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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #2583 - κανών
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- a rod or straight piece of rounded wood to which any thing is fastened to keep it straight
- used for various purposes
- a measuring rod, rule
- a carpenter's line or measuring tape
- the measure of a leap, as in the Olympic games
- used for various purposes
- a definitely bounded or fixed space within the limits of which one's power of influence is confined
- the province assigned one
- one's sphere of activity
- metaph. any rule or standard, a principle or law of investigating, judging, living, acting
- Book
- Word
- Parsing
κᾰνών, όνος, ὁ,
straight rod, bar, esp. to keep a thing straight:
I
1 in pl., staves which preserved the shape of the shield, [ ἀσπίδα ] δύω κανόνεσσ' ἀραρυῖαν Il. 13.407, cf. 8.193, Them. Or. 21.257a.
2. weaver's rod, to which alternate threads of the warp were attached, Il. 23.761, Ar. Th. 822 (anap.), Plu. 2.156b, Nonn. D. 37.631.
3. ruddled line used by masons or carpenters, πύργους.. ὀρθοῖσιν ἔθεμεν κανόσιν E. Tr. 6; βάθρα φοίνικι κανόνι.. ἡρμοσμένα Id. HF 945; also κ. λίθινος rule, straight-edge, IG 12.313.113, 373.217, al., cf. Pl. Phlb. 56b, X. Ages. 10.2, AP 11.120 (Callicter); ὥστε τέκτονος παρὰ στάθμην ἰόντος ὀρθοῦται κ. S. Fr. 474.5; κανόνα προσφέρειν Aeschin. 3.199; ποιῶν ὀρθὰ πάντα πρὸς κανόνα IG 7.3073.108 (Lebad., ii B. C.); κανόνεσσι.. μετρήσασθαι A.R. 1.724, cf. Ar. Av. 1004; μολίβδινος κ., i.e. a flexible rule that cannot be depended on for straight measurement, Arist. EN 1137b31 (unless = κῦμα) ; κανόνα ποιῆσαι στρεβλόν Id. Rh. 1354a26. ruler, AP 6.63.2 (Damoch.). metaph., κανόνες καὶ πήχεις ἐπῶν Ar. Ra. 799; λαμπρὰ μὲν ἀκτὶς ἡλίου, κ. σαφής E. Supp. 650.
4. beam or tongue of the balance, στῆσαι ἐκ κανόνος AP 11.334, cf. Sch. Ar. Ra. 811.
5. curtain-rod, Chares Fr. 4J.
6. in pl., reeds of a wind-organ, AP 9.365 (Jul. Imp.).
7. bed-post, LXX Ju. 13.6.
8. in pl., poles from which the ancilia were suspended when carried, D.H. 2.71.
9. pl., bars of a window, PSI 5.547.9 (iii B. C.).
10. in Music, monochord, κατατομὴ κανόνος, title of work by Euc., cf. Phld. Mus. p.100K., Ptol. Harm. 1.8, 2.12; ὀκτάχορδος, πεντεκαιδεκάχορδος κ., ib. 2.2, 3.1 tit.
11. cross-bar of κιθάρα, Porph. inHarm. p.207.
II
1. metaph., rule, standard, κανόνι τοῦ καλοῦ μαθών E. Hec. 602; γνώμης πονηροῖς κανόσιν ἀναμετρούμενος τὸ σῶφρον Id. El. 52; κανόνα προσάγειν Luc. Hist. Conscr. 5; of the law, Lycurg. 9; ὁ σπουδαῖος.. ὥσπερ κ. καὶ μέτρον αὐτῶν (sc. καλῶν καὶ ἡδέων) ὤν Arist. EN 1113a33, cf. Arr. Epict. 3.4.5; τὴν ἐλευθερίαν καὶ τὸ μηδέν' ἔχειν δεσπότην αὑτῶν, ἃ τοῖς προτέροις Ἕλλησιν ὅροι τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἦσαν καὶ κανόνες D. 18.296; ὡς κανόνι τῷ πάθει πᾶν ἀγαθὸν κρίνοντες Epicur. Ephesians 3 p.63U.; ὁ Ἐπικούρου κ. his treatise on Logic, Id. Fr. 34, Damox. 2.15; ὁ τῆς φιλοσοφίας κ. LXX 4 Maccabees 7:21 : Κανόνες, οἱ, title of treatise by Democritus; of a philosophic principle, Dam. Pr. 312.
2. in Art, model, standard, ὁ κ., a statue by Polyclitus which furnished a model of proportions, Plin. HN 34.55; also his treatise on the same, Chrysipp.Stoic. 3.122 (adnot.); also in Literature, Ἡρόδοτος τῆς Ἰάδος ἄριστος κ., Θουκυδίδης δὲ τῆς Ἀτθίδος D.H. Pomp. 3. of a person, severe critic, κ. scriptorum, Cic. Fam. 16.17.1.
3. Gramm., general rule, AB 1180, Choerob. inTheod. 2 p.xxi; paradigm, οἱ κ. τῶν ὀνομάτων A.D. Adv. 141.25. metrical scheme showing all possible forms of a verse, Heph. 14.1, al.
4. in Astronomy and Chronology, table of dates, κανόνες Χρονικοί Plu. Sol. 27; sg., κανών, ὁ, system of chronology, D.H. 1.74. astrological table, κανόνων καὶ εἰσόδων πήξεις Vett.Val. 108.19.
5. limit, boundary, expl. as τὸ μέτρον τοῦ πηδήματος, Poll. 3.151. ' province', sphere of action, 2 Corinthians 10:15.
6. assessment for taxation, PLond. 1.99.5 (iv A. D.), etc.; οἱ δεσποτικοὶ κ. the Imperial taxes, ib. 234.9 (iv A. D.); ἰδιωτικὸς κ. POxy. 2124.10 (iv A. D.).
7. tariff, Stud.Pal. 20.143.5 (v/vi A. D.).
κανών, κανόνος, ὁ (κάννα, Hebrew קָנֶה a cane, reed; Arabic:
1. "a definitely bounded or fixed space within the limits of which one's power or influence is confined; the province assigned one; one's sphere of activity": 2 Corinthians 10:13, 15f.
2. Metaphorically, any rule or standard, a principle or law of investigating, judging, living, acting (often so in classical Greek, as τοῦ καλοῦ, Euripides, Hec. 602; ὁροι τῶν ἀγαθῶν καί κανονες, Demosthenes, pro cor., p. 324, 27): Galatians 6:16; Philippians 3:16 Rec. Cf. Credner, Zur Gesch. des Kanons (Hal., 1847), pp. 6ff; (especially Westcott, The Canon of the N. T., Appendix A; briefly in B. D. under the word
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κανών , -όνος , ὁ
(cf. κάννα , and Heb. H7070, a reed),
[in LXX: Micah 7:4, Judith 13:6, 4 Maccabees 7:21 (and in Aq., Psalms 19:5, Job 38:5)*;]
1. a rod or bar (Jth, l.c.).
2. a measuring rule; hence, metaph,
3. a rule or standard: Galatians 6:16.
4. a limit (RV, province): 2 Corinthians 10:13-16. (For the history of the word and esp. its later meanings, v. Westc., Canon, App. A; cf. also MM, Exp., xv; Cremer, 744.)†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
One or two citations for this difficult word may be useful. Syll 540 .18 (B.C. 175–1) ποιῶν ὀρθὰ πάντα πρὸς κανόνα διηνεκῆ shows κ. in its original use as ";a straight rod,"; ";a level,"; with reference to the building of a temple : cf. Job 38:5 (Aq.) of a measuring line. For the metaphorical use derived from this, as in Galatians 6:16, cf. P Par 63.58 (B.C. 165) (= P Petr III. p. 22) ἐπαγαγόντα τὸ δισταζόμενον ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκκείμενον κανόνα, ";if he applied the doubtful cases to the rule provided for him"; (Mahaffy), and P Lond 130.12 (i/ii A.D.) (= I. p. 133) διὰ κανόνων αἰωνίων, of the ancient rules of astrology. An interesting ex. of the word as applied to the model or ideal man is afforded by Epict. iii. 4. 5 εἰδέναι σε οὖν δεῖ, ὅταν εἰσέρχῃ εἰς τὸ θέατρον, ὅτι κανὼν εἰσέρχῃ καὶ παράδειγμα τοῖς ἄλλοις. We can cite no passages from our sources in support of the meaning ";a measured area"; or ";province"; (RV), which κανών apparently has in 2 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 10:15, but after the time of Diocletian (cf. Wikken Ostr. i. p. 387 f.) the word is common with reference to a regular contribution or charge for public purposes. Thus in P Amh II. 138.12 (A.D. 326) a pilot declares that he has embarked two hundred centenaria of charcoal for transport to Alexandria on account of ";taxes";—κ ]ανόνος, and in P Lond 99.5 al. (iv/A.D.) (= I. p. 158) a distinction is drawn between the normal charge (κανών) and a special addition to it (πρόσθεμα) : cf. ib. 234.9 (c. A.D. 346) (= II. p. 287) εἰς τὴν ἀπαίτησιν τῶν δεσποτικῶν κανόνων, ";the Imperial dues."; See also P Grenf II. 80.14 (A.D. 402) and the late ib. 95.2 (vi/vii A.D.) where κ. is applied to the contributions of the laity for the support of the clergy. The dim. κανόνιον occurs in connexion with a supplementary list of persons liable to the poll-tax in P Lond 25.126 (A.D. 94–5) (= II. p. 40). In the Christian BGU I. 310.17 (Byz.) we have a reference to ἱ ]ερω ̣ κανόνι, but unfortunately the context is very mutilated. For the history of the word with special relation to its ecclesiastical meaning, see Sophocles Lex. s.v., Westcott On the Canon, App. A, and Souter Text and Canon, p. 154 ff. Dr. Rouse tells us he attended a sale of some leases of Church property in the island of Astypalaea in 1905. ";Bills of sale describing each plot were on the wall; and when I asked what these were, I was told εἶνε ὁ κανονισμός."; He suggests that κανών may have meant the ";official description"; of anything : he would apply this in 2 Corinthians 10:13. Boisacq, p. 406 f., favours the connexion with κάννα, ";a reed,"; a word which may be of Semitic origin.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.
