Bible Lexicons

The papyri have sundry uses of this word which effectively dispose of the contention that ";the moral sense is the only one lexically warranted"; (see Grimm-Thayer). Thus P Gen I. 21.13 (ii/B.C.), the marriage-contract already referred to (under ἀπαλλάσσω), where it is enacted that in the event of the wife’s being set free, the husband shall repay τὴν φερνὴν ἁπλῆν, ";the marriage-dowry pure and simple,"; but that in the event of his not doing so at the proper time he shall repay it with interest. In this sense we often find ἁπλοῦς contrasted with σὺν ἡμιολίᾳ, as in BGU IV. 1056.18 Augustus) ἐκτεῖσαι τὸ μὲν δάνηον σὺν ἡμιολίᾳ, τοὺς δὲ τόκους ἁπλοῦς, ib. 1147.17 (B.C. 13). P Cairo Preis 1.18 (ii/A.D.) πρᾶσις ἦν ἁπλῆ ἀνεύθυνος, P Tebt II. 340.14 (A.D. 206) τὸ δὲ συναίρεμα τοῦτο δισσὸ (ν) γρα (φὲν) ἐπὶ τῷ ἁπλοῦν σ ̣υνηγηθῆναι ";to be considered as one,"; P Oxy VI. 921 recto (iii/A.D.) where mention is made of different kinds of πήχεις —ἁπλοῖ, καμαρωτικοί (or -ωτοί) and ἐμβαδοί (see the editors’ introduction), with the reference to a ἁπλοῦν οἴκημα in OGIS 483.111 (ii/B.C.), will serve to illustrate the variety of ";non-moral"; senses left to the word in the vernacular. In P Petr I. 12.20 (iii/B.C.) ἁπλοΐδιον (for the Homeric ἁπλοις) is used to denote a single garment. The moral sense is well illustrated by Syll 633.12 (ii/A.D.) καὶ εὐείλατος γένοι [τ ]ο ὁ θεὸς τοῖς θεραπεύουσιν ἁπλῇ τῇ ψυχῇ. For the adverb see the separate article. In MGr ἁπλός means ";simple, naive, natural.";