untie the ox from the manger

λύω impf. ἔλυον; fut. λύσω LXX; 1 aor. ἔλυσα. Pass.: impf. ἐλυόμην; 1 fut. λυθήσομαι; 1 aor. ἐλύθην; pf. λέλυμαι, 2 sg. λέλυσαι, ptc. λελυμένος (Hom.+).

① to undo someth. that is used to tie up or constrain someth., loose, untie bonds (Da 5:12 Theod.), fetters (Lucian, Dial. Mar. 14, 3; Job 39:5 δεσμούς; Philo, Somn. 1, 181; Hippol., Ref. 5, 19, 20) or someth. similar.

ⓐ lit. τὰ δεσμά AcPl Ha 3, 14; τὸν ἱμάντα Mk 1:7; Lk 3:16; J 1:27. τὴν ζώνην MPol 13, 2 (JosAs 10:11; 13:3); σφραγῖδας break (Polyaenus 5, 2, 12) Rv 5:2, 5 v.l. (of the broken seals of a will: BGU 326 II, 21 ἡ διαθήκη ἐλύθη; POxy 715, 19.—λύω of the opening of a document: ParJer 7:21 λῦσον τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ταύτην; 7:36; Plut., Dio 31, 4 [a letter]; Vi. Aesopi W 92 P.)

ⓑ fig. ἐλύθη ὁ δεσμὸς τ. γλώσσης αὐτοῦ Mk 7:35; cp. Lk 1:63 D. λύε πάντα σύνδεσμον ἀδικίας loose every unjust fetter B 3:3 (Is 58:6).

② to set free someth. tied or similarly constrained, set free, loose, untie

ⓐ lit. a pers., animal, or thing that is bound or tied: a prisoner (Jos., Bell. 2, 28, Ant. 13, 409; Ps 145:7) Ac 22:30; cp. vs. 29 v.l.; ISm 6:2 (cp. b below); AcPl Ha 3, 6. Angels that are bound Rv 9:14f. Also more gener. (IAndrosIsis, Kyme 48 ἐγὼ τοὺς ἐν δεσμοῖς λύω) release, set free prisoners Ac 24:26 v.l.; τοὺς δεσμίους AcPl Ha 11, 9. Of Satan, bound and imprisoned in an abyss Rv 20:3. λυθήσεται ὁ σατανᾶς ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ vs. 7.—Of Lazarus, bound in grave-clothes λύσατε αὐτόν unbind him J 11:44 (Vi. Aesopi I 83 λύσατε αὐτόν=take off his fetters).—Of animals (X., An. 3, 4, 35) a colt that is tied up Mt 21:2; Mk 11:2, 4f; Lk 19:30f, 33ab (perh. these passages suggest a kind of commandeering of transport indicated by the term ἀγγαρεύω JDerrett, NovT 13, ’71, 241–58), τὸν βοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς φάτνης untie the ox from the manger Lk 13:15 (λ. ἀπό as Quint. Smyrn. 4, 373; Is 5:27; Jer 47:4).—λ. τὸ ὑπόδημα untie the sandal Ac 7:33 (Ex 3:5; Josh 5:15); 13:25.—Pass. τὰς τρίχας λελυμέναι with unbound hair Hs 9, 9, 5; cp. τὰς τρίχας λελυμένας Hs 9, 13, 8.

ⓑ fig. free, set free, release ἀπό τινος (TestJos 15:6; Cyranides p. 97, 12) λυθῆναι ἀπὸ τ. δεσμοῦ τούτου be set free from this bond Lk 13:16. λέλυσαι ἀπὸ γυναικός; are you free from a wife, i.e. not bound to a wife? 1 Cor 7:27 (a previous state of being ‘bound’ need not be assumed; cp. Chion, Ep. 7, 3 λελυμένως=[speak] in an unrestrained manner. See also Simplicius in Epict. p. 129, 3: ‘one who does not found a family is εὔλυτος’, i.e. free). The pf. pass. ptc. IMg 12:1 is the negation of δέδεμαι i.e. unbound. On ISm 6:2 s. comm. by WBauer. ἐκ instead of ἀπό: λ. τινὰ ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν free someone from sins Rv 1:5. τινὰ ἐκ χειρὸς σιδήρου 1 Cl 56:9 (Job 5:20). Bonds from pers. loose, remove (Χριστὸς) λύσει ἀφʼ ὑμῶν πάντα δεσμόν IPhld 8:1.

③ to reduce someth. by violence into its components, destroy (Iren. 1, 8, 1 [Harv. I 67, 9]), of a building tear down (Il. 16, 10; X., An. 2, 4, 17f; Herodian 7, 1, 7; 1 Esdr 1:52; Jos., Bell. 6, 32; SibOr 3, 409) τ. ναὸν τοῦτον J 2:19. τὸ μεσότοιχον Eph 2:14 (in imagery).—ἡ πρύμνα ἐλύετο the stern began to break up Ac 27:41 (PLond III 1164h, 19 p. 164 [III A.D.] uses λ. of the dismantling of a ship). Of the parts of the universe, as it is broken up and destroyed in the final conflagration 2 Pt 3:10–12 (cp. Just., D. 5, 4; Tat. 25, 2).—Of a meeting (Il. 1, 305; Od. 2, 257; Apollon. Rhod. 1, 708; X., Cyr. 6, 1, 2; Diod S 19, 25, 7; EpArist 202; Jos., Ant. 14, 388 λυθείσης τ. βουλῆς) λυθείσης τ. συναγωγῆς when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up Ac 13:43.—λυθεῖσα Ox 1081, 3 as edited (so also Otero I 82, no. 3) is incorrectly read instead of ἐ]ληλύθεισαν, s. s.v. ἔρχομαι 1aζ.

④ to do away with, destroy, bring to an end, abolish (Socrat., Ep. 28, 2 and 4 ‘dispel’ slanders; Tat. 13, 1 ψυχὴ … λύεται μετὰ τοῦ σώματος; Mel., P. 43, 301 ὁ τύπος ἐλύθη=the type was abolished [when the antitype made its appearance]) λ. τὰ ἔργα τ. διαβόλου destroy the works of the devil 1J 3:8. Pass. ἐλύετο πᾶσα μαγεία all magic began to be dissolved IEph 19:3. λύεται ὁ ὄλεθρος ἐν τ. ὁμονοίᾳ his destructiveness comes to an end through the unity 13:1.—λ. τ. ὠδῖνας τ. θανάτου must mean in its context: (God) brought the pangs to an end (IG IV², 128, 49 [280 B.C.] ἔλυσεν ὠδῖνα; Lycophron vs. 1198 ὠδῖνας ἐξέλυσε γονῆς; Himerius, Or. 64 [=Or. 18], 1 λυθῆναι τὰς ὠδῖνας of the cessation of labor pains; Job 39:2; Aelian, HA 12, 5 τοὺς τῶν ὠδίνων λῦσαι δεσμούς; Eutecnius 3 p. 30, 26), so that the ‘birth’ which is to bring Christ to light may attain its goal (Haenchen ad loc.) Ac 2:24 (but s. θάνατος 1bβ; originally it is probable that ‘the bonds of death’ went with ‘loose’); Pol 1:2—Of commandments, laws, statements repeal, annul, abolish (Hdt. 1, 29, 1 νόμον. Text fr. Nysa in Diod S 1, 27, 4 ὅσα ἐγὼ ἐνομοθέτησα, οὐδεὶς αὐτὰ δύναται λῦσαι; Ael. Aristid. 30 p. 573 D.: νόμους; Achilles Tat. 3, 3, 5; SIG 355, 21; 1219, 12; Jos., Ant. 11, 140) ἐντολήν Mt 5:19. τὸ σάββατον abolish the Sabbath J 5:18 (in John, Jesus is accused not of breaking the Sabbath, but of doing away w. it as an ordinance). Pass. (Dio Chrys. 58 [75], 10 τ. νόμου λυθέντος) 7:23; 10:35 (RJungkuntz, CTM 35, ’64, 556–65 [J 10:34–6]).—λύειν τὸν Ἰησοῦν annul (the true teaching about) Jesus (by spurning it); (cp. Alex. Aphr., Fat. 26, II 2 p. 196, 18 λ. τινὰ τῶν Ζήνωνος λόγων=certain teachings of Zeno; opp. ὁμολογεῖν: s. Iren. 1, 9, 3 [Harv. I 85, 10]) 1J 4:3 v.l. (for the rdg. λύει s. Iren. 3, 16, 8 [Harv. II 90, 3]; Cl. Al., Fgm. 35 p. 218, 10ff Stählin; Orig. XI [GCS] 152, 28; Socrates, HE 7, 32; EHarnack, SBBerlAk 1915, 556–61=Studien I ’31, 132–37; A Rahlfs, TLZ 40, 1915, 525; OPiper, JBL 66, ’47, 440–44 [exorcistic, break a spell]).

⑤ On the combination and contrast of δέειν and λύειν Mt 16:19; 18:18 s. δέω 4; also GLambert, Vivre et Penser, IIIe s., ’43/44, 91–103.—B. 1239f. M-M. EDNT. TW. Sv.