Bible Lexicons

ἑταῖρος , -ου , ὁ ,

[in LXX chiefly for H7453 and cognate forms, also Sirach 11:6; Sirach 37:2 ff., al.;]

a companion, comrade: Matthew 11:16 (WH, ἑτέροις ); voc., as term of address, my friend: Matthew 20:13; Matthew 22:12; Matthew 26:50.†

We are unable to quote any instance of this word, which in the NT is confined to the First Gospel (cf. Ev. Petr. 7), from the papyri, but it is by no means infrequent in the inscrr., e.g. Syll 365.6 (c. A.D. 37) συντρόφους καὶ ἑταίρους ἑαυτῶι γεγονότας, OGIS 573.1 (i/A.D.) ἔδοξε τοῖς ἑταίροις καὶ Σαββατισταῖς θεοῦ [εὐν ]οίαι Σαββατιστοῦ συνηγμένοις. Cf. Vett. Val. p. 331.13 ὅπως διὰ τούτων οἱ ἀμαθεῖς καὶ θεομάχοι πίστιν ἐνεγκάμενοι καὶ ἑταῖροί γε τῆς ἀληθείας γενόμενοι ὑπαρκτὴν καὶ σεβάσμιον τὴν ἐπιστήμην καταλάβωσιν. Aphaeresis is seen in MGr ταίρι, ";pair,"; ";mate.";