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Posted on February 22, 2011 - by David Williams

Ekballo – Sent Out Or Driven Out??

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary defines the Greek compound verb ἐκβάλλω as meaning ‘to cast, drive, expel, send or thrust out of’. The word is a composite of 2 Greek words, namely, the preposition ‘ἐκ’ meaning ‘of’ or ‘from, out’ and the verb ‘βάλλω’ meaning ‘cast, drive etc’. Once the various personal endings have been accounted for, the verb occurs 81 times in the Greek New Testament. The majority usage of ἐκβάλλω and βάλλω in the New Testament are mainly within the synoptic gospels, with a dozen or so occurrences spread across John’s gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. In addition ἐκβάλλω also appears once in Galatians, whilst βάλλω occurs several times in Revelation. For the main part ἐκβάλλω is translated as ‘cast out’ in the New Testament. It is exclusively the verb used when Jesus or his disciples ‘cast out’ demons. Consider the following examples:

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