Bible Lexicons

This subst., which in the NT is found only in Acts 3:21, occurs in the sense of ";restitution"; in P Par 63viii. 40 ff. (B.C. 164) παντάπασιν δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων νυνεὶ ἀποκατάστασειν ὁρμῶμεν ἀπὸ βραχείων μόλεις εὐσχημονεῖν, P Leid Biii. 15 καὶ τούτων τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν ἡμῖν γενηθῆναι. So in Syll 552 (late ii/B.C.) twice with reference to the ";renewal"; of the temple cell of the goddess Artemis at Magnesia—.13 εἰς τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν τοῦ ναοῦ συντέλειαν εἴληφεν, and .23 συντελέσαι τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν τῆς θεοῦ, and in OGIS 483.8 (ii/B.C.) of the ";repair"; of a public way—ἔκδοσιν ποιησάμενοι τῆς ἀποκαταστάσεως τοῦ τόπου. In P Oxy I. 67.9 (a dispute concerning property—A.D. 338) it is laid down, εἰ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν αἰτιαθέντων διακατέχεσθαι λ [εγ ]ομένων οἰκοπ [έ ]δ [ων ] ἀποκατάστασιν κτλ., ";if the accused persons protest against the restoration of the estates of which they are said to be in occupation,"; etc. In the third century petition, P Oxy I. 70, the editors render .10 ff. συνέβη δὲ ἀποκατάστασίν με ποιήσασθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν τῷ διελθόντι κ ̄ (ἔτει), by ";it happened that a balancing of accounts took place between us in the past 20th year."; Add P Flor I. 43.12 (A.D. 370) χειρογ ̣[ρα ]φείαν ἤτοι ἀσφάλειαν τῆς ἀποκαταστάσεως τούτων, P Strass I. 26.7 (iv/A.D.) μετὰ τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν τούτων παρὰ Φοιβάμμωνος Παπνουθίου λάμβανε τὴν πρᾶσιν, and Chrest. II. p. 117, printed above under ἀποθήκη. Another noun-formation occurs in P Tebt II. 424.8 (late iii/A.D.) ὡς ἐα ̣̣ (l. ἐὰν) μὴ ἀποκαταστ ̣ασίας [δ ]ὴ πέμψῃς [ο ]ἶδάς σου τὸ [ν ] κίνδυνον, ";so unless you now send discharges (of debts) you know your danger"; (Edd.). To the literary record may be added Epicurus 8.9 (Linde Epic. p. 32). On the astrological use of ἀποκατάστασις (= the final point of agreement of the world’s cyclical periods) as underlying the NT idea, see J. Lepsius in Exp. VIII. iii. p. 158 ff., where reference is also made to Brandes Abhandl. z. Gesch. des Orients, p. 123, ";The Egyptian Apokatastasis-years.";