Bible Lexicons

This is very much the commonest form in the family, and was the regular word for ";book,"; ";writing"; in the Κοινή . It never meant a little writing : cf. P Ryl II. 382 (early ii/A.D.) μεγάλα βυβλία . The diminutive was supplied by βυβλάριον , as P Lille I. 7.7 (iii/B.C.) ἐπιζητήσαντος αὐτοῦ βυβλάριά τινα , and βιβλίδιον . In Archiv v. pp. 262 ff, 441, Wilcken shows that this latter word was the ordinary term for ";petition"; till the end of the third century : see e.g. P Oxy VII. 1032.4 (A.D. 162) οὗ ἐπέδομεν Οὐολουσ [ίῳ Μ ]αικιανῷ τὼ ἡγεμονεύσαντι βιβλειδίου . . . ἀντίγραφον , ";copy of the petition which we presented to Volusius Maecianus, ex-praefect,"; P Tebt II. 293.8 (c. A.D. 187) πρὸς τὸ ἐπιδοθέν σοι βιβλείδιον ὑπὸ Μ ., ";with regard to the petition presented to you by M.,"; P Oxy I. 79.11 (a notice of death—A.D. 181–92) (= Selections, p. 89) διὸ ἐπιδίδωμι [τὸ ] βιβλείδιον ἀξιῶν ταγῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ τῶν τετελευτηκότων τάξει , ";I therefore present this petition and ask that he be enrolled in the roll of the dead,"; and P Grenf II. 61.19 (A.D. 194–8) ὅθεν ἐπιδί [δω ]μι κ [α ]ὶ ἀξιῶ ἐν καταχωρισμῷ γενέσθαι τοῦτο βιβλίδιον . From the beginning of the fourth century βιβλίον or λίβελλος as a rule displaced βιβλίδιον in this connexion, e.g. P Oxy I. 86.16 (A.D. 338) τούτου χάριν τὸ βιβλί [ον ἐπι ]δίδωμι ἀξιῶν τοῦτον μετ [α ]πεμ [φθ ]ῆναι , a petition that a certain man who had failed in a public duty should be sent for, ib. VI. 900.14 (A.D. 322) ἐκ τούτου ἠπίχθην τὰ βιβλία ἐπιδοῦναι , ";I therefore hasten to present this petition"; (Edd.) Naturally the bulk of our citations refer to state papers of various kinds, or petitions sent in to a public official. The distinction between book and paper easily vanishes when it is only a question of a single roll of greater or smaller length : the βιβλίον ἀποστασίου of Matthew 19:7 (see s.v. ἀποστάσιον ) is a document comparable with the petitions. For papers cf. P Petr II. 10 (2).9 (iii/B.C.) θεὶς τὰ βυβλία ἐξῆλθον : the writer is a scribe who says he went to the Treasury office to render his account, and it seems natural to assume this to be referred to, though the editor renders ";books."; P Ryl II. 83.4 (A.D. 138–61) π ]ρὸς παράλημψ [ιν καὶ ] καταγωγὴν βιβλί [ων , ";to receive and forward the accounts"; (Edd.). P Tebt II. 315.17 (ii/A.D.) ἐὰν μὲν οὖν σχολὴν ἄγῃς γράψας [σ ]ου τὰ βιβλία ἄνελθε πρὸς ἐμέ , ";so if you have time write up your books and come to me";—a finance inspector, who is a martinet (αὐστηρός ), is immediately expected. The word need not be further illustrated, but we may note the combination in P Oxy VIII. 1153.4 (i/A.D.) ἐ ]κομισάμην διὰ Ἡρακλᾶτος τὰς κίστας [σὺν ] τοῖς βιβλίοις , ";the boxes with the books"; (Ed.). For the spelling, βυβ . or βιβ ., see Moulton Gram. II. § 35. The dissimilated form βιβλίον —contrast the converse ἥμυσυ —greatly predominates in papyri : for βυ . cf. P Petr. II. 10(2).9 and P Ryl II. 382, cited above, also BGU IV. 1096.7 (i/iiA.D.), 1148.35 (B.C. 13), 1152.24 (B.C. 22). In inscrr. naturally there is more variation : for βυ . cf. Michel 1001viii. 32 (c B.C. 200), for βι . Syll 653.12 (B.C. 91)—both Doric, and cf. Meisterhans Gr. § 13.4 (p. 28) for the Attic record. The Ptolemaic papyri show more divergence than those dated A.D. See Mayser Gr. p. 102, Crönert Mem. Herc. p. 21 f., Dziatzko Untersuchungen über ausgewählte Kapitel des antiken Buchwesens (1900), and Maidhof Zur Begriffsbestimmung der Koine, p. 303 ff. Amongst interesting compounds found in the papyri may be mentioned βιβλιομαχέω (P Oxy I. 68.33 (A.D. 131) ἐὰν βιβλιομαχή [σ ]ῃ , ";if he presents counter-statements";), βιβλιοφύλαξ (P Fay 31.3 (c. A.D. 129) βιβλ (ιοφύλαξι ) ἐνκτήσεω (ν ), ";keepers of the property registers";), and βυβλιαφόρος (P Hal I. 7.6 (B.C. 232) εἴπερ μὴ τὸν βυβλιαφόρον καὶ τὸν ἔφοδον ἐκπέπει [κα ]ς , ";unless you have spoken to the letter-carrier and the control-officer";).

[Supplemental from 1930 edition]

See SAM i. p. 45 ff.

 

 

βιβλια βιβλία βιβλιοις βιβλίοις βιβλιον βιβλίον βιβλιου βιβλίου βιβλιοφόρων βιβλιω βιβλίω βιβλίῳ Βιβλίων biblia biblía biblio bibliō biblíoi biblíōi bibliois biblíois biblion biblíon bibliou biblíou