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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #976 - βίβλος
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- a written book, a roll, a scroll
- Book
- Word
- Parsing
did not use
this Strong's Number
βύβλος and βίβλος
(v. sub fin.), ἡ,
I
1.the Egyptian papyrus, Cyperus Papyrus, Hdt. 2.92, A. Supp. 761, Str. 17.1.15: in pl., stalks of papyrus, PTeb. 308.7 (ii A. D.).
2. rind enclosing the pith of this plant, Thphr. HP 4.8.4, etc.: generally, bark, φελλῶν καὶ βύβλων Pl. Plt. 288e, cf. Hdt. 2.96, Plot. 2.7.2. in pl., slices of the pith used as writing-material, Hdt. 5.58, Hermipp. 63.13: sg., strip of β., βύβλον εὐρύναντες ἀντὶ διαδήματος Ph. 2.522.
3. roll of papyrus, book, Hdt. 2.100, A. Supp. 947, etc.: heterocl. pl., βύβλα, τά, AP 9.98 (Stat. Flacc.); esp. of sacred or magical writings, βίβλων ὅμαδον Μουσαίου καὶ Ὀρφέως Pl. R. 364e, cf. D. 18.259, Acts 19:19, PPar. 19.1 (ii A. D.); ἱεραί β. OGI 56.70 (Canopus, iii B. C.); β. ἱερατική PTeb. 291.43 (ii A. D.); so of the Scriptures, ἡ β. γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς LXX Genesis 2:4, etc.; ἡ β. the Sacred Writings, Aristeas 316; β. Μωυσέως, ψαλμῶν, προφητῶν, Mark 12:26, Acts 1:20, Acts 7:42; β. ζωῆς Philippians 4:3 : pl., of magical books, Acts 19:19.
4. a division of a book, Plb. 4.87.12, D.S. 1.4, etc.; αἱ β. the nine books of Hdt., Luc. Herod. 1.
II β. στεφανωτρίς flowering head of papyrus, Theopomp. Hist. 22c, Plu. Ages. 36. [ ῠ, A. Supp. 761.] (βύβλος, βύβλινος, βυβλίον, etc., are the original forms: βιβλ- seems to have arisen in Attic by assimilation in βιβλίον, and is found in earlier Attic Inscrr., cf. IG 2.1b, etc., and prevails in Ptolemaic papyri; Inscrr. vary, βυβλία Test.Epict. 8.32 (iii/ii B. C.); βιβλία IG 5(1).1390.12 (Andania, i B. C.); in Roman times βυβλ- was restored.)
βίβλος, βίβλου, ἡ (or rather ἡ βύβλος (but the form βίβλος is more common when it denotes a writing), the plant called papyrus, Theophrastus, hist. plant. 4, 8, 2f; (Pliny, h. n. 13, 11f (21f)); from its bark (rather, the cellular substance of its stem (for it was an endogenous plant)) paper was made (see Tristram, Nat. Hist. etc., p. 433f; especially Dureau de la Malle in the Memoires de l'Acad. d. Inscriptions etc. tom. 19 part 1 (1851), pp. 140-183, and (in correction of current misapprehensions) Prof. E. Abbot in the Library Journal for Nov. 1878, p. 323f, where other references are also given)), a written book, a roll or scroll: Matthew 1:1; Luke 3:4; Mark 12:26; Acts 1:20; τῆς ζωῆς, Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, etc.; see βιβλίον. (From Aeschylus down.)
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βίβλος , -ου , ἡ
(variant form of βύβλος , the Egyptian papyrus, paper made from its fibrous coat),
[in LXX for H5612, the form βύβ - being sometimes used;]
a book, a roll, used much less freq. than βιβλίον , and with a "connotation of sacredness and veneration" (MM, Exp., x), Matthew 1:1, Mark 12:20, Luke 3:4; Luke 20:42 Acts 1:20; Acts 7:42; Acts 19:19; β . τ . ζωῆς , Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5; Revelation 20:15.†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
Nägeli (p. 19) well draws attention to the connotation of sacredness and veneration which always attaches to βίβλος in its rare occurrences. He quotes Lucian, and two papyri, the first of these referring to ";old, wise, that is Chaldaean books,"; P Par 19.1 (A.D. 138) σκεψάμενος ἀπὸ πολλῶν βίβλων ὠς παρεδόθη ἡμεῖν ἀπὸ σοφῶν ἀρχαίων , τουτέστι Χαλδαϊκῶν , and the other to a citation in a mathematical treatise from a book of Hermes, P Oxy III. 470.4 (iii/A.D.) βίβλος λέγει κτλ . According to Thackeray (Arist. p. 55 n..1) what seems to be the earliest use of ἡ βίβλος for a collection of sacred writings is to be found in Aristeas 316. In the NT β . is either Scripture (Mark 12:26), or the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3), or magical writings regarded as highly potent (Acts 19:19), or again a royal pedigree record (Matthew 1:1). In accordance with this is the inscription OGIS 56.70 (B.C. 239) ὧν καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφα καταχωρισθήσεται εἰς τὰς ἱερὰς βύβλους : cf P Oxy VI. 886.2 (iii/A.D.) and P Leid Wvi. 19, viii. 22 (ii/iii A.D.), both occult or magical. As distinguished from χάρτης , the single sheet of papyrus for writing purposes, βίβλος was the roll, made up of χάρται glued together (Dziatzko Das antike Buchwesen, p. 48), while in contrast to βιβλίον and βιβλίδιον it implies a literary work, see the passages cited above (P Par 19.1, P Oxy III. 470.4), and the interesting P Tebt II. 291.43 (A.D. 162) where a candidate for the priesthood gave proof of his knowledge of hieratic and Egyptian writing by reading from a hieratic book produced by the sacred scribes—τοῦ ἐπίστασθαι [ἱε ]ρατικὰ [καὶ ] Αἰγύπτια γράμ [ματ ]α ἐξ ἧς οἱ ἱερογραμματεῖς προήνεγκαν βίβλου ἱερατικῆς . It may be added that βίβλος can still mean the papyrus plant, as P Tebt II. 308.7 (A.D. 174) τιμὴν βίβλου μυριάδων δύο , ";the price of 20,000 papyrus stalks,"; and in the case of the adjective BGU II. 544.4 (ii/A.D.) ζυγείδας βιβλίνας .
For the spelling see the reff. under βιβλίον , the derivative in which dissimilation produced the change of υ to ι . βύβλος , being a decidedly rarer word, naturally yielded to the influence of βιβλίον , and then reactions between the two produced the variations which affect them both and their derivatives.
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.
