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Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #935 - βασιλεύς
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- leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king
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βᾰσῐλ-εύς, ὁ,
gen. έως, ῆος, Cypr. ῆϝος Inscr.Cypr. 104,135H.: acc. βασιλέα, contr. -ῆ Orac. ap. Hdt. 7.220, E. Fr. 781.24 (lyr.): nom. pl. βασιλεῖς, Aeol. -ηες Sapph. Supp. 6.4, IG 12(2).6 (Mytil.), -ειες ib. 646a45, al., -ῆες, old Att. -ῆς S. Aj. 188, 960 (both lyr.), cf. Hdn. Gr. 1.430: acc. pl. βασιλέας IG 12.115, later βασιλεῖς ib.2.243, etc.: —
I
1. king, chief, Hom., etc.: freq. with collat. sense of captain or judge, Hes. Op. 202; διοτρεφέες β. Il. 2.445, etc.; θεῖοι Od. 4.691, etc.; later, hereditary king, opp. τύραννος, Arist. EN 1160b3, etc.; but also of tyrants, as Hiero, Pi. O. 1.23; of Gelo, Hdt. 7.161; of Pisistratus, Eup. 123, cf. Sch. Ar. Ach. 61: joined with a Subst., βασιλεὺς ἀνήρ Il. 3.170, etc.; ἀνὴρ β. Hdt. 1.90; ἄναξ β. lord king, A. Pers. 5, cf. B. 17.1: c. gen., β. νεῶν A. Ag. 114 (anap.); οἰωνῶν β., of the eagle, ibid., Pi. O. 13.21: Comp. βασιλεύτερος more kingly, Il. 9.160, 392, Od. 15.533, Tyrt. 12.7: Sup. βασιλεύτατος Il. 9.69. of the gods, Ζεὺς θεῶν β. Hes. Th. 886, cf. Pi. O. 7.34, Emp. 128.2, etc. (in this sense Hom. uses ἄναξ); as cult title of Zeus, IG 7.3073.90 (Lebad.), SIG 1014.110 (Erythrae), etc. (but Ζεὺς β., = Ahuramazda, X. Cyr. 3.3.21, al., Arr. An. 4.20.3); ὁ μέγας β., of God, LXX Psalms 48:2(47).2, Ph. 2.107: Sup. βασιλεύτατοι τῶν θεῶν Max.Tyr. 29.5.
2. as a title of rank, prince, β. εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ ἐν.. Ἰθάκῃ Od. 1.394, cf. 8.390, etc.; of Cyrus, X. Oec. 4.16. descendant of a royal house, esp. in Ionia, Arist. Ath. 41.3; βασιλέων οἶκοι 'estates of the royal house', name of a district in Chios, Ἀθηνᾶ 20.168.
3. generally, lord, master, Il. 18.556, Pi. O. 6.47.
4. metaph., πόλεμος πάντων β. Heraclit. 53; νόμος ὁ πάντων β. Pi. Fr. 169.
II
1. at Athens, the second of the nine Archons, IG 12.76, al., Antipho 6.38, Lys. 6.4, Arist. Pol. 1285b17, Ath. 57, etc.; ἡ τοῦ β. στοά Pl. Euthphr. 2a.
2. title of magistrates in other Greek states, as βασιλᾶες at Elis, GDI 1152, cf. IG 12(2).6 (Mytil.), etc., Arist. Pol. 1322b29.
3. at Rome, β. τῶν ἱερῶν, = rex sacrorum, D.H. 5.1, cf. D.C. 54.27.
III after the Persian war (without Art.),
1. the king of Persia, Hdt. 7.174,al.; ἄναξ Ξέρξης β. A. Pers. 5, cf. 144, Ar. Ach. 61, Th. 8.48, IG 22.141 (βασιλῆς βασιλέως ὕποχοι μεγάλου, of the Satraps, A. Pers. 24, cf. 44, S.E. M. 2.22); less freq. ὁ βασιλεύς Hdt. 1.132, 137, Arist. Pol. 1304b13; β. ὁ μέγας Hdt. 1.188.
2. of Alexander and his successors, usually with Art., IG 22.641,687, Men. 293, 340 (pl.); Σέλευκος Antiph. 187; Ἀντίγονος Alex.III; Πτολεμαῖος Id. 244; Ὀσυμανδύας βασιλεὺς βασιλέων D.S. 1.47; title used by Parthian kings, Plu. Pomp. 38, D.C. 37.6, etc.; by Antony, Plu. Ant. 54; of God, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16.
3. of the Roman emperors, AP 10.25 (Antip. Thess.); β. Ῥωμαίων BGU 588.10 (i A.D.), etc., cf. 1 Timothy 2:2, J. AJ 14.15.14; β. αὐτοκράτωρ IG 3.13 (Hadrian), Hdn. 1.6.5; without Art., Paus. 10.32.19.
1. of any great man, πένησί τε καὶ βασιλεῦσιν Ps.-Phoc. 113.
2. first or most distinguished of any class, Ἡρώδην τὸν β. τῶν λόγων Philostr. VS 2.10.1, cf. Luc. Rh.Pr. II; winner at a game, Poll. 9.106, Sch. Pl. Tht. 146a; Stoic sage, μόνος β. Luc. Herm. 16; βασιλέως ἐγκέφαλος 'morsel fit for a king', Clearch. 5; β. σῦκα, name of a choice kind, Philem.Lex. ap. Ath. 3.76f., cf. Poll. 6.81. = συμποσίαρχος, Plu. 2.622a, Luc. Sat. 4. wren, Arist. HA 592b27. queen-bee, ib. 623b9, GA 759a20, etc. (The form βασιλέα is scanned in Pi. N. 1.39; codd. βασίλεια.)
βασιλεύς, βασιλέως, ὁ, leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king; universally: οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, Matthew 17:25; Revelation 16:14 (L T Tr WH omit τῆς γῆς), etc.; τῶν ἐθνῶν, Luke 22:25; of the king of Egypt, Acts 7:10, 18; Hebrews 11:23, 27; of David, Matthew 1:6; Acts 13:22; of Herod the Great and his successors, Matthew 2:1ff; Luke 1:5; Acts 12:1; Acts 25:13; of a tetrarch, Matthew 14:9; Mark 6:14, 22 (of the son of a king, Xenophon, oec. 4, 16; "reges Syriac,regis Antiochi pueros,scitis Romae nuper fuisse," Cicero, Verr. 2:4, 27, cf. de senectute 17, 59; (Vergil Aen. 9, 223)); of a Roman emperor, 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Peter 2:17, cf. Revelation 17:9 (10), (so in secular writings in the Roman age, as in Josephus, b. j. 5, 13, 6; Herodian, 2, 4, 8 (4 Bekker); of the son of the emperor, ibid. 1, 5, 15 (5 Bekker)); of the Messiah, ὁ βασιλεύς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, Matthew 2:2, etc.; τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, Mark 15:32; John 1:49 (50);
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βασιλεύς , -έως , ὁ ,
[in LXX chiefly for H4428;]
a king: Matthew 1:6; Matthew 2:1; used by courtesy of Herod the Tetrarch, Matthew 14:9; of the Roman Emperor, as freq. in κοινή (Deiss., LAE, p. 367), 1 Peter 2:13; 1 Peter 2:17; of the Christ, in the phrase ὁ β . τ . Ἰουδαίων , Matthew 2:2, al.; τοῦ Ἰσραήλ , Mark 15:32, John 1:50; John 12:13; of God, Matthew 5:35, 1 Timothy 1:17, Revelation 15:3; β . βασιλέων , Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16; β . τ . βασιλευόντων , 1 Timothy 6:15 (on the associations of the word to Jewish Hellenists, v. Cl. Rev., i, 7).†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
In a letter written not later than B.C. 334 the title of βασιλεύς is adopted by Alexander the Great (Priene 1), and it was a favourite designation of his successors in the Syrian and Egyptian monarchies. In this way it became familiar to the Jews of the Dispersion; and when found in the Septuagint as the translation of their vernacular title would be ";instinct with present meaning and full of absorbing associations,"; as Hicks (CR i. p. 7) has pointed out. In the NT it was transferred to the Roman Emperor (1 Timothy 2:2, 1 Peter 2:13; 1 Peter 2:17) in accordance with common usage, as borne out by the inscriptions, e.g. IG III. 12.15, .17 (time of Hadrian), CIG II. 2721.11 (time of the Antonines), and the other examples cited by Magie, p. 62. Similarly Deissmann (LAE, p. 367 f.) brings forward evidence to show that the full title βασιλεὺς βασιλέων (as Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16) was again ";in very early Eastern history a decoration of actual great monarchs and also a divine title."; The former has of course as its most obvious example the title of the Persian Kings, as at Behistan—χ ð̣âyaθ iya χ ð̣âyaθ iyânâm : cf. the verbal phrase in the next article. For the latter, cf. the occult document P Leid Wxiv. 8 (ii/iii A.D.) ἐπικαλοῦμαί σε , βασιλεῦ βασιλέων , τύραννε τυράννων , ἔνδοξο ἐνδοξοτἁτων , δαίμων δαιμώνων , ἄλκιμε ἀλκιμωτάτων , ἅγιε ἁγίων . The similarity and at the same time contrast in the Christian usage would thus be full of significance to the Early Church, as in the case of the title κύριος (q. v.). On OGIS 35.1 (iii/B.C.) βασίλισσαν Φιλωτέραν βασιλέως Πτολεμαίου (sc. II, Philadelphus), Dittenberger (p. 648) contests Strack’s attempt to claim βασιλεύς as well as βασίλισσα as a term applicable to non-regnant members of a royal family : he notes that there is all the difference between βασιλεύς and its feminine. Wilcken Archiv iii. p. 319 supports him, and notes inscriptions where βασιλεύς is promptly dropped when a mere H.R.H. is named after the king and his consort. He also commends Dittenberger’s remark that Augustus and Augusta had the same difference after Domitian’s time.
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