apokopto denotes severing something—ropes, an ear, a hand or foot, or oneself—from what remains.

The dominant attested use is concrete severing: ropes are severed from a lifeboat, an ear is severed in an attack, and a hand or foot is to be severed in warnings about stumbling. A future middle form also occurs in a wish that those causing trouble would sever themselves.

1. Concrete severing of an object or body part · dominant

   In Acts 27:32, the aorist active plural form occurs when soldiers act on the ropes of the lifeboat; the APB renders the clause “cut off the ropes of the lifeboat.” In John 18:10 and John 18:26, the aorist active singular form concerns the ear Peter had removed, while Mark 9:43 and Mark 9:45 address a hand or foot that causes stumbling; the APB renders these clauses “cut off his right ear” and “cut it off.”

   Acts 27:32John 18:10John 18:26Mark 9:43Mark 9:45
2. Self-severing in a hostile wish · rare

   In Galatians 5:12, the future middle plural form is used of “those who trouble you”; the APB renders the wish that they “would even cut themselves off.”

   Galatians 5:12

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the verses, the APB repeatedly uses “cut off” for severing ropes, an ear, a hand, or a foot, and uses “cut themselves off” in Galatians 5:12. These renderings present the verse-level action, not a word-by-word alignment.