Bible Lexicons

This common particle, which occurs in the NT nearly 500 times, is used in our sources in a variety of connexions, the exact shade of meaning being determined by the context.

(1) For the causal meaning ";therefore"; we may cite BGU II. 423.11 (ii/A.D.) (= Selections, p.91) καὶ καλῶς μοί ἐστιν. ἐρωτῶ σε οὖν, κύριέ μου πατήρ, γράψον μοι ἐπιστόλιον πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας σου. . . , ";it is well with me. I beg you, therefore, my lord father, write me a letter, first regarding your health . . . ,"; and P Oxy XIV. 1665.15 (iii/A.D.), where a son in urgent need of oil writes to his father—ἀναγκαίως οὖν, ἐὰν ἔτι παρὰ σεαυτῷ χρ [ῖ ]ον ἔχῃς, δήλωσον ἢ τῷ υἱῷ σου ἢ ᾧ ἐὰν σὺ βούλῃ τούτους μοι ἐν τάχει παρα [σ ]χεῖν, ";perforce, therefore, if you have still with you any unguent, instruct your son or any one else you wish to supply me with them speedily"; (Edd.).

(2) Οὖν is very common in a looser temporal sense, resuming or continuing a narrative, as in P Oxy X. 1293.7 (A.D. 117–38) κόμισαι παρὰ Σαρᾶτος Μάρκου ἐλαίου ἀφροδ (ισιακοῦ) καλοῦ μετρητὰς τέσσαρας ἥμισυ · κομισαμένη οὖν δήλωσόν μοι, ";receive from Saras son of Marcus four and a half metretae of fine aphrodisiac oil; and having done so let me know"; (Edd.). For the combination μὲν οὖν in the same connexion (as in Acts 1:6; Acts 1:18; Acts 2:41, al.), cf. P Oxy II. 281.9 (complaint against a husband—A.D. 20–50) συνεβίωσα Σαραπίωνι. . . ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἐπιδεξαμένη αὐτὸν εἰς τὰ τῶν γονέων μου οἰκητήρια λειτὸν παντελῶς ὄντα, ἀνέγκλητον ἐματὴν ἐν ἁπᾶσει παρειχόμην, ";I married Sarapion . . . as he was destitute of means I received him into my parents’ house, and I for my part conducted myself blamelessly in all respects"; (Edd.), ib. 282.6 (complaint against a wife—A.D. 30–35) συνεβίω [σα ] Δημ [η ]τροῦτι Ἡρακλείδου, κα [ὶ ἐ ]γὼ μὲν οὖν ἐπεχορήγησα αὐτῇ τὰ ἑξῆς καὶ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν, ";I married Demetrous, daughter of Heraclides, and I for my part provided for my wife in a manner that exceeded my resources"; (Edd.).

(3) Οὖν is also used with an intensive force in exhortations, etc.—P Lond 28.4 (c. B.C. 162) (= I. p. 43) καλῶς οὖν ποισῇς φροτίσαι (l. φροντίσαι) μοι σιτάριον, ";please be sure to look after the grain for me,"; P Tebt I. 33.2 (B.C. 112) (= Selections, p. 30) φρόν ]τισον οὖν ἵνα γένη (ται) ἀκολούθως, ";take care that action is taken in accordance with it (a letter),"; P Ryl II. 229.17 (A.D. 38) παρεδεξάμην σοι πάντα. παρακάλεσον οὖν τὴν γυναῖκά σου τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις ἵνα ἐπιμελῆται τῶν χοιριδίων, ";I have given you every allowance. Urge your wife from me to look after the pigs"; (Edd.), BGU I. 37.5 (A.D. 50) ὅρα οὖν μὴ αὐτὸν κατάσχῃς ";see then that you do not detain him,"; and P Oxy I. 115.11 (letter of consolation—ii/ A.D.) (= Selections, p. 96) ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐδὲν δύναταί τις πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα. παρηγορεῖτε οὖν ἑαυτούς, ";but still there is nothing one can do in the face of such trouble. So I leave you to comfort yourselves"; (Edd ). In drawing attention to this usage, Mantey (Exp. VIII. xxii. p. 210 f.) thinks that this emphatic sense might be given to οὖν in about 65 places in the NT, e.g. Matthew 3:8; Matthew 3:10 ";By all means produce fruit worthy of acceptance. . . . Every tree, rest assured, that does not produce good fruit . . .";

(4) From this is developed a slightly adversative sense in such a passage as P Tebt I. 37.15 (B.C. 73) ἐγὼ οὖν περισπώμενος περὶ ἀναγκαίων γέγραφά σοι ἵνα ἱκανὸς γένῃ, ";howbeit as I am occupied with urgent affairs, I have written to you, in order that you may undertake the matter";; cf. Acts 25:4; Acts 28:5, and Mantey ut s. p. 207 f.

(5) Οὖν intensifies the indefiniteness of a preceding pronoun in P Lend 1171 verso (c).8 (A.D. 42) (= III. p. 107) ἢ ο ̣̓́σ ̣τις οὖν τῶν ὑπηρετῶν, P Amh II. 86.2 (A.D. 78) καθ᾽ ὁνδήποτε οὖν τρόπον, ";of whatever description,"; P Ryl II. 243.9 (ii/A.D.) ὅσα ποτὲ οὖν ἐὰν ̣ ἀνα íνα ýλώσῃς ἰς τὴν τοῦ κλήρου κατεργασίαν, ήμεῖν ἐνλόγησον ἐπὶ λόγου, ";put down to our account everything you expend on the cultivation of the holding"; (Edd.), and P Par 574.1240 (iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 113) ὅστις ποτ᾽ οὖν εἶ.

Λοιπὸν οὖν which is read in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 ℵ AD, is found in the private letter BGU IV. 1079.6 (A.D. 41) ἔπεμψά σοι ἄλλας δύο ἐπιστολάς, διὰ Νηδύμου μίαν, διὰ Κρονίου μαχαιροφόρου μίαν. λοιπὸν οὖν (";then at last";) ἔλαβον παρὰ το (ῦ) Ἄραβος τὴν ἐπιστολὴν καὶ ἀνέγνων καὶ ἐλυπήθην. See further s.v. λοιπός. Οὖν has not survived in MGr.

 

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