From apo ("from/away") and luo ("to loose/release"), apoluo means to release from bonds, to dismiss a crowd or person, or to issue a certificate of divorce. In Pilate's Passover custom, apoluo describes releasing a prisoner (Matthew 27:15). In Luke's Gospel it describes liberation from illness and bondage.
The range of apoluo reveals something profound about Christ's liberating ministry. Jesus "released" the woman bent double for eighteen years (Luke 13:12), and Simeon asked to be "released" in peace after seeing the Savior (Luke 2:29). Pilate's repeated offer to apoluo Jesus (Luke 23:16, 20, 22) — the one who sets captives free — is a bitter irony. The Gospel announces a greater apoluo: freedom from sin, death, and the law's condemnation, purchased by the blood of the One the crowd demanded remain bound.