Bible Lexicons

In view of John 7:15 it must be remarked that there are hundreds of papyri where someone states that he writes on behalf of the person concerned, who is illiterate : this is most often γράμματα μὴ εἰδότος (εἰδυίης ), but also frequently ἀγραμμάτου ὄντος (οὔσης ). For examples see s.v. ἀγράμματος , and add the inscription of the Imperial period Syll 844.6 κελεύουσαν ὑπὲρ α [ὑτὰν ] γράψαι , ἐπεὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτὰ γράμματα μὴ εἰδέναι . See Dittenberger’s note : he can only quote one parallel from inscrr. With this goes such a phrase as P Tebt II. 316.16 (A.D. 99) τέχνη δὲ ὑμῶν (l. ἡμ .) γράμματα , ";we are scribes by profession"; (Edd.), and that of P Flor III. 382.79 (A.D. 222–3) μανθ (άνων ) γράμμ (ατα ), of a child. The exceeding commonness of this phraseology, which never means anything than inability to write, forces us to recognize it in John 7:15 and Acts 4:13. With the biting scorn of the superior person, these learned fools affect to regard Jesus and His disciples as ";illiterates.";

Under the same heading, with γράμματα = characters formed in writing, comes P Hib I. 29.9 (c. B.C. 265), where a notice is to be put on a board μ [ε ]γάλο ̣ι ̣ς γράμ ̣μ ̣α ̣σι ̣ν ̣. This may illustrate emphasis as the cause of the πηλίκοις γράμμασιν of Galatians 6:11. It is possible, however, that the words may only call attention to the big sprawling letters of the autograph in contrast to the neat scribe’s hand of the amanuensis. The contrast may be met in the case of many signatures to legal and other documents, e.g. Rainer Pap. 215 in Führer durch die Ausstellung Tafel 9 : see Milligan Documents, p. 24, for a discussion of the bearing of this on Gal l.c., also Deissmann St Paul, p. 51. But it is highly precarious to to draw the inference to which Deissmann inclines : artisans are not the only people who may write a big and clumsy hand!

When γράμμα becomes collective, its primary meaning is ";a letter,"; just as Lat. littera produced litterae. Thus P Grenf I. 30.5 (B.C. 103) (= Witkowski .2 p. 107) διὰ γραμμάτων ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι , and P Amh II. 143.10 (iv/A.D.) καὶ τούτω (l. τούτων ) χάριν ἀπέστιλα Σαᾶν πρὸς σὲ ὅπως μὴ ἐνετρευθῇ τὰ γράμματα , ";I therefore send Saas to you, in order that my letter may not be waylaid"; (Edd.). But it may be a paper or document of any kind. Thus it is a ";bond"; in Luke 16:6, with which cf. P Tebt II. 397.17 (A.D. 198) ἀπὸ μηδενὸς ὁρμωμένη δικαίου ἢ γράμματος ἢ ἑτέρου τινὸς συμβολαίου ἐγγράπτου μηδ᾽ ἀγράφου , ";on the basis of any claim, bond or other agreement, written or unwritten"; (Edd.), P Flor II. 141.8 (A.D. 264) λαμβάνων παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ γράμματα τῆς παραλήμψεως , ib. 226.6 (mid. iii/A.D.) καλῶς ποιήσις πέμψας μοι αὐτῶν γράμματα .

With ἱερὰ γράμματα as the name for the OT Scriptures in Greek-speaking Judaism, cf. OGIS 56.36 (B.C. 239) τῆι ἡμέραι ἐν ἧι ἐπιτέλλει τὸ ἄστρον τὸ τῆς Ἴσιος , ἣ νομίζεται διὰ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων νέον ἔτος εἶναι . Deissmann (LAE, p. 380) has drawn attention to the technical use of the phrase in the East for Imperial letters and decrees, e.g. Syll 415 (A.D. 204), which is headed ἱερὰ γράμματα , and ib. 418.95 (A.D. 238), where certain Imperial ordinances are described as τὰ θεῖά σου γράμματα . The combination is used in a different sense in OGIS 56.74 ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις , where ";hieroglyphs"; are intended, as in ib. 90.54 (B.C. 196—the Rosetta Stone). This is comparable rather with P Lond 43.3 (ii/B.C.) (= I. p. 48), where a mother congratulates her son on having learned Αἰγύπτια γράμματα , so as to be qualified to teach Egyptian children. Reference may be added here to the part which the letters of the alphabet played in divination, as in the magical formula P Oxy VI. 886.6 (iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 111) : ὁ δὲ τρόπος ἐστὶν τὰ περ [ὶ ] τὰ γράμματα κθ δι᾽ ὧν ὁ Ἑρμῆς κὲ ἡ Ἶσις ζητοῦσα ἑαυτῆς τὸν ἀδελφὸν κὲ ἄνδρα Ὄσιρειν , ";the method is concerned with the 29 letters, which were used by Hermes and by Isis, when she was seeking for her brother and husband Osiris."; See further Reitzenstein Poimandres, pp. 260, 288 ff.

There only remains to notice the use of γράμμα as = a ";district"; or ";quarter"; of a town, as when in P Rein 49.2 (A.D. 215–6) certain liturgies are assigned πρ [ὸς ] τῇ κατ᾽ οἰκίαν ἀπογραφῇ [τοῦ β ]ῆτα γράμματος of Antinoe. Cf. Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae 685 εἰδὼς ὁ λαχὼν ἀπίῃ χαίρων ἐν ὁποίῳ γράμματι δειπνεῖ —the courts are distinguished by letters A–K.

 

 

γραμμα γράμμα γραμμασιν γράμμασιν γραμματα γράμματα γραμματείας γραμματι γράμματι γραμματος γράμματος γραμμάτων gramma grámma grammasin grámmasin grammata grámmata grammati grámmati grammatos grámmatos