Dictionaries :: Alienate

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Alienate:

al'-yen-at (‘abhar; apallotrioo, "to estrange from"): In Old Testament, for the break between husband and wife caused by unfaithfulness to the marriage vow (Jer 6:8; Eze 23:17); also applied to the diversion of property (Eze 48:14). In New Testament, spiritually, for the turning of the soul from God (Eph 2:12; Col 1:21). The Greek allotrios, which is the root of the verb, is the opposite of id-i-os, "one's own." The word implies a former state, whence the person or thing has departed, and that, generally, by deterioration.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Alienate:

consists of apo, "from," and the above; it signifies "to be rendered an alien, to be alienated." In Eph 2:12 the RV corrects to the verbal from "alienated," for the noun "aliens;" elsewhere in Eph 4:18; Col 1:21; the condition of the unbeliever is presented in a threefold state of "alienation,"

(a) from the commonwealth of Israel,

(b) from the life of God,

(c) from God Himself. The word is used of Israelites in the Sept. of Eze 14:5 ("estranged") and of the wicked in general, Psa 58:3.