Bible Lexicons

For the Hellenistic usage of ξύλον to denote a (living) tree, as in Luke 23:31, see the Ptolemaic ordinance P Tebt I. 5.205 (B.C. 118) remitting penalties on those τοὺς κεκοφότας τῶν ἰδίων ξύλα παρὰ ἐκε ̣ίμενα (l. παρὰ τὰ ἐκκείμενα) προστάγματα, ";who have cut down trees on their own property in contravention of the published decrees."; The editors find in this regulation a proof that ";the king controlled the timber of the country, though whether in the form of a tax upon cutting down trees or of a monopoly is uncertain";; but see Wilcken Archiv ii. p. 489. Cf. also P Oxy XII. 1421.4 (iii/A.D.) τὸ ξ [ύ ]λον τὸ ἀκάνθινον τὸ κεκομμένον ἐν τῇ Εἰόνθει ἐξαυτῆς [πέμψατε, ";send at once the acacia-wood which has been cut at Ionthis,"; P Flor II. 152.4 (A.D. 268) ἀπέστειλα τέκτονα Μαρεῖνον ἵνα κόψῃ ξύλα εἰς τὰ μηχανι [κὰ ] τοῦ Πάκι, and for the diminutive ξυλάριον (3 Kingd 17.12) see P Tebt II. 513 (ii/iii A.D.) τὸ σύκινον ξυλάριον τὸ ἐν τῷ πλινθουργίῳ κοπήτω. The substantives ξυλεία, ξυλολογεία, and ξυλοτομία are found in BGU IV. 1123.9 (time of Augustus), P Oxy IV. 729.33 (A.D. 137) and ib. XIV. 1631.9 (A.D. 280) respectively. Land planted with trees is called ξυλῖτις in P Lille I. 5.58 (B.C. 260–59)—it had just been cleared and shown : cf. P Petr II. 39 (a).7 (iii/B.C.). For the more general sense of ξύλον, ";wood,"; ";piece of wood,"; as in Matthew 26:47, cf. P Petr II. 4 (11).5 (B.C. 255–4) ἀποστεῖλον δ᾽ ἡμῖν καὶ ξύλα τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν Σ ̄ ὅτι εὐμηκέστατα καὶ παχύτατα, ";send us also the remaining 200 beams as long and thick as possible"; (Ed.), P Fay 118.23 (A.D. 110) γέμ ̣[ι ]σ ̣ον αὐτὰ (τὰ κτήνη) βάκανον καὶ ξύλον, ";load them (the animals) with cabbage and wood,"; P Giss I. 67.9 (ii/A.D.) ξενικῶν ξύλων, ";wood imported from abroad,"; P Tebt II. 304.10 (A.D. 167–8) μετὰ ξύλων ἰσπηδῆσαι, ";to rush in with staves,"; P Oxy I. 69.3 (A.D. 190) ἴσως προσερείσαντας τῷ τόπῳ ξύλον, ";probably using a log of wood as a battering-ram"; (Edd,), ib. XIV. 1738.6 (iii/A.D.) ξύλα σώματα, ";logs,"; and P Ryl II. 236.13 (A.D. 256) ἀνερχόμενα δὲ ξύλα ἀνακομισάτω εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ εὐσχήμονος, ";and when they (a team of four donkeys) come, let them bring up timber to the magistrate’s house"; (Edd.). Reference may also be made to the law of astynomy at Pergamum, OGIS 483.181 (time of Trajan) μαστειγωθεὶς δὲ ἐν τῶι κύφωνι πληγαῖς ἑκατὸν δεδέσθω ἐν τῶι ξύλωι ἡμέρας δέκα, with the editor’s note. For ξύλον, ";a measure of length,"; = 3 cubits cf. P Ryl II. 64i. 3 (iv/v A.D.), the introd. to P Oxy VII. 1053 (vi/vii A.D.), and Archiv iii. p. 439, and for the verb ξυλομετρέω see BGU I. 12.27 (A.D. 181–2) γ ]εωμετροῦντος καὶ ξυλομετροῦντος. Other exx. of the diminutive ξυλάριον are P Oxy X. 1292.12 (c. A.D. 30), BGU III. 844.15 (A.D. 83). In P Tebt II. 316.95 (A.D. 99) οἰκῶ δὲ ἐν τῷ ἐκτὸς τῆ (l. τῆς) ξυληρᾶ (l. –ᾶς ?) the editors think the reference is probably to the ";wood-market."; MGr ξύλο, ";wood.";