The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (4 Volume Set)

3674 Pages·1985·81.45 MB·English

The New International
Dictionary of
New Testament
Theology Vol.1

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THE NEW INTERNATIONAL
DICTIONARY OF NEW TESTAMENT
THEOLOGY is a unique source of
information, invaluable to ministers, teachers,
and anyone interested in the study as well as
the teaching of the Bible.

Some of its main features are:

• Concise discussion of the major theological
terms of the Bible

• Arranged in English alphabetical order;
does not demand prior knowledge of Greek
or Hebrew

• Discusses the use of each key word in
classical and secular Greek, the Old
Testament and Rabbinic writings, the New
Testament usage and reference

• English edition based on Theologisches
Begriffslexikon ;;.um Neuen Testament,
extensively revised and enlarged

• Glossary of Technical Terms giving concise
definitions of specialist expressions and
usage in Vol. I

• Index of Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and
theological subjects (Vol. I and 2
separately indexed, Combined Index to all
three Vols. in Vol. 3)

• Full and up-to-date bibliographies

• International team of contributors

6th printing
The New International
Dictionary of
New Testament
Theology Vol. 1

Editor: Colin Brown

THE NEW INTERNATIONAL
DICTIONARY OF NEW TESTAMENT
THEOLOGY is, first, a basic translation, and
then an extensive revision and considerable
enlargement, of a German work entitled
Theologisches Begrijjslexikon Zum Neuen
Testament. On its first publication in German
this was recognized as a major work of
reference, and has since become more and
more widely acclaimed as an important tool
for understanding the theology and message of
the Bible. Its translation and publication in
this new English edition, together with the
extensive revisions and extensive additions,
have enlarged it so as to make it a unique
source of information, invaluable to ministers,
teachers, and anyone interested in the study as
well as the teaching of the Bible.

What the reviewers say:

"This Dictionary had already proved its
worth in its original German form, and the
present revised and enlarged English edition
will make it a much appreciated companion to
the New Testament for students, preachers,
and teachers throughout the English-speaking
world." (F. F. Bruce, University of Manchester)

"Indispensable for advanced theological
students and scholars as well as for ordinary
Bible students." (Christianity Today)

"The ministry of any pastor would be
enriched immeasurably if he would keep this
dictionary on his desk for constant reference
during the time of sermon preparation . . . . it
is perhaps the best buy of the year." (Eternity)

"I t is an excellent work. ... I am impressed
with the significance of this dictionary. It is
characterized by the most thorough
scholarship." (Donald W. Burdick, Conservative
Baptist Theological Seminary)

(continued on back flap)

ISBN ()'31()'21B9(}.X

(continued f rom front flap)

COMPANION TEXTS FOR
NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES

A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the
English-Greek New Testament (Bullinger)

A Dictionary of New Testament Greek Synonyms
(Berry)
A Grammar of Septuagint Greek (Coney-

beare/Stock)

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament

and Other Early Christian Literature (Bauer,
Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker)
A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and
Other Early Christian Literature .(Blass and
Debrunner, Funk)
A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament
(Rienecker, Rogers)
A Reader's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Tes-
tament (Kubo)
A Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament
(Gingrich)
Do It Yourself Hebrew and Greek (Goodrick)
Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament
(Greenfield, Green)
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
(Thayer)
New Testament Greek Primer (Marshall)
The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (Moulton)
The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New
Testament (Wigram)
The Englishman's Greek New Testament (New-
berry)
The Greek New Testament Slidaverb Conjugation
Chart (Peterson)
The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament

(Berry)
The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament
(Marshall)
The New International Dictionary of New Testa-

ment Theology (Brown)
The NIV Interlinear Greek-English New Testa-

ment (Marshall)
The RSV Interlinear Greek-English New Testa-

ment (Marshall)
The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek
and English (Marshall)

The Editor

In its English form THE NEW INTERNA-

TIONAL DOCTIONARY OF NEW TESTA-
MENT THEOLOGY was edited by Colin
Brown, who holds the B.D. from the University of
London, the M.A., from the University of Not-
tingham, and the Ph.D. from the University of
Bristol. His publications include Karl Barth and the
Christian Message and Philosophy and the Christian
Faith. Before becoming Professor of Systematic
Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, Dr.
Brown was Vice-Principal of Tyndale Hall. He
has been Visiting Professor at 'Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, and at Regent
College, Vancouver.

Editor:
Colin Brown

The New
Internationa'

z Nde~vaN

The New
International
Dictionary
of New Testament
Theology

TheNe'W
International
Dictionary of

Companion Volume
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL
DICTIONARY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Volume I: A-F

Ne~TestaDlent
Theology

Colin Brown
GENERAL EDITOR

Translated, with additions and revisions, from the German

THEOLOGISCHES BEGRlFFSLEXIKON
ZUM NEUEN TESTAMENT

Edited by Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther and Hans Bietenhard

R~~
1415 Lake Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506

THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY

Originally published in German under the title,

THEOLOGISCHES BEGRIFFSLEXIKON ZUM NEUEN TESTAMENT

© 1967,1969,1971 by Theologischer Verlag Rolf Brockhaus, Wuppertal.
English Language edition copyright © 1975, The Zondervan Corporation
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. and The Paternoster Press, Ltd. Exeter,
Devon, U.K.

All rights in this work are reserved by the publishers, and no pan
may be reproduced without written permission, except for brief
quotations in reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication nata
Main entry under title:

The new international dictionary of New Testament
theology.

"Translated, with additions and. revisions, from the
German Theologisches Begriffslexikon zum Neuen Testament,
edited by Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther and Hans
Bietenhard."
"Companion volume: The new international dictionary
of the Christian Church."
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
\.
Bible.
N.T.-Theology-Dictionaries.
2.
Bible.
N.T.-Dictionaries.
I. Brown, Colin.
BS2397.N48
230' .03
75-38895

ISBN 0-310-21890-X

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

PREFACE
7

INTRODUCTION
9

T ABLE OF ARTICLES IN VOLUME I
15

CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME I
25

ABBREVIA TlONS
31

TRANSLITERA TION
47

GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS
49

ARTICLES
73

INDEXES
745

HEBREW AND ARAMAIC WORDS
747

GREEK WORDS
751

GENERAL INDEX
762

ADDENDA
822

Preface

B
URY YOURSELF IN A DICTIONARY AND COME UP IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. THIS
improbable-sounding piece of advice of the late Sir Edwyn Hoskyns contains
a wisdom born of experience. At first sight a dictionary may appear to contain
nothing but a mass of antiquarian information. But to those who know where
and how to look, the forbidding mass of material is not a barrier between the
individual and real life but a bridge to a richer appreciation of it. It is when we ask,
"What is the writer getting at?", "Why did he say this?", "Why did he put it like
that?", "What lies behind that remark?", that we begin to see things in a new
light.
A theological dictionary is not a collection of prepackaged sermons or an
anthology of predigested devotion. It is more like an invitation to join in the
collective enterprise of quarrying and building. (The picture itself is not without
affinities with the apostle Paul's picture in 1 Cor. 3: 10 if. of Christian work as a
collective building enterprise.) It is as one quarries among the mass of data and
tries to build something out of it that the data become alive. What was perhaps
previously flat and featureless takes on new perspective and meaning. One can go
even further. The great revivals of the Christian church have come about when
some individual here and there has been grasped by something that his predecessors
and contemporaries have taken for granted without stopping to ask why it should
be so. Perhaps the greatest need for the church in the last quarter of the twentieth
century is for men to stop, to ask themselves this question as they study the Bible,
and then to translate their answers into action.
Two things characterise this enterprise. On the one hand, one has to do it for
oneself. There is no substitute for individual initiative. On the other hand, it is a
co-operative endeavour. One cannot do without the work of others in unearthing
facts and bringing to light insights which would otherwise be lost. But paradoxic-
ally enough, it is only when others have done this kind of work that one can see
the truth in it for oneself.
At all its stages The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology is a
collective enterprise. The original German work on which it is based was the
product of ten years of teamwork, shared by university professors, college lecturers
and others engaged in various branches of teaching and pastoral work. The
extensive new material which will be included in all three volumes is the work of
scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. The draft translation was prepared by a
team of translators which included Professor G. H. Boobyer, the Rev. Dr. Colin
Brown. Mr. H. L. Ellison, the Rev. M. C. Freeman, the late Rev. Dr. George Ogg,
Mr. John D. Manton, the Rev. Philip J. Seddon, the Rev. David Sharp and Dr.
A. J. M. Wedderburn.
7

PREFACE

A special debt of gratitude is owed to Professor F. F. Bruce, Rylands Professor
of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the University of Manchester. Professor Bruce
has read the articles in both typescript and proof, and has made many valuable
comments and suggestions. Thanks are also due to the Rev. A. C. Thiselton of the
Department of Biblical Studies in the University of Sheffield for reading the biblio-
graphies and making numerous suggestions. The bibliographies have also benefited
from the comments of his colleagues at Sheffield, Mr. D. J. A. Clines and the Rev.
Wesley Carr. Mr. Michael Sad grove has shouldered the heavy burden of proof-
reading in .the course of his doctoral studies at Oxford. The indexes have been
compiled by the Rev. Norman Hillyer whose vigilant scholarship has also con-
tributed to the correction of the proofs.
Finally,the editor would like to record his appreciation of the happy co-operation
at all stages of the work with the editor of the German edition, Dr. Lothar Coenen,
and the German publishers, the Theologischer Verlag Rolf Brockhaus ofWuppertal
and for their kind agreement to the features incorporated in the English edition.
Scripture quotations in this Dictionary from the Revised Standard Version of
the Bible are used by permission of the owners of the copyright, the Department of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
United States of America.
In the 1980 reprint of this volume the opportunity has been taken to make a
number of minor corrections and to include bibliographical Addenda (see p.822).

8

Introduction
S
INCE ITS FIRST APPEARANCE IN 1965 THE Theologisches Begriffslexikon zum
Neuen Testament has established itself as a standard work of reference among
theologians, ministers, students and all who are concerned with a closer
understanding of the teaching of the Bible. It offers its readers a concise discussion
of the meaning and use of the key terms of the New Testament against their
background in the ancient world and the Old Testament, combining an awareness
of the progress of modern scholarship with a sensitivity to the message of Scripture.
The work had its origin in a double conviction. On the one hand, theology at its
deepest level is concerned with the revelation of God - the God who has revealed
himself in Scripture. On the other hand, this revelation came to man over a period
of many hundreds of years. It was expressed in ancient languages, employing the
thought-forms of bygone civilizations. In order to understand the meaning and
significance of Scripture, it is necessary to understand the meaning and use of its
language against the background of its history and social structures.
Some fifty years ago Karl Barth compared Calvin as an interpreter with the
exegetes of his own day in the following terms:

How energetically Calvin, having first established what stands in the text, sets
himself to re-think the whole material and to wrestle with it, till the walls which
separate the sixteenth century from the first become transparent! Paul speaks,
and the man of the sixteenth century hears. The conversation between the original
record and the reader moves round the subject-matter, until a distinction between
yesterday and to-day becomes impossible. If a man persuades himself that
Calvin's method can be dismissed with the old-fashioned motto, "The Compul-
sion of Inspiration," he betrays himself as one who has never worked upon the
interpretation of Scripture (The Epistle to the Romans, ET 1933, 7).

Whether Calvin, Barth (or, for that matter, anyone else) consistently attained this
ideal is less important than the points that Barth makes. The goal of biblical study -
like that of expository preaching - is an understanding of the text which enables its
message to speak directly to the reader or hearer in his contemporary situation.
In this process there are two main stages characterized by the terms exegesis and
hermeneutics. The latter - and it is on this that Barth focuses his attention - is
concerned with reflecting on words and events from the past and interpreting
their significance for us today. But before this may come about there must be the
prior stage of exegesis, the elucidation of words, phrases, clauses and sentences,
as their authors intended them to be understood and as they would have been
understood by their original hearers. It is the exegesis of biblical terminology that
is the primary concern of the present dictionary.
9

INTRODUCTION

In their fulfilment of this task the authors of the individual articles have en-
deavoured not simply to analyse, classify and catalogue the most important words
that occur in the New Testament. They have also sought to trace the meaning and
use of words in secular Greek, the Septuagint and other versions of the Old Testa-
ment used by the early church in the New Testament period, comparing them with
the Hebrew of the Old Testament. They have also taken into account the use of
words in the Dead Sea Scrolls and writers like Philo and Josephus. Finally, the
New Testament writings themselves are examined individually in order to ascertain
the precise shade of meaning which each work attaches to the words used.
In using a work of this kind there is always a danger of what James Barr has
called "illegitimate totality transfer" (The Semantics of Biblical Language, 1961,
218). This arises when the various meanings of a word in different contexts are
run together and then presumed to be present on each and every occasion that the
word is used. To quote Barr's own example, the word ekklesia (church) may in
various contexts mean "the Body of Christ," "the first instalment of the Kingdom
of God," and "the Bride of Christ." It would be illegitimate to presume without
further indication that in any given passage the word ekklesia must bear all or
even any of these meanings. To answer this question, one has to ask whether the
author is acquainted with a particular meaning and whether the context indicates
that this was his intention. Similarly, it is illegitimate to apply without more
ado the meaning of a word in secular Greek or even the Septuagint to the New
Testament, unless there be some indication that the word is used in the same
sense.
Heed must also be given to Barr's warnings about etymologies. To know the
derivation of a word is no infallible guide to its meaning. Barr observes: "The
main point is that the etymology of a word is not a statement about its meaning
but about its history; it is only as a historical statement that it can be responsibly
asserted, and it is quite wrong to suppose that the etymology of a word is necessarily
a guide either to its 'proper' meaning in a later period or to its actual meaning in
that period" (op. cit., 109). Words have histories as well as etymologies. The mean-
ing of any given word in any given context depends at least as much upon the
place and use of the word in that context as upon any supposed derivation.

General Structure
The entire work is divided into articles under English titles, arranged in alphabetical
order. These in turn contain one or more studies of the relevant terms in New
Testament Greek which have been grouped under key words. Thus, the article on
Baptism, Wash is divided into separate studies under the key Greek words baptizo,
louo and nipto. For the sake of easy reference the key Greek word is placed in a box

at the head of the appropriate study thus: 1
panri(w
I. In each case

there follow the principal forms of the associated Greek words and their cognates
which are given in both Greek letters and transliteration together with their basic
dictionary equivalents.
Each article is divided into three main sections denoted by the letters CL indicat-
ing discussion of the word in classical and secular Greek, OT in Old Testament
usage, and NT dealing with New Testament usage. They are arranged as follows:

10