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Noble; Nobles; Nobleman

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• Noble; Nobles; Nobleman
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nō´b ' 50 , nō´b ' lz , nō´b ' 50 - man ( חורים , ḥōrı̄m , אדּיר , 'addı̄r ; εὐγενής , eugenḗs , φράτιστος , krátistos , βασιλικός , basilikós ): "Nobles" is the translation of the Hebrew ḥōrı̄m (occurring only in the plural), "free-born," "noble" ( 1 Kings 21:8 , 1 Kings 21:11; Nehemiah 2:16; Nehemiah 6:17 , etc.); of 'addı̄r , "begirded," "mighty," "illustrious" or "noble" (Judges 5:13; 2 Chronicles 23:20 , etc.); of nādhı̄bh , "liberal," "a noble" (Numbers 21:18; Proverbs 8:16 , etc.).

Other words are gādhōl , "great" ( Jonah 3:7 ); yaḳḳı̄r , Aramaic "precious" (Ezra 4:10 ); nāghı̄dh , "a leader" (Job 29:10 ); partemı̄m , "foremost ones" (Esther 1:3; Esther 6:9 ); 'acı̄lı̄m , "those near," "nobles" (Exodus 24:11 ); bārı̄ah , "fugitive" (Isaiah 43:14 ); kābhēdh , "weighty," "honored" (Psalm 149:8 ); eugenēs , "wellborn" (Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 1:26 ); kratistos , "strongest," "most powerful" (Acts 24:3; Acts 26:25 ).

The Apocrypha, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), still further enlarges the list. In the Revised Version (British and American) we have megistánes , "great ones" (1 Esdras 1:38; 8:26, with éntimos , "in honor"; The Wisdom of Song of Solomon 18:12 ). Otherwise the Revised Version's uses of "noble," and "nobleness" are for words containing the root genitive and referring to birth (compare The Wisdom of Song of Solomon 8:3; 2 Maccabees 6:27,31; 12:42; 14:42 twice). The King James Version's uses are wider ( Judith 2:2 , etc.).

Nobleman is, in Luke 19:12 , the translation of eugenḗs anthrōpos , "a man well born," and in John 4:46 , John 4:49 of basilikos , "kingly," "belonging to a king," a designation extended to the officers, courtiers, etc., of a king, the Revised Version margin "king's officer"; he was probably an official, civil or military, of Herod Antipas, who was styled "king" (basileús ).

For "nobles" (Isaiah 43:14 ), the King James Version "have brought down all their nobles," the Revised Version (British and American) has "I will bring down all of them as fugitives," margin "or, as otherwise read, all their nobles even," etc.; for "nobles" (Jeremiah 30:21 ), "prince"; the English Revised Version has "worthies" for "nobles" (Nahum 3:18 ); the Revised Version (British and American) has "the noble" for "princes" (Proverbs 17:26 ): "nobles" for "princes" (Job 34:18; Daniel 1:3 ), for "Nazarites" (Lamentations 4:7 , margin "Nazirites"); "her nobles" for "his fugitives," margin "or, as other otherwise read, fugitives" (Isaiah 15:5 ); the American Standard Revised Version has "noble" for "liberal" (Isaiah 32:5 ); for "The nobles held their peace," the King James Version margin "The voice of the nobles was hid" (Job 29:10 ), the Revised Version (British and American) has "The voice of the nobles was hushed," margin "Hebrew: hid"; for "most noble" (Acts 24:3; Acts 26:25 ), "most excellent."