Bible Lexicons

That this word retains in general the sense of original, as distinguished from παλαιός = old, is seen commonly in vernacular sources as in the NT. Thus Acts 21:16, where Mnason is described as an ἀρχαῖος μαθητής, ";an original disciple,"; one who belongs to the ";beginning of the Gospel"; (Philippians 4:15), is illustrated by Magn 215b, a contemporary inscription, where an ἀρχαῖος μύστης inscribes an ἀρχαῖος χρησμός : the ";ancient initiate"; is opposed to the neophyte, the ";ancient oracle"; to one just uttered—the citation is made by Thieme, p. 26. So BGU III. 992ii. 6 (B.C. 160) καθὰ καὶ οἱ ἀρχαῖοι κύριοι ἐκ [έκ ]τηντο, ";the original owners."; It is from the meaning ";original"; that τὸ ἀρχαῖον becomes a term for ";capital,"; as in the Will, Michel 1001viii. 8 (Thera, c. B.C. 200), or ";principal,"; as in Syll 517.16f. (ii/B.C., Amorgos), opposed to τόκος. For the more general sense of ";ancient,"; recurrent in Matthew 5:21, etc., we may comcompare the horoscope P Oxy II. 235.6 (A.D. 20–50) where a date is given κατ [ὰ δὲ τοὺς ] ἀρχαίους χρόνους, i.e. ";old style"; : see also P Fay 139.6 (late ii/A.D.), Preisigke 1011 (ii/A.D.), 3462 (A.D. 154–5), and P Grenf II. 67.10 (A.D. 237) (= Selections, p. 108). The reference is to the old Egyptian system of reckoning 365 days to the year without a leap-year, which continued to be used in many non-official documents even after the introduction of the Augustan calendar. The neuter = ";original condition"; may be seen in OGIS 672.6 ff. (A.D. 80) where a river is dredged, etc., καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀπεκατεστάθη : similarly in 2 Corinthians 5:17, the ";original conditions"; pass away before the fiat that καινὰ ποιεῖ πάντα (Revelation 21:5). The standard of ";antiquity"; may be illustrated by Syll 355.11 (c. A.D. 3), where ἀρχαιοτάτου δό (γ)μα [τος refers to a senatus consultum of B.C. 80. We find towns partial to the adj. : cf. P Lond 1157 verso .2 (A.D. 246) (= III. p. 110) Ἑρμουπόλεως τῆς μεγα l avrcai,aj kai. lampra/j kai. semnota,τ ̣η ̣ς. The standing title of Heracleopolis (as BGU III. 924.1—iii/A.D.), ἀ. καὶ θεόφιλος, reminds us of ";ancient and religious foundations"; at Oxford or Cambridge to-day. Reference may also be made to a payment for ἀρχαίων ἱππέων, Ostr 323 (c. i/B.C.), evidently a cavalry regiment (the ";Old Guard";), see ib, i. p. 161 f., Archiv ii. p. 155; and to a land survey, P Tebt II. 610 (ii/A.D.) [ἄλ ]λης ποταμοφο (ρήτου) ἀρχαίας. In P Par 60 bis.2 (c. B.C. 200) we find τὸ ἀνήλωμα εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἀπὸ τῶν πληρωμάτων [ἀρ ]χαίων : on the grammar cf. Proleg. p. 84 n.1. The distinction between ἀ. and παλαιός is naturally worn thin on occasion, as in BGU III. 781 (i/A.D.), an inventory including sundry ";old"; crockery, as πινάκια βωλητάρια ἀρχαῖα i. 1, ἄλλα ἀρχαῖα ὠτάρια ἔχοντα iv. 4. ᾽Α of relative antiquity is well illustrated by Kaibel 241a.8 (p. 521) ἀρχαίων κηδομένη λεχέων. Note further the comparative in a British Museum papyrus, cited in Archiv vi. p. 103 (A.D. 103), ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχεωτέρων χρόνω (ν). The adj. survives in MGr.

 

αρχαια αρχαία ἀρχαῖα αρχαίαις αρχαίαν αρχαίας αρχαιοις αρχαίοις ἀρχαίοις αρχαίον αρχαιος αρχαίος ἀρχαῖος αρχαιου αρχαίου ἀρχαίου αρχαιω αρχαίω ἀρχαίῳ αρχαιων αρχαίων ἀρχαίων archaia archaîa archaio archaiō archaíoi archaíōi archaiois archaíois archaion archaiōn archaíon archaíōn archaios archaîos archaiou archaíou