Away With
Two Meanings of One Phrase
The English phrase "away with" functions in two significantly different ways in the Bible. In its first sense, it means "to endure" or "to bear with," expressing the ability or inability to tolerate something. In its second sense, it means "to remove" or "to destroy," expressing a demand for someone's elimination. Both uses carry strong emotional force and appear at pivotal moments in Scripture.
God Cannot Away With Iniquity (Isaiah 1:13)
In Isaiah 1:13, God declares through the prophet, "I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting" (KJV). Here "away with" means "endure" or "bear." God is expressing His utter inability to tolerate the combination of wickedness and religious observance. The people of Judah were faithfully performing their sacrifices, keeping their festivals, and observing the appointed feasts, yet their lives were characterized by injustice, oppression, and moral corruption (Isaiah 1:11-17).
This is one of the most powerful prophetic denunciations in the Old Testament. God does not merely dislike the hypocrisy; He literally cannot endure it. The Hebrew text intensifies the meaning: God cannot bear the combination of iniquity and sacred assembly together. Modern translations render this as "I cannot endure" (ESV, NASB) or "I cannot bear" (NIV). God then commands the people to "cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression" (Isaiah 1:16-17).
Away With This Man! (Acts 22:22)
In Acts 22:22, the phrase takes its second meaning when the crowd in Jerusalem cries out against Paul, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!" The Greek word is "airo," meaning to take away, lift up, or remove. This explosive reaction came when Paul, addressing the crowd from the steps of the Roman barracks, mentioned that God had sent him to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21). The Jewish crowd could not tolerate the idea that God's salvation extended beyond Israel.
A similar cry was raised against Jesus Himself. When Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd, they shouted, "Away with him, away with him! Crucify him!" (John 19:15). The same word "airo" appears, expressing the violent desire to remove the one perceived as a threat.
The Common Thread
Both uses of "away with" reveal an inability to coexist with what is perceived as intolerable. For God, it is the coexistence of sin and worship that cannot stand. For the hostile crowd, it is the messenger of God's inclusive grace who must be removed. The irony is sharp: God cannot away with hypocrisy, while the hypocritical crowd cannot away with the truth.
A Call to Authentic Worship
Isaiah's use of the phrase ultimately calls God's people to authentic worship that integrates faith and practice. God's rejection of empty ritual in favor of genuine righteousness is a theme echoed by other prophets (Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8) and by Jesus Himself (Matthew 23:23-28). The phrase reminds readers that worship disconnected from justice is not merely insufficient; it is unbearable to God.
Biblical Context
The phrase 'away with' appears in Isaiah 1:13 (KJV) where God declares He cannot endure the combination of sin and worship, and in Acts 22:22 where a crowd demands Paul's death for preaching to Gentiles. A similar demand against Jesus appears in John 19:15. Both uses express intense intolerance of what is perceived as incompatible with one's values.
Theological Significance
The dual meaning of 'away with' highlights the contrast between divine holiness and human hostility. God's inability to tolerate hypocrisy calls His people to authentic worship integrated with justice. The crowd's demand to do away with Paul and Jesus reveals human resistance to God's expansive grace. Together these passages teach that the gospel provokes confrontation with both empty religion and exclusive prejudice.
Historical Background
Isaiah's prophecy was directed at Judah during the 8th century BC, a period of external prosperity but internal moral corruption. Paul's speech in Acts 22 occurred in the Jerusalem temple courts around AD 57, during a period of intense Jewish-Gentile tension. The Roman military had to intervene to prevent the crowd from killing Paul. The language of 'away with' in both contexts reflects extreme emotional reactions to perceived threats to religious integrity.