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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary
Strong's #1203 - δεσπότης
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δεσπότ-ης, ου, ὁ;
voc. δέσποτᾰ: Ion. acc. δεσπότεα Hdt. 1.91, al., Luc. Syr.D. 25: —
I
1. master, lord, prop. the master of the house, δόμων A. Eu. 60, etc.; ὄμμα γὰρ δόμων νομίζω δεσπότου παρουσίαν Id. Pers. 169: pl., of a family, Id. Ag. 32, Ch. 53, 82 (lyr.); in respect of slaves, Pl. Prm. 133d; δοῦλοι καὶ δ. οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιντο φίλοι Id. Lg. 757a, etc.; δ. καὶ δοῦλος Arist. Pol. 1253b6, cf. 1278b35; ὦ δέσποτ' ἄναξ Ar. Pax 90 (anap.); ὦναξ δέσποτα ib. 389, Fr. 598; δέσποτ' ἄναξ Men. 312.5.
2. despot, absolute ruler, Hdt. 3.89, Th. 6.77; τύραννος καὶ δ. Pl. Lg. 859a; of the Roman Emperors, Ph. 2.568, D.C. 55.12, Hdn. 1.6.4; γᾶς καὶ θαλάσσας δ. IG 12(2).216 (Mytilene).
3. of the gods, S. Fr. 535, E. Hipp. 88, Ar. V. 875, X. An. 3.2.13.
4. dominant planet, Vett. Val. 5.16.
II generally, master, lord, owner, κώμου, ναῶν, Pi. O. 6.18, P. 4.207; μαντευμάτων A. Th. 27; τῶν Ἡρακλείων ὅπλων S. Ph. 262; ἑπτὰ δεσποτῶν, of the seven Chiefs against Thebes, E. Supp. 636; τοῦ ὄρτυγος Poll. 9.108. — Not in Hom. (for metrical reasons), though he uses δέσποινα in Od. (Prob. for δεμσποτ- 'lord of the house', cf. δόμος.)
δεσπότης , -ου , ὁ ,
[in LXX chiefly for H113, H136; in Judith 9:17, δ . τ . οὐρανῶν κ . τ . γῆς ];
a master, lord, correlative of δοῦλος , οἰκέτης : 1 Timothy 6:1-2, 2 Timothy 2:21, Titus 2:9, 1 Peter 2:18; as title of God, voc., δέσποτα (so usually in LXX), Luke 2:29, Acts 4:24; ὁ δ . = voc. δέσποτα (cf. B1., § 33, 4), Revelation 6:10; of Christ, 2 Peter 2:1, Judges 1:4, R, txt. (but cf. mg.).†
SYN.: κύριος G2962 (q.v.), implying limitation of authority and a more general relation than δ ., which "denoted absolute ownership and uncontrolled power" (Thayer).
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
BGU IV. 1125.7 (B.C. 13) τὰ ]ς μελέτας καὶ τὰς ἐπιδίξις ἐγὼι αὐτὸς ὁ δεσπότης χορη [γ ]η ̣σ ̣ωι αὐτῶι Ν ̣α ̣ρ ̣κ ̣ι ̣σ ̣σ ̣ωι [. . . : N. is the writer’s slave. P Giss I. 27.12 (c. A.D. 117) πα [ι ]δάρια δυ ̣ο ἀ [π ]ὸ Αὐ ̣άσεως (= Ὀάσεως ) ἠνέχθη τῷ δεσπό [τῃ , ὧν τὸ ] μ [έ ]ν ἐστιν τετραετές , τὸ δὲ τριετῆ . A derived noun occurs BGU IV. 1187.32 (c. B.C. 1) μενούσης μοι [τῆς ] κυριείας καὶ δεσποτήας [τῶ ]ν δηλουμένων τόπων [κ ]αθότι καί ἐστιν (i.e. εἰσιν ) ἡμέτεροι . In the same petition, l..9, we find the kindred verb : καὶ ἐφ᾽ ὃν περιῇ χρό [ν ]ον ·κρατῶν (for –οῦσα !) δεσπόζουσα ἀνεμφ [οδ ]ίστω [ς μη ]δενὸς ἁπλ ̣[ῶ ]ς δια [κωλύοντος διετέλει —referring to the same estate as held by the writer’s mother. So P Tor I. 1 viii. 26 (B.C. 116) (= Chrest. II. p. 38) ἕκαστον δ᾽ αὐτῶν δεσπόζοντα τῆς ἰδίας κτήσεως . Preisigke 4127.1 ἀκτινοβόλε δέσποτα opens a hymn to the sun. In MGr δεσπότης is a bishop or priest : the voc. δέσποτα survives in eccl. language, ";reverend sir."; But the fem. δέσποινα (also eccl.) is a title of Mary, descended of course from the classical use of the term in addressing goddesses.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.
the Second Week after Epiphany