: Paul takes the burden of repayment onto himself. The parenthetical aside (“not to mention…”) shows that the promise to repay is not made in a vacuum; it is offered with awareness that repayment is one kind of obligation among others. The result is a line in which repayment is both sincere commitment and rhetorical leverage, yet the verb’s contribution remains straightforward: Paul commits to repay.

Sense and Usage

In its lone New Testament appearance, ἀποτίνω expresses repayment as a deliberate act of making good on what is owed. The sentence form “I will repay” places the action in the future and presents it as a pledged response to an existing liability rather than a vague intention. Because Paul pairs the promise with “write this with my own hand,” the repayment is framed as accountable and verifiable: a pledged payment that can be held to the writer himself. The verb thus functions not merely as a financial term in the abstract, but as a way to assume responsibility for another person’s loss or cost within the concrete realities of a relationship.

The immediate parenthetical remark about Philemon’s own debt to Paul (“you owe to me even your own self besides”) shapes how the repayment language lands. ἀποτίνω serves as the clear, simple promise that Paul will cover what is owed, while the aside subtly reminds the reader that obligations can run in more than one direction at once. This interplay does not add new meaning to the verb beyond repayment; instead, it shows repayment operating in a setting where accounting and relationship are intertwined. Paul can speak in the language of repayment while simultaneously pointing to a deeper indebtedness, and the verb stands as the practical, measurable commitment within that layered appeal.

Because ἀποτίνω incorporates ἀπό (“away from”) alongside τίνω (“to pay”), its form fits a scene of settling: a payment made so that the matter is taken care of. In Philemon 1:19, that settling is expressed as Paul’s own undertaking, set down in writing, offered to remove an obstacle and to clear what stands between parties. The verse’s wording presents repayment as something that can be promised, recorded, and fulfilled—an act that addresses a defined “it” and aims at resolution.

Imagery

Philemon 1:19 gives ἀποτίνω the imagery of a signed pledge: a handwritten commitment that repayment will be made. The verse evokes the concrete picture of an obligation being acknowledged and met, not through vague goodwill but through a written line that names the payer (“I, Paul”) and the act (“I will repay it”), placing repayment in the realm of accountable action.

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).