1. to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened: properly, the bandages of the feet, the shoes, Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:27; Acts (); (so for נָשַׁל to take off, Exodus 3:5; Joshua 5:15); πῶλον (δεδεμένον), Matthew 21:2; Mark 11:2,( L marginal reading),f; Luke 19:30f, 33; bad angels, Revelation 9:14f; τόν βοῦν ἀπό τῆς φάτνης, Luke 13:15; tropically: of husband and wife joined together by the bond of matrimony, λέλυσαι ἀπό γυναικός (opposed to δέδεσαι γυναικί), spoken of a single man, whether he has already had a wife or has not yet married, 1 Corinthians 7:27.

2. to loose one bound, i. e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free: one bound up (swathed in bandages), John 11:44; bound with chains (a prisoner), Acts 22:30 (where Rec. adds ἀπό τῶν δεσμῶν); hence, equivalent to to discharge from prison, let go, Acts 24:26 Rec. (so as far back as Homer); in Apocalyptic vision of the devil (κεκλεισμένον), Revelation 20:3; ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ, 7; metaphorically, to free (ἀπό δεσμοῦ) from the bondage of disease (one held by Satan) by restoration to health, Luke 13:16; to release one bound by the chains of sin, ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, Revelation 1:5 L T Tr WH (see λούω at the end (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 30, 6 a.)).

3. to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together: the seal of a book, Revelation 5:2 (5 Rec.); tropically, τόν δεσμόν τῆς γλώσσης τίνος, to remove an impediment of speech, restore speech to a dumb man, Mark 7:35 (Justin, hist. 13, 7, 1 cui nomen Battos propter linguae obligationem init; 6 linguae nodis solutis loqui primum coepit); an assembly, i. e. to dismiss, break up: τήν συναγωγήν, passive, Acts 13:43 (ἀγορην, Homer, Iliad 1, 305; Odyssey 2, 257, etc.; Apoll. Rh. 1, 708; τήν στρατιάν, Xenophon, Cyril 6, 1, 2); of the bonds of death, λύειν τάς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θαντου, Acts 2:24 (see ὠδίν). Laws, as having binding force, are likened to bonds; hence, λύειν is equivalent to to annul, subvert; to do away with; to deprive of authority, whether by precept or by act: ἐντολήν, Matthew 5:19; τόν νόμον, John 7:23; τό σάββατον, the commandment concerning the sabbath, John 5:18; τήν γραφήν, John 10:35; cf. Kuinoel on Matthew 5:17; (on the singular reading λύει τόν Ἰησοῦ, 1 John 4:3 WH marginal reading see Westcott's Commentary at the passage); by a Chaldean and Talmudic usage (equivalent to אַתֵּר, שְׁרֵא (cf. Winer's Grammar, 32)), opposed to δέω (which see 2 c.), to declare lawful: Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18 (but cf. Weiss in Meyer 7te Aufl. ad the passages cited). to loose what is compacted or built together, to break up, demolish, destroy: properly, in passive ἐλύετο ἡ πρύμνα, was breaking to pieces, Acts 27:41; τόν ναόν, John 2:19; τό μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ, Ephesians 2:14 (τά τείχη, 1 Esdr. 1:52; γέφυραν, Xenophon, an. 2, 4, 17f); to dissolve something coherent into parts, to destroy: passive (τούτων πάντων λυομένων, 2 Peter 3:11); τά στοιχεῖα (καυσούμενα), 2 Peter 3:10; οὐρανοί (πυρούμενοι), 2 Peter 3:12; metaphorically, to overthrow, do away with: τά ἔργα τοῦ διαβόλου, 1 John 3:8. (Compare: ἀναλύω, ἀπολύω, διαλύω, ἐκλύω, ἐπιλύω, καταλύω, πυραλύω.)