Bible Lexicons

From denoting a ";garland"; or ";wreath"; generally, στέφανος came to denote a ";crown of victory,"; and as such was applied by Paul to his converts, as in 1 Thessalonians 2:19. It should be noted, however, that the distinction between στέφανος, ";crown of victory"; (";Kranz";) and διάδημα, ";crown of royalty"; (";Krone";) must not be pressed too far as by Trench Syn. § xxiii., for στέφανος is not infrequently used in the latter sense : see Mayor’s note on James 1:12, and add from our sources the use of στέφανος to denote the ";crown-tax"; (aurum coronarium) for the present made to a king on his accession or other important occasion, e.g. P Petr II. 39 (e)ii. 23 (iii/B.C.) (as amended Wilcken Ostr. i. p. 275) ἄλλου (sc. στεφάνου) παρουσίας, P Cairo Zen I. 59036.26 (B.C. 257) where 3000 drachmae are collected as ὁ στέφανος τῶι βασιλεῖ, and P Fay 14.3 (B.C. 124) οἱ προκεχιρισμένοι πράκτορες τοῦ ἀναπεφωνημένου Νουμηνίῳ στεφάνου, ";the appointed collectors of the crown-tax decreed for Namenius,"; a private individual. See further Wilcken Ostr i. p. 295 ff., and for a more specific instance of ";a crown of victory,"; see the interesting letter P Lond 1178 (= III. p. 215 f., Selections, p. 99), in which the Emperor Claudius acknowledges the ";golden crown"; sent to him by the Worshipful Gymnastic Club of Nomads on the occasion of his victory over the Britons—.12 ff. τὸν πεμ [φ ]θέντ [α μο ]ι ̣̣ ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῇ κατὰ βρετάννων νείκῃ χρυσοῦν σ ̣[τέ ]φ [α ]νον. A member of this Club may be referred to in P Ryl II. 153.25 (A.D. 138–161), when ";allowances"; are made to an athlete on account of his ";athletic crown";—ὑπὲρ οὗ ἔσχον ἀθλητικοῦ στεφάνου.

Στέφανος is used in a more general sense, ";reward,"; ";gratuity,"; in P Goodsp Cairo 5.5 (ii/B.C.), where Peteuris promises a reward of five talents of copper, εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ (τάλαντα) πέντε, on account of some special service (cf. Archiv ii. p. 578 f.). The dim. στεφάνιον is similarly used in P Petr III. 142.19 (iii/B.C.) στεφάνια τῶι Ἀδώνει, and P Par 42.12 (B.C. 156) (= UPZ i. p. 318) στεφάνιόν ἐστιν χα (λκοῦ) (ταλάντων) γ ̄.

A good ex. of the metaph. use of the word, as in Philippians 4:1, Revelation 3:11, is afforded by PSI IV. 405.3 (iii/B.C.) μέγας γάρ σου ὁ στέφανός ἐστιν ὑπὸ πάντων. . . εὐλογεῖσθαι : see Archiv vi. p. 393. Some miscellaneous exx. of the word are—P Oxy IV. 736.56 (accounts—c. A.D. 1) γενεσίοις Τρυφᾶτος στεφὰ (νων) (ὀβολοὶ δύο), ";on the birthday of Tryphas, for garlands 2 ob.,"; ib. IX. 1211.6 (articles for a sacrifice—ii/A.D.) στέφανοι ι ̄ς ̄, P Lond 964.10 (preparations for a wedding feast—ii/iii A.D.) (= III. p. 212) μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ μηδὲν τοὺς στεφάνους κ (αὶ) τὰ τάβλια, and ib. 1164 (i).21 (A.D. 212) (= III. p. 166) οἷς ἐνίκησα στεφάνοις.

Reference may be made to the monograph by Josef Köchling De Coronarum apud antiquos vi atque usu (in Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten xiv. 2), Giessen, 1914.