Bible Lexicons

";a friend"; : Preisigke 6817.4 (letter of commendation—B.C. 255) πυ ̣νθανόμενος δέ σε εἶναι ἐπιε [ι ]κῆ ἠξίωσάν τινές με τῶν φίλων γράψαι [σο ]ι ̣, P Vat A.20 (B.C. 168) (= Witkowski.2, p. 66) ἀσπάζεσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ παιδία καὶ τοὺς φίλους, BGU IV. 1209.6 (B.C. 23) ἡμῶν δὲ φίλου γενομένου Πετεχῶντος, ";our late friend Petechon,"; P Oxy IV. 742.7 ff. (B.C. 2) παράδος δέ τινι τῶν φίλων ἀριθμῷ αὐτὰς (sc δέσμα) ἵνα πάλιν ̣ φ [ί ]λ ̣ος ἡμεῖν παραδοῖ ἀσφ [αλῶς, ";deliver a few of them (sc. bundles of reeds) to one of our friends, that a friend may deliver them to me safely, "; ib. XIV. 1672.17 (A.D. 37–41) Μουν ̣α ̣τ ̣ι ̣ο ̣ς ̣ δὲ ὁ φίλος συντυχὼν ἔλεγεν συμ [πε ]φωνηκέναι τοῖς ἐκ τῆς κώ [μ ]η ̣ς αὐτοῦ μετὰ χάριτος, ";our friend Munatius said that he had agreed with the people of his village thankfully"; (Edd.), P Tebt II. 314.9 (ii/A.D.) τῆς δὲ τῶν φίλων σπουδῆς τυχόντος ἐπετύχαμ ̣ε ̣ν ̣, ";but by means of the good offices of our friends we achieved it"; (Edd.), ib. 419 verso (iii/A.D.) ,Ωριγένει παρὰ Σωτηρίχου φίλου, and R Fay 131.14 (iii/iv A.D.) τὸ Δεκασίου τοῦ φίλου λάχανον πάντως πότισον, ";by all means water the vegetables of our friend Decasius"; (Edd.).

For a legal proceeding carried through παρόντων φι ̣ λων δύο, see P Meyer 6.32 (A.D. 125) with the editor’s note : for the designation οἱ πρῶτοι φίλοι, see ib. 1.12 (B.C. 144) Ἀπολλοδώρωι τῶν α ̄ φῖλων και · ε. π,ιστᾶτει. και · γρα,μματεἶ., similarly.17, P Tebt I. 30.15 (B.C. 115), Preisigke 6665.2, 4 (B.C. 255–4?), and OGIS 99.3 (ii/B.C. ad init.) τὸν Πτολεμαίου τῶν πρώτων φίλων καὶ ἀρχικυνήγου υἱόν with the editor’s note : and for the title φίλος τοῦ Καίσαρος, as in Joh. 19:12, see CIG II. 3499.5, 3500.4.

Φίλτατος, which does not occur in the NT, is very common in epistolary addresses, e.g. P Tebt II. 408.2 (A.D. 3) ,Ιππόλιτο ̣ς Ἀκουσιλάῳ τῷ φ [ι ]λτάτῳ πλεῖστα χαίρειν. So stereotyped has the formula become that it is used even in letters of reproof, such as P Flor II. 226 (iii/A.D.), where the writer, addressing himself to his ";dearest"; Heroninus, goes on to accuse him of unsocial behaviour—οὐ σήμερον οὖν οἶδα σ [οῦ ] ἀπάνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ οἶδα.