Difference Between Two Greek Prepositions

Narrator: incomplete
 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
'Εκ has the force (not merely of “out of” but) of “from,” as well as ἀπό. The difference, however, is according to the meaning of the words: ἐκ, out of, i.e., from going into; ἀπό, aloof or away from. Thus, ἐκ, in John 12:2727Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. (John 12:27); Heb. 5:77Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; (Hebrews 5:7); James 5:2020Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (James 5:20), &c. It is a question of saving from, or from going into, this hour, death, &c. Again, ἀπὀ: in Matt. 1:21; 6:1321And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:13); Luke 11:44And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. (Luke 11:4); Acts 2:4040And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. (Acts 2:40); Rom. 5:99Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:9). The former supposes a state of circumstances, a condition, into which the person might come, but into which he did not come; while the latter supposes some persons or circumstances adverse to their interest, not allowed to act upon them or produce the effects of their malice, or which took them away from them. With ἀπὀ they are looked at as hostile existences; with ἐκ it is a state, as even ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστ., from among the dead. They are not hostile persons or things; being among them is a state. So (ἀπὀ τοῦ πονηποῦ is a hostile power. Luke 1:7474That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, (Luke 1:74) is a state in which they were or might be. So Rom. 7:2424O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24) is the state in which he was: not a hostile power apart from himself. Rom. 15 means hostile persons. In 2 Cor. 1:1010Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; (2 Corinthians 1:10) ἐκ is used again because it is evidently a state: so Col. 1:1818And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18), though “out of” the power of darkness might be better here. In 1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10) it is ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς, as wrath is not a condition but a hostile power of another. In 2 Thess. 3:22And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. (2 Thessalonians 3:2) it is from unreasonable and wicked men. This is evident. In 2 Tim. 4:1717Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. (2 Timothy 4:17), I believe it would have been ἀπὸ τοῦ λέοντος., but ἐκ στόματος, into which he seemed to be getting—a state be would have been in. 2 Peter 2:99The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: (2 Peter 2:9) is more directly out of it when they are in it; at any rate, it is a state of πειρασμοῦ. So in Rev. 3 the faithful are kept from getting into this state, preserved from getting into it, or, as we say, kept out of it. For the words here answer fully to the English “out of” and “from.” “From,” as to place, is the creation of distance from a distinct object, as they went from Jerusalem to Jericho; they put a distance between him and the city. “Out of” means ceasing to be inside and into. With ἀπό it is always a distinct object from the speaker or person spoken of; while ἐκ implies a state he is or might be in.