Bible Lexicons

For ἀ. in the NT sense of ";absence"; (Philippians 2:12), see P Amh II. 135.5 (early ii/A.D.) μὴ ἀμελεῖν μου ἐν ἀπουσίᾳ τοιαύτῃ, ";not to forget me in my long absence,"; BGU I. 195.38 (A.D. 161) κατα [φ ]ρονηθεὶς ἐκ τῆς περὶ [τὴ ]ν στρατίαν ἀπου [σί ]α [ς ] μου, ib. 242.8 (Commodus) κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴ [ν ] ἀπουσίαν, P Gen I. 3.11 (A.D. 175–80) κατὰ ἀπουσίαν. Elsewhere it is used in the sense of ";waste,"; ";deficiency,"; e.g. BGU IV. 1065.15 (A.D. 97) δώσει ἑκάστου μναϊαίου [ὑπ ]ὲρ ἀπουσίας τετάρτην μίαν, P Oxy X. 1273.32 (A.D. 260—a marriage contract) τ ]ὴ ̣ν ̣ τούτων πάν ̣τ ̣ω ̣ν ̣ τρῖψιν καὶ ἀπουσίαν εἶναι πρὸς τὸν γαμοῦντα ";the responsibility for the wear and loss of all these"; (Edd.). Cf. the use of the corresponding verb in Artem. I. 78, ὃ δὲ εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρα ἀπουσιάσει, cited by Suidas Lex., where ἀπρεπές is given as a meaning of ἀπόν. Ἀπουσία was borrowed in Syriac to express a similar sense, as in the Acts of Thomas (iii/A.D.), according to Prof. R. H. Kennett (in a letter). The corresponding Greek (Acta Thomae, ed. Tischendorf, p. 196) has βρῶσιν μηδεμίαν ὅλως ἀπουσίαν ἔχουσαν. But as late as P Oxy IX. 1223.20 (late iv/A.D.) διὰ τὴν ἀπουσίαν τοῦ γεου ̣χου is still ";owing to the absence of the landlord"; (Ed.).