ἀπόστολος Ancient Greek · revision 3181

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=5th century BC, Herodotus|origins=ine-pro *stel-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /a.pós.to.los/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /aˈpos.to.los/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /aˈpos.to.los/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ᾰ̓πόστολος''' (apóstolos) ''m'' (genitive ᾰ̓ποστόλου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[ἀποστέλλω|tr=apostéllō|t=to send off]], formed from [[ἀπό|alt=ἀπο-|tr=apo-|t=away]] and [[στέλλω|tr=stéllō|t=to send]].^(Wiktionary)^(Spicq 1994)^(BDAG 2000) Στέλλω is from [[ine-pro|*stel-|t=to set up, prepare]].^(LIV 2001)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Herodotus uses it for a messenger: the herald sent by Alyattes to Miletus, and a man who went on a mission to Sparta by ship.^(Spicq 1994)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Attic, Lysias and Demosthenes use it for a naval expedition, a fleet sent out, and Plato has the adjective for a ship ready to sail.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000) Hesychius glosses it as a general sent by sea.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000)^(Hesychius) Spicq notes that from the 4th century it almost always refers to a naval expedition or a transport, and in the papyri it was the official document for shipping grain on the Nile, a bill of lading or clearance certificate.^(Spicq 1994)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ The Septuagint uses it once for a messenger sent by God, and the New Testament makes it the title of the men sent out by Christ, the apostles, and of other missionaries.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000)^(CGL 2021) It was borrowed into Latin as [[m|la-ecc|apostolus]], into Gothic, Old Church Slavonic and Coptic, and translated literally in Old Armenian.^(Wiktionary) Modern Greek [[m|el|απόστολος|tr=apóstolos]] is an apostle, the church reading from the Acts and the Epistles, and, after French ''apôtre'', a zealous advocate of an idea.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a messenger.^(Spicq 1994)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Lysias uses it for a naval expedition.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for a fleet.^(BDAG 2000)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for a messenger from God.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the apostles.^(BDAG 2000)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century AD – Papyri use it for a shipping document.^(BDAG 2000)^(Spicq 1994)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|messenger]], envoy, one who is sent.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A naval expedition, a fleet sent out.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(papyri)'' A bill of lading; a clearance certificate.^(BDAG 2000)^(Spicq 1994)

+ # ''(New Testament)'' An [[m|en|apostle]].^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἰσαπόστολος|tr=isapóstolos]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἀποστέλλω|tr=apostéllō]]

+ * [[στέλλω|tr=stéllō]]

+ * [[στόλος|tr=stólos]]

+ * [[la|apostolus]]

+ * [[en|apostle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}