Bible Lexicons

For γ . = ";cultivated fields,"; see P Tebt I. 72.370 (a land survey—B.C. 114–3) καὶ παραγενομένου αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν κώμην καὶ ἐπελθόντος ἐπὶ τὰ γεώργια εὑρεθῆναι τὸν σπόρον κακοφυῆι ὄντα καὶ τὰ γενήματα ἀθέριστα . In P Par 63.46 ff. (B.C. 165) τὴν ἐκτ [ε ]νεσ ̣τάτην [ποι ]ήσασθαι πρόνοιαν ὅπως ἑκάστοις κατὰ δύναμιν μερ [ι ]σθῇ τὰ γεώργια , Mahaffy (P Petr III. p. 23) translates, ";you should take the most earnest precautions that the field labour be divided to each in accordance with his capacity"; : cf. P Lond 314.12 ff. (A.D. 149) (= II. p. 189) where in a proposal for a sub-lease the lessee undertakes all that is necessary for the proper cultivation of the land—ἐπιτελέσω τὰ γεωργικὰ ἔργα π [άντ ]α ὅσα καθήκει , ib. 354.21 (c. B.C. 10) (= II. p. 165) διὰ δὲ τοῦτο τῶν γεωργίων ἀφανιζομένων [. . . It should be noted that this last document is written in a very graceful literary hand, so that the word here figures in educated language. This is interesting from the fact that γεώργιον cannot be traced with certainty in literature before Strabo : Dittenberger hesitates as to the supplement in Syll 160.9 (B.C. 323) τὴν ἀτέλει [α ]ν . . . τῶν γεωργ [ίων , because ";reliqua huius vocis testimonia multo inferioris aetatis sunt."; LS quote Theagenes (or Theogenes), who in a book on Aegina (Müller Fragm. Hist. Graec., frag. 17) says the Aeginetans dumped εἰς τὰ γεώργια earth dug out of caves. Unfortunately the identity and date of this writer is very uncertain, so that he is not evidence. The abstract γεωργία is also common, e.g. P Oxy VIII. 1124.16 (A.D. 26) τοῦ δ᾽ ἐνκαταλιπεῖν τὴ [ν γε ]ωργία [ν ] . . . ἐπίτιμον , ";the penalty for abandoning the cultivation"; (Ed.), P Fay 123.17 (c. A.D. 100) ἤχθην ἰς γεωργίαν , ";I have been pressed in as a cultivator"; (Edd.), P Lond 1231.4 (A.D. 144) (= III. p. 108) παραιτούμενοι τὴν εἰς τὸ μ [έ ]λλον γε ̣ω ̣ργείαν ὧν γεωργοῦ [με ]ν σὺν Ἀπολλωνίῳ . . . ἀρο ̣[υρῶ ]ν δέκα [ἐν ]νέα καὶ . . ς , P Flor III. 370.3 (A.D. 132) ὁ ]μολογῶ ἔσασθαί σοι κοινωνὸς κατὰ τὸ ἥμισυ μέρος γεωργίας τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἑπτακαιδεκάτου (ἔτους ).