- ἐπιστολή
- ἐπιστολή, ῆς, ἡ (s. ἐπιστέλλω) letter, epistle (so Eur., Thu.+; loanw. in rabb.) 2 Cor 7:8; 2 Th 3:17; 1 Cl 47:1; 63:2; IEph 12:2; ISm 11:3; Pol 13:2b. διʼ ἐπιστολῆς (Diod S 19, 48, 1; Polyaenus 7, 39; 53rd letter of Apollonius of Tyana [Philostrat. I 358, 9]; Ps.-Demetr., Form. Ep. p. 5, 10; BGU 884, 6; 1046 II, 5) by a letter 2 Th 2:2 (Vi. Aesopi W 104 P. ἐ. ὡς ἐκ τοῦ Αἰσώπου; Polyaenus 8, 50 of two dead persons ὡς ἔτι ζώντων ἐπιστολή), vs. 15, cp. 3:14. γράφειν ἐπιστολήν (Diod S 17, 39, 2; Philo, Leg. ad Gai. 207) Ac 15:23 D; 23:25 (on the specific type of administrative communication s. Taubenschlag, OpMin II 722, w. ref. to PTebt 45, 27); Ro 16:22; ἐν τῇ ἐ. 1 Cor 5:9 (ἐν τῇ ἐ.=‘in the letter known to you’ [s. ὁ 2a] as ChronLind B 14 ἐν τᾷ ἐπιστολᾷ; Hyperid. 3, 25 ἐν τ. ἐπιστολαῖς; Pla., Ep. 7, 345c ἡ ἐ.=the letter [known to you]). ταύτην δευτέραν ὑμῖν γράφω ἐ. 2 Pt 3:1 (cp. BGU 827, 20 ἰδοὺ τρίτην ἐπιστολήν σοι γράφω. PMich 209, 5 δευτέραν ἐπιστολὴν ἔπεμψά σοι). ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰωάννου προτέρας ἐ. Papias (2:17); αἱ δύο ἐπιστολαὶ αἱ μικραί Papias (11:1); άναδιδόναι τὴν ἐπιστολήν τινι deliver the letter to someone Ac 23:33. Also ἐπιδιδόναι 15:30. διαπέμπεσθαι send MPol 20:1. διακονεῖν care for 2 Cor 3:3. ἀναγινώσκειν (X., An. 1, 6, 4; 1 Macc 10:7; Jos., C. Ap. 2, 37) 3:2; Col 4:16; 1 Th 5:27. In all probability the plur. in our lit.—even Ac 9:2; Pol 3:2—always means more than one letter, not a single one (as Eur., Iph. A. 111; 314; Thu. 1, 132, 5; 4, 50, 2, also M. Iulius Brutus, Ep. 1, 1 [fr. Mithridates]; 1 Macc 10:3, 7; Jos., Ant. 10, 15; 16): διʼ ἐπιστολῶν with letters 1 Cor 16:3. τῷ λόγῳ διʼ ἐπιστολῶν ἀπόντες (do someth.) through word by means of letters, when we are absent 2 Cor 10:11 (cp. UPZ 69, 3 [152 B.C.] ἀπόντος μου … διὰ τοῦ ἐπιστολίου); vs. 9; ἐ. βαρεῖαι καὶ ἰσχυραί the letters are weighty and powerful vs. 10. ἔγραψεν ὑμῖν ὡς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ἐ. 2 Pt 3:16. ἐ. συστατικαί letters of recommendation 2 Cor 3:1 (s. on συστατικός). ἐπιστολὰς πέμπειν (Ps.-Demosth. 11, 17; Diod S 17, 23, 6 ἔπεμψεν ἐπιστολάς=letters; OGI 42, 6; 2 Macc 11:34) IPol 8:1; cp. Pol 13:2a. ἐπιστολὴ πρός τινα a letter to someone (2 Esdr 12:7; 2 Macc 11:27; Jos., C. Ap. 1, 111) Ac 9:2; 22:5 (letters empowering someone to arrest people and deliver them to the authorities in the capital city, as PTebt 315, 29ff [II A.D.]); 2 Cor 3:1 (πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἢ ἐξ ὑμῶν).—Later epistolary subscriptions to the NT letters, as well as B, 1 Cl, 2 Cl.—GBahr, Paul and Letter Writing in the First Century, CBQ 28, ’66, 465–77; JWhite, Light fr. Ancient Letters ’86, 3–20, 221–24 lit. Lit. on χαίρω 2b. B. 1286; RAC II 564–85.—DELG s.v. στέλλω. M-M. EDNT. TW.
Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά παλαιοχριστιανική Λογοτεχνία. 2015.