Bible Lexicons

The trans. sense of this verb ";place beside,"; ";present,"; ";produce,"; is well seen in its use in connexion with judicial proceedings, as when in P Ryl II. 94.11 (A.D. 14–37) the head and the secretary of a guild of weavers become sureties for the production of five of their number against whom proceedings were pending—ἐπάνανκον παραστήσι <ν > σοι αὐτοὺ <ς > ὁπηνίκα ἐὰν ἑρῇ (l. αἱρῇ) ἐκδικοῦντες τὰ διὰ τοῦ ὑπομνήματος Πανινούτιος, ";it is incumbent on us to produce them for you whenever you choose, to answer the claims stated in the petition of Paninoutis"; (Edd.) : cf. P Oxy H. 259.14 (A.D. 23) ἐὰν δὲ μὴ παριστῶ ἐν τα [ῖς ] προκειμέναις ἡμέρα <ι >ς ἐκτείσω τα ̣̣ προκείμενα íις ý τῶν χρυσίων μν [α ]ιήων δύο ἀνυπερθέτως, ";if I do not produce him (a prisoner for whom he had become surety) within the said number of days, I will pay the said two minae of gold without delay"; (Edd.), P Amh II. 66.40 (A.D. 124) οἱ ὑπὸ σοῦ παρασ [τ ]αθέντες μάρτυρες ὁμολόγησαν τὸν φόνον ἐγνωκέναι, ";the witnesses produced by you acknowledged that they knew of the murder"; (Edd.), and P Oxy VI. 897.10 (A.D. 346) ἐπέθετο ἡμῖν ἡ ὑμῶν ἐμμέλια ὥστε Χωοῦν. . . ἀναζητῆσαι καὶ παραστῆσαι, ";your grace required us to search out and produce Choous"; (Edd.).

This judicial sense helps us in 1 Corinthians 8:8 βρῶμα δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐ παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ, ";food will not affect our standing with God"; in the Day of Judgment to which the fut. tense points. Cf. P Hal I. 1.218 (mid. iii/B.C.) with reference to the oath by race or descent, ἄλλον δ᾽ ὅρκον μηδένα ἐξέστω ὀμνύναι μη [δ ]ὲ ὁρκ [ίζ ]ειν μηδὲ γενεὰν παρίστασθαι : with the editors’ note, p. 121.

For the verb in connexion with sacrifice, as in Romans 12:1, cf. Priene 113.40 (after B.C. 84) τάς τε θυσίας τὰς εἰθισμέ [να ̣ς καὶ τ ]α ̣̣ς πατρίους τοῖς τῆς πόλεως πα [ρ ]αστήσειν θεοῖς, and Magn 98.47 (beg. ii/B.C.) παριστανέτωσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ οἰκονόμοι. . . ἱερεῖα τρία, [ἃ ] θύσουσιν τῶι τε Διὶ. . . [This last is apparently the earliest inscriptional evidence as yet known for the form παριστάνω : cf. Thieme, p. 13.] See also Deissmann BS, p. 254.

The rendering ";is ready"; (for the reaper) which Swete prefers for παρέστηκεν in Mark 4:29 may be supported by P Petr III. 43(3).15 (iii/B.C.) ἔτι δὲ [οὐ ]κ ἀγνοεῖς ὥς σοι διελέγην περὶ τοῦ ση [σ ]άμου καὶ κρότωνος [ὅ ]τι παρέστηκεν, ";further you are well aware how I told you in conversation that the sesame and croton are ready"; : cf. P Lille I. 8.5 (iii/B.C.) γεωργῶ γῆν βασιλικὴν (ἀρουρῶν) ρ ̄ξ ̄, καὶ ἡ γῆ παρέστηκεν.

The intrans. sense ";appear"; is seen in P Oxy XIV. 1642.2 (appointment of a representative—A.D. 289) ἀποσυνίπτημί σε κατὰ ταῦτά μου τὰ γράμματα παραστῆναι παρὰ σοὶ ἐν τῷ Ὀξυρυγχε ̣ίτῃ, ";I appoint you by this my deed to appear at home in the Oxyrhynchite nome as my representative"; (Edd.). For the literal sense ";am standing by,"; ";am at hand,"; as in Luke 19:24, cf. Aristeas 19.

For the subst. παράστασις cf. P Magd 22.4 (B.C. 221) καταπλεῦσαί με εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τὴν παράστασιν τὴν γε [νομ ]ένην ἡμῶ [ν, ";pour notre comparution,"; P Oxy VII. 1033.8 (A.D. 392) ἀναγκαζόμεθα δὲ συνεχῶς ἕνεκεν τῆς παραστάσεως διαφόρων προσώπων, ";we are often called upon for the production of various persons"; (Ed.). The reference to the happily completed building of the Temple of Artemis in Magn 100 a.12 (2nd half of ii/B.C.) θείας ἐπιπνοίας καὶ παραστάσεως γενομένης τῷ σύμπαντι πλήθει τοῦ πολιτεύματος εἰς ·τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν τοῦ ναοῦ might serve, as Thieme remarks (ZNTW vii. (1906), p. 265 f.) for the dedication of a Christian church at the present day.