The Greek verb apolambano (G618) means to receive back, to recover, to receive one's share, or to take someone aside. It is a compound of apo (back/from) and lambano (to take/receive). The word appears in Luke 15:27; 16:25; 23:41; Romans 1:27; Galatians 4:5; Colossians 3:24; 2 John 8; and 3 John 8, with nuances of receiving what is due, whether reward, judgment, or restored relationship.
The most tender use of apolambano is Luke 15:27: the father's servants tell the older brother that his father has received the prodigal son 'safe and sound' — apolaben — 'he has taken him back.' The same word carries judicial weight in Luke 16:25 (the rich man 'received his good things' in this life) and Luke 23:41 (the dying thief acknowledging 'we are receiving the due reward of our deeds'). And in Galatians 4:5, Paul uses it for the reception of adoption: Christ redeemed us 'that we might receive (apolabomen) adoption to sonship.' The verb of recovery becomes the verb of redemption.