- ἀστεῖος
- ἀστεῖος, α, ον (Aristoph. et al.; X., Pla.; LXX, Philo; Jos., Ant. 7, 147; Just., D. 1, 6) adj., fr. ἄστυ. In Greece ‘the city’ (ἄστυ) was Athens and in Egypt it was Alexandria. The splendid edifices and culture of such sites would offer a striking contrast to conditions in the countryside (ἀγρός), hence ἀστεῖος ‘befitting a city’ (Lat. urbanus) denotes good breeding, refinement (our colloq. ‘class’; as applied to conduct s. Philo, Mos. 1, 18; Spec. Leg. 1, 284 ἄξιον αὑτὸν παρεχέτω τῶν εὐπραγιῶν ἀστεῖος ὤν ‘let him show himself worthy of such benefits by appropriate behavior’; Num 22:32; of personal grace and charm, PHib 54, 16; PCairZen 562, 21; Judg 3:17; Jdth 11:23; Sus 7) handsome of Moses (s. Ex 2:2), who bears the marks of good breeding Hb 11:23 (the narrative structure suggests that Moses would be a match for Pharaoh, cp. vs. 24). Sim. well-bred ἀ. τῷ θεῷ Ac 7:20 of Moses, whose shepherd background would be a mark of ill-breeding to Egyptians, but God considers him a person of refined status, a perspective developed in the narrative that follows (s. vss. 22, 35f). For the probability that τ. θεῷ functions as a superl. ‘very well-bred pers.’ (cp. Jon 3:3 of Nineveh μεγάλη τῷ θεῷ ‘a very great city’) s. θεός 3gβ.—DELG s.v. ἄστυ. Schmidt, Syn. II 505. M-M. Spicq.
Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά παλαιοχριστιανική Λογοτεχνία. 2015.