Bible Lexicons

This word should be translated ";captain"; rather than ";owner"; (AV, RV ) in its only occurrence in the NT, Acts 27:11, for the vessel belonged to the Alexandrian fleet in the Imperial service : see Ramsay Paul, p. 324. In this connexion it is interesting to note that, judging from two ναύκληρος –receipts P Lille I. 22, 23 (both B.C. 221), the Ptolemies were themselves ship-owners and hired out their vessels for corn-transport. The ναύκληρος in both the above cases is described also as μισθωτής or ";lessee,"; though in themselves the two functions were distinct : ";die Pacht eines Schiffes für unbestimmte Zwecke schafft einen μισθωτής, die Übernahme eines Staatstransportes einen ναύκληρος "; (Rostowzew, Archiv v. p. 298). That private persons could also be ship-owners is shown by another receipt P Lille I. 21 (B.C. 221), where a certain Heracleides acts as ναύκληρος for a transport belonging to Heraclitus—.6 Ἡρακλείδης ναύκληρος τῆς Ἡρακλείτου προσαγογεῖτος (l. προσαγωγίδος) : see further Wilcken, Archiv v. p. 226. Other exx. of the term are P Hib I. 39.5 (B.C. 265) where, as in Ac l.c., Horus is described as ναύκληρ ̣ο ̣ς ̣ καὶ κυβερνητής of a State barge (εἰς κοντω [τὸ ]ν βασιλικόν) conveying corn, and as ναύκληρος is instructed to write a receipt and seal a sample of his freight—σύμβολον [δ ]ὲ ὑμῖν γραψάσθ ̣ω ̣ . . [κ ]αὶ δεῖγμα σφραγισάσ [θ ]ω, ib. 98.2 (B.C. 251) ὁμολογ ̣ε ̣ι ̣ͅ [Διονύσιος ] ν [αύ ]κληρος ἐμ [β ]εβ [λῆσθαι ] . . . κριθ [ῶ ]ν (ἀρτάβας) Δ ̄ω ̄, ";Dionysius, captain, acknowledges that he has embarked 4800 artabae of barley"; (Edd.), P Oxy I. 63.4 (ii/iii A.D.) τοῦ ἀναδιδόντος σοι τὸ ἐπιστόλιόν μου ναυκλήρου Πανε ̣μου ̣ῶτος, ";the bearer of this letter is the captain Panemouos"; (Edd.), and the Delian inscr. OGIS 344.4 (i/B.C.) οἱ καταπλέοντες εἰς Βιθυνίαν ἔμποροι καὶ ναύκληροι, where the ἔμποροι, ";private-owners,"; are distinguished from the ναύκληροι, ";captains"; or ";sailing-masters."; For the difference between ναύκληρος and πιστικός see the note on P Lond IV. 1341.12 (A.D. 709). Ναυκλήριον, ";vessel,"; is found in P Oxy I. 87.7, .20 (A.D. 342).