Bible Lexicons

The royal decree of Euergetes II. and the two Cleopatras, P Tebt I. 5.3 (B.C. 118), proclaims an amnesty for all their subjects for ἀγνοημάτων ἁμαρτημ [άτ ]ων [ἐ ]ν ̣κλημάτων καταγνωσμάτων (see note), where the difference between the first two words is brought out by the editors’ rendering, ";errors,"; ";crimes"; : cf. Archiv ii. p. 483 ff. An inscription from Egypt, OGIS 116.2 (ii/B.C.), has συγγνώ [μην. . .] αν γεγονόσιν ἀγνοήμα [σιν. . .] in a broken context, but the meaning seems clear. The combination quoted above from P Tebt I. 5 apparently recurs in BGU IV. 1185.7 (i/B.C.) ἀγνοημ ]άτων ἁμαρτημάτων καταγνωσμα ̣τω [ν. . .]ν ̣ σ ̣κεπεστικῶν αἰτιῶν πασῶν κτλ. Similarly in P Par 63xiii. 2 one of the Ptolemies writes ἀπολελυκότες πάντας τοὺς ἐνεσχημένους ἔν τισιν ἀγνοήμασιν ἢ ἁμαρτήμασιν ἕως τῆς `iq τοῦ ἐπείφ. (On ἐνέχεσθαι ἐν see Proleg. p. 61 f.). The Seleucid Demetrius uses a like combination in 1 Maccabees 13:39; and it is further found in Tobit 3:3, and Sirach 23:2 (cited by Thayer). Ἀγνόημα is accordingly marked by this association as meaning an offence of some kind, and ";error"; is its natural equivalent : so in Hebrews 9:7.