Bible Lexicons

";face"; : cf. P Par 475 (B.C. 152–1) (= UPZ i. p. 332, Selections p. 22) ἰ μὴ μικρόν τι ἐντρέπομαι, οὐκ ἄν με ἶδες τὸ πόρσωπον, but for the fact that I am a littie ashamed, you would never again have seen my face,"; and ib. 51.30 f (B.C. 159) (= UPZ i. p. 360) εἶχον πρόσοπον καλὸν <<εἶχον >> καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον οὐθενεὶ δῖξαί μου τὸ πόρσωπον διὰ τὸ καλὸν αὐτὸν εἶν [α ]ι, where also note the form πόρσωπον by metathesis (Mayser Gr. p. 189). From this literal meaning it is an easy transition to the more general sense of ";outward appearance,"; and thence to the frequent use of the word in the Κοινή as practically equivalent to our ";person"; : see e.g. P Oxy XIV. 1672.4 (A.D. 37–41) ξένοις προσώποις, ";to strangers,"; ib. II. 237vii. 34 (A.D. 186) ὁμοίας ὑποθέσεως ἀκούσαντα [ἐξ ] Αἰγυπτιακῶν προσώπων ";having heard a similar plea advanced by Egyptian witnesses"; (Edd.), P Ryl I. 28.88 (iv/A.D.) ἐκ νεωτέρου προσώπου, ";from a young person,"; P Oxy VIII. 10338 (A.D. 392) ἕνεκεν τῆς παραστάσεως διαφόρων προσώπων, ";for the production of various persons,"; ib. VI. 904.8 (v/A.D.) ἢ δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἢ διὰ οἱουδήποτε προσώπου, ";either by himself or by some other person,"; and ib. I. 135.19 (A.D. 579) ἀποκρινόμενον εἰς ἅπαντα τὰ ὁρῶντα τὸ αὐτοῦ πρό [σ ]ωπον ἤτοι τὴν τοῦ ἐναπογράφου τύχην, ";responsible for all that regards his person or the fortunes of him who has been entered as a cultivator"; (Edd.). See also Philologus lxiii. (N.F. xvii), 1904, p. 155 f. where Praechter quotes various passages from late Greek showing πρόσωπον = ";soziale Personlichkeit,"; ";Ansehen."; e.g. Polyb. v. 107. 3 ἐζήτουν ἡγέμονα καὶ πρόσωπον ὡς ἱκανοὶ βοηθεῖν ὄντες αὑτοῖς (said of the Egyptians, who desired to overthrow the rule of the Ptolemys).

For prepositional phrases with πρόσωπον, we may cite P Oxy VI. 903.2 (iv/A.D.) πολλὰ ἀσελγήματα λέγων εἰς πρόσωπόν μου, ";using many terms of abuse to my face,"; a wife’s accusation against her husband, BGU III. 909.12 (A.D. 359) πολλὰς ἐ (= αἰ)[σ ]χρολογίας εἰς πρόσωπόν μου ἐξειπών, P Petr III. Iii. 8 (Ptol.) κα ]τὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἱεροῦ, ";in front of the temple,"; P Ryl II. 76.12 (late ii/A.D.) κατ᾽ οἶκαον εἶναι τὴν διαίρεσιν τῶν κτημάτων καὶ μὴ κατὰ πρόσωπον, ";that the division of property should be made according to households and not individuals"; (Edd.), similarly ib 269.4 (ii/A.D.), P Lond 479.6 (iii/A.D.?) (= II. p. 256) ἐβουλόμην μὲν ἐγὼ ἐλθεῖν εἵν ̣α ̣ σοι κατὰ [π ]ρόσωπον (";face to face";) διηγήσομαι τὰ συνβάντα μοι, P Oxy VII. 1071.1 (v/A.D.) καθὼς καὶ κατὰ πρόσωπον παρεκλήθης παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ";as you were urged in person by me"; (Edd.), and ib. XVI. 1840.1 (vi/A.D.) πάντα ὅσα κατὰ πρόσωπον εἶπόν σοι. For κατὰ πρόσωπον as a term. techn. in judicial phraseology = coram, we may cite from the inscrr. Magn. 93 b.11 (after B.C. 190) κατὰ πρόσωπον λόγους ποιεῖσθαι, Priene 41.6 (B.C. 136) λόγους ἐποήσαντο κατὰ πρό [σ ]ωπον πρὸς Πριην [ε ]ῖς, and OGIS 441.66 (B.C. 81) πρεσβευταῖς Στρατονικέων κατὰ πρόσωπον ἐν τῆι συγκλήτωι φιλανθώπως ἀποκριθῆναι : cf. Acts 25:16, 2 Corinthians 10:1. With πρὸ προσώπου (Acts 13:24) cf. Herodas VIII. 59 ἔρρ᾽ ἐκ προσώπου, ";out of my sight"; : see Headlam’s note ad l.

For the extent to which these prepositional periphrases are to be regarded as Hebraistic in the NT cf. Proleg. pp. 14, 81, 99, and for the LXX cf. Thackeray Gr, i. p. 43 f.

[Supplemental from 1930 edition]

We again owe to Dr. H. I. Bell a reference to P Lond IV. 1360.5 (A.D. 710) ὁ [ὢ ]ν... ἐκ προσώπω (l. προσώπου) σου, ";your deputy"; : cf. P Grenf II. 100.5 (A.D. 683) Βίκτορι ἐκπροσώπῳ Ἰωσήφ, ";Bictor representing Joseph.";