Bible Lexicons

Θεόφιλος is found as a proper name as early as iii/B.C. both in the papyri and inscrr., e.g. P Hib I. 103.1 (B.C. 231–0) Ἀπολλοφάνης Θεοφίλωι χαίρειν, P Ryl II. 72.99 (B.C. 99–8) Θεόφιλος Νικάνορος, Michel 594.80 (B.C. 279) ὑπὲρ Θεοφίλου τοῦ ἐργολαβήσαντος τὰς παραετίδας ἐργάσασθαι τῶι νεῶι τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος κτλ., and similarly 685.2, 1260.5 (both iii/B.C.) : see also Preisigke 3780 Θεόφιλος ἰατρός. Θεόφιλος, as a Jewish name, occurs in P Petr II. 28ii. 9 (iii/B.C.) Σαμαρείας Θεόφιλος, ";Theophilus of Samaria,"; but the previous exx. seem to render unnecessary Mahaffy’s suggestion (p. [97]) that the name may have been of Jewish origin : cf. however P Fay 123.15 (c. A.D. 100) where a certain Τεύφιλος (for the form, see Mayser Gr. pp. 10, 179 f.) Ἰουδαῖος desires release from the service of cultivating the domain-lands, and Meyer Ostr 30.1 (A.D. III) Τεύφιλος Τευφίλου, where a Jew is again referred to, see p. 150. For the use of the word as an adj. see BGU III. 924.1 (iii/A.D.) where it is applied to the city of Herakleopolis Magna—Ἡρακλέους πόλεως ἀρχαίας καὶ θεοφίλου ἡ [κρατίστη βου ]λή, cf. ib. 937.4 (A.D. 250). The classical θεοφιλής is found in OGIS 383.42 (mid. i/B.C.) θεοφιλῆ ψυχήν, and its superlative in the fragment of a iii/A.D. private letter, P Ryl II. 439, where the desire is expressed—αὖθις μετ᾽ εὐθυμίας τὸ θεοφιλέστατόν σου πρόσωπον ἀπολαβεῖν.