Bible Lexicons

μορφή , -ῆς , ἡ ,

[in LXX: Judges 8:18 A (H8389), Job 4:16 (H8544), Isaiah 44:13 (H8403), Da LXX Daniel 3:19 (H6754), Da TH Daniel 4:33; Daniel 5:6; Daniel 5:9-10; Daniel 7:28 (H2122), Tobit 1:13, Wisdom of Solomon 18:1, 4 Maccabees 15:4 *;]

form, shape, appearance (Hom., Eur., . sch., al.); in philos. lang. the specific character or essential form (Arist., v. Gifford, Inc., 26 ff.) : Mark 16:12, Philippians 2:6-7.†

SYN.: μόρφωσις G3446, the outline, delineation, semblance of the μορφή G3444, as distinct from the μ . itself (Lft., Notes, 262); σχῆμα G4976, shape, fashion, disting. from μορφή as the outward and accidental from the inward and essential (cf. Tr., Syn., § LXX; Lft., Phi., 125 ff.; Gifford., Inc., l.c.).

Without entering into the discussion as to whether this term when applied to Zenas in Titus 3:13 implies in his case a knowledge of Roman or Hebrew law, it may be noted that exx. of the former sense can be readily produced from the papyri and inscrr. : see e.g. BGU I. 326ii. 22 (ii/A.D.) where a certain Gaius Lucius Geminianus, νομικὸς Ῥωμαϊκός, certifies that he bas examined the copy of a will, and finds that it corresponds with the original : cf. Mommsen’s commentary ad l. in the Berliner Sitzungsberichte, 1894, p. 4, n..1, where a number of instances of νομικός, ";lawyer,"; are cited from Greek inscrr. of the Imperial age. See also Magn 191.4 (time of Antonines) a decree honouring Ζώβιον Διοσκουρίδου νομικὸν ζήσαντα κοσμίως, and PAS ii. p. 137 (Imperial period) Λ. Μαλίῳ Μαξίμῳ νομικῷ. In P Oxy II. 237viii. 2 (A.D. 186) we have the copy of an answer by a νομικός —ἀντίγραφον προσφω ̣ν ̣[ήσεως νομ ]ικοῦ —to a technical question addressed to him by the presiding magistrate, which prepares us for the frequent appointment of νομικοί as ";assessors,"; where ";the judge was a soldier and therefore not a legal expert"; : see GH ad I. and cf. CPR I. 18.24 (A.D. 124) (= Chrest. II. p. 93) Βλαίσιος Μαριανὸς ἔπαρχος. . συνλαλήσας Ἀρτε [μι ]δ [ώρῳ τ ]ῷ νομ [ι ]κῷ [π ]ε [ρὶ το ]ῦ πράγματος, ὑ [πη ]γόρευσεν ἀπό [φασιν ἣ καὶ ἀν ]ε [γ ]νώσθ [η, P Cattaouiiii. 18 (ii/A.D.) (= Archiv iii. p. 59, Chrest. II. p. 421) Λοῦπ [ος ] λαλήσας μετὰ τῶν νομικῶν εἶπεν κτλ. The term is also applied to a private notary, as in BGU I. 361iii. 2 (A.D. 184) ὁ νομικὸς ὁ τὴν οἰκονομίαν γράψας : and for the corresponding νομογράφος cf. P Fay 28.15 (A.D. 150–1) ( = Selections, p. 82) ἔγραψ [ε ]ν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν Ἀμμώνιος νομογ (ράφος). On the late variant νομικάριος for νομικός see P Oxy XII. 1416.21 (c. A.D. 299) with the editors’ note.