Senses
1. cut off, sever — To cut off or sever physically with a sharp instrument. Used for Peter cutting off the ear of the high priest's servant in Gethsemane (John 18:10, 18:26), Jesus's hyperbolic command to cut off a hand or foot that causes one to sin (Mark 9:43, 9:45), and the sailors cutting away the ropes of the lifeboat during the shipwreck in Acts 27:32. Cross-linguistically uniform: Ger 'abschneiden,' Fra 'couper,' Spa 'cortar,' Arb 'qata'a,' Heb 'karat/qatsats/chatekhu,' Kor 'beotda/jallara/kkeun'eotda,' Hin 'kat-diya/kat-dal.' All occurrences share the concrete physical action of severing, whether body parts, ropes, or other objects. 5×
AR["اقْطَعْهَا","قَطَعَ"]·ben["কাটিয়া-ফেলিল","কেটে-ফেল","কেটে-ফেললেন","কেটে-ফেলেছিলেন"]·DE["abschneiden","ἀπέκοψαν"]·EN["cut-away","cut-off"]·FR["couper"]·heb["חָתְכוּ","כָּרַת","קְצֹץ"]·HI["काट-डाल","काट-दिया","काट-दिया-था","काटदिए"]·ID["dipotong","memotong","potonglah"]·IT["apekopsen","apokopson","tagliare-via"]·jav["dipuniris","ngiris","nugel","tigas"]·KO["끊었다","베었다","잘라라"]·PT["corta","cortaram","cortou"]·RU["обрубили","отсек","отсеки"]·ES["cortaron","cortó","córtala","córtalo"]·SW["akamkata","alimkata","ukate","walikata"]·TR["kes","kesti","kestiler"]·urd["کاٹ دیا","کاٹ دیا تھا","کاٹ-دیے","کاٹ-دے"]
2. mutilate oneself, castrate — Middle voice with reflexive force: to cut oneself off, i.e., to mutilate or castrate oneself. In Gal 5:12, Paul sarcastically wishes that the Judaizers who insist on circumcision would go further and 'cut themselves off' (ἀποκόψονται), a biting euphemism for self-castration. The middle voice form (future indicative middle 3rd plural) signals reflexive action distinct from the transitive 'cut off' of the other occurrences. The Spanish 'se-mutilaran' (they would mutilate themselves), Arabic 'yaqta'una-anfusahum' (they cut themselves), and Korean 'seusuro-kkeuneojigireul' (to be cut off by themselves) all capture this reflexive/euphemistic nuance, setting it apart from the purely physical active-voice cutting sense. 1×
AR["يَقطَعونَ-أنفُسَهُم"]·ben["ছেদন-করুক,"]·DE["abschneiden"]·EN["they-will-cut-off"]·FR["couper"]·heb["יִכְרְתוּ"]·HI["कअत-दलेइन,"]·ID["menyetrum"]·IT["apokopsontai"]·jav["tiyang-punika-nyukupi-badanipun-piyambak,"]·KO["스스로-끊어지기를,"]·PT["se-mutilassem"]·RU["отрезали"]·ES["se-mutilaran"]·SW["wangejikata"]·TR["kendilerini-hadım-etsinler"]·urd["کاٹ-ڈالیں"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἀπο-κόπτω, cut off, hew off, frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+; in Prose, χεῖρας ἀ.Refs 5th c.BC+; amputate, Refs 8th c.BC+; ἀΐξας ἀπέκοψε παρήορον he cut loose the trace-horse, Refs 8th c.BC+ —passive, ἀποκεκόψονται, of buds, will be cut off, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀ. τὴν χεῖρα have it cut off, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀ.τὰ γεννητικά, of eunuchs, Refs 1st c.AD+eunuch, LXX+2nd c.AD+:—middle, make oneself a eunuch,…