Bible Lexicons

πατήρ (from the root, pa; literally, nourisher, protector, upholder; (Curtius, § 348)), πατρός, πατρί, πατέρα, vocative πάτερ (for which the nominative ὁ πατήρ is five times used, and (anarthrous) πατήρ in John 17:21 T Tr WH, 24 and 25 L T Tr WH; cf. B. § 129, 5; Winers Grammar, § 29, 2; WH's Appendix, p. 158), plural πατέρες, πατέρων, πατρασι (Hebrews 1:1), πατέρας, ὁ (from Homer down), the Sept. for אָב, a father;

1. properly, equivalent to generator or male ancestor, and either a. the nearest ancestor: Matthew 2:22; Matthew 4:21; Matthew 8:21; Luke 1:17; John 4:53; Acts 7:14; 1 Corinthians 5:1, etc.; οἱ πατέρες τῆς σαρκός, fathers of the corporeal nature, natural fathers (opposed to ὁ πατήρ τῶν πνευμάτων), Hebrews 12:9; plural of both parents, Hebrews 11:23 (not infrequent in secular auth, cf. Delitzsch at the passage); or b. a more remote ancestor, the founder of a race or tribe, progenitor of a people, forefather: so Abraham is called, Matthew 3:9; Luke 1:73; Luke 16:24; John 8:39, 53; Acts 7:2; Romans 4:1 Rec., Romans 4:17f, etc.; Isaac, Romans 9:10; Jacob, John 4:12; David, Mark 11:10; Luke 1:32; plural, fathers i. e. ancestor's, forefathers, Matthew 23:30, 32; Luke 6:23, 26; Luke 11:47; John 4:20; John 6:31; Acts 3:13, 25; 1 Corinthians 10:1, etc., and often in Greek writings from Homer down; so too אָבות, 1 Kings 8:21; Psalm 21:5 (), etc.; in the stricter sense of the founders of a race, John 7:22; Romans 9:5; Romans 11:28.

c. equivalent to one advanced in years, a senior: 1 John 2:13f.

2. metaphorically;

a. the originator and transmitter of anything: πατήρ περιτομῆς, Romans 4:12; the author of a family or society of persons animated by the same spirit as himself: so πατήρ πάντων τῶν πιστευόντων, Romans 4:11, cf. Romans 4:12, 16 (1 Macc. 2:54); one who has infused his own spirit into others, who actuates and governs their minds, John 8:38, 41f, 44; the phrase ἐκ πατρός τίνος εἶναι is used of one who shows himself as like another in spirit and purpose as though he had inherited his nature from him, John 8:44.

b. one who stands in a father's place, and looks after another in paternal way: 1 Corinthians 4:15.

c. a title of honor (cf. Sophocles, Lexicon, under the word), applied to α. teachers, as those to whom pupils trace back the knowledge and training they have received: Matthew 23:9 (of prophets, 2 Kings 2:12; 2 Kings 6:21). β. the members of the Sanhedrin, whose prerogative it was, by virtue of the wisdom and experience in which they excelled, to take charge of the interests of others: Acts 7:2; Acts 22:1; cf. Gesenius, Thesaurus i., p. 7{a}.

3. God is called the Father, a. τῶν φώτων (A. V. of lights i. e.) of the stars, the heavenly luminaries, because he is their creator, upholder, ruler, James 1:17.

b. of all rational and intelligent beings, whether angels or men, because he is their creator, preserver, guardian and protector: Ephesians 3:14f G L T Tr WH; τῶν πνευμάτων, of spiritual beings, Hebrews 12:9; and, for the same reason, of all men (πατήρ τοῦ παντός ἀνθρώπων γένους, Josephus, Antiquities 4, 8, 24): so in the Synoptic Gospels, especially Matthew, Matthew 6:4, 8, 15; Matthew 24:36; Luke 6:36; Luke 11:2; Luke 12:30, 32; John 4:21, 23; James 3:9; ὁ πατήρ ὁ ἐν (τοῖς) οὐρανοῖς, the Father in heaven, Matthew 5:16, 45, 48; Matthew 6:1, 9; Matthew 7:11, 21; Matthew 18:14; Mark 11:25, 26 R G L; Luke 11:13 (ἐξ οὐρανοῦ; cf. Buttmann, § 151, 2{a}; Winer's Grammar, § 66, 6); ὁ πατήρ ὁ οὐρανοῖς, the heavenly Father, Matthew 6:14, 26, 32; Matthew 15:13.

c. of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as the stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father. This conception, common in the N. T. Epistles, shines forth with especial brightness in Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; in John's use of the term it seems to include the additional idea of one who by the power of his Spirit, operative in the gospel, has begotten them anew to a life of holiness (see γεννάω, 2 d.): absolutely, 2 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 2:18; 1 John 2:1, 14(),; ; Θεός καί πατήρ πάντων, of all Christians, Ephesians 4:6; with the addition of a genitive of quality (Winer's Grammar, § 34, 3 b.; § 132, 10), ὁ πατήρ τῶν οἰκτίρμων, 2 Corinthians 1:3; τῆς δόξης, Ephesians 1:17; on the phrases ὁ Θεός καί πατήρ ἡμῶν, Θεός πατήρ, etc., see Θεός, 3, p. 288{a}.

d. the Father of Jesus Christ, as one whom God has united to himself in the closest bond of love and intimacy, made acquainted with his purposes, appointed to explain and carry out among men the plan of salvation, and (as appears from the teaching of John) made to share also in his own divine nature; he is so called, α. by Jesus himself: simply ὁ πατήρ (opposed to ὁ υἱός), Matthew 11:25-27; Luke 10:21; John 5:20-23, 26, 36; John 10:15, 30, etc.; ὁ πατήρ μου, Matthew 11:27; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 26:53; Luke 10:22; John 5:17; John 8:19, 49; John 10:18, 32, and often in John's Gospel; Revelation 2:28 (); ; with ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς added, Matthew 7:11, 21, 32; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 16:17; Matthew 18:10, 19; ὁ οὐράνιος, Matthew 15:13; ὁ ἐπουράνιος, Matthew 18:35 Rec. β. by the apostles: Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 3:14 Rec.: Colossians 1:3; Hebrews 1:5; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6. See (Tholuck (Bergrede Christi) on Matthew 6:9; Weiss, Biblical Theol. d. N. T., Index under Vater; C. Wittichen, Die Idee Gottes als d. Vaters (Göttingen, 1865); Westcott, Epistles of St. John, pp. 27-34, and) below in υἱός and τέκνον.