Bible Lexicons

(1) ";a place"; : P Cairo Zen II. 59193.5 (B.C. 225) ἱππῶνα (";stable";) οὐ ̣κ ̣ ἔχει ὁ τόπος, P Oxy IV. 742.5 (B.C. 2) θ [ὲ ]ς αὐτὰς εἰς τόπον ἀσφαλῶς, and BGU II. 595.8 (c. A.D. 70–80) εἵνα φιλάνθρωπον (";reward";) εἰς δύο τόπους μὴ χορηγῆι Θέω ̣ν ̣. With τόπος as a ";sitting-place"; in Luke 14:10, Deissmann (BS, p. 267) compares Perg 618, where τόπος means ";seat in a theatre"; (for further exx. see the editor’s note). See also Magn. 237 where between the pillars of the temple of Artemis there have been scratched on the marble floor the words—ὁ τόπος τρικλείνου ἱερῶν αὐλητρίδων καὶ ἀκροβατῶν (cited by Thieme p. 32, comparing 1 Corinthians 14:16), Τόπος is also frequent in Christian (and pagan) sepulchral inscrr. as in C. and b. ii. p. 554, No. 426 Τόπος Φιλοθέ [ου ], where Ramsay compares the corresponding use of the Lat. locus, or loculus. With John 11:48 cf. MGr use of τόπος = ";country,"; ";nation.";

(2) ";a district"; : P Hib I. 66.2 (B.C. 228) ἐν ̣ τοῖς κατὰ σὲ τόποις, ";in your district,"; P Tebt II. 281.12 (B.C. 125) παρὰ τῶν κτωμένων οἰκίας ἢ τόπους, ";from acquirers of houses or spaces,"; P Oxy VIII. 1154.9 (late i/A.D.) αὐτόπτης γὰρ εἰμὶ τῶν τόπων καὶ οὐκ εἰμὶ ξέν [ο ]ς τῶν ἐνθάδε, ";for I am personally acquainted with these places and am not a stranger here"; (Ed.), ib. II. 243.18 (A.D. 79) ψιλῶν τόπων, ";open plots of land,"; P Fay 100.10 (A.D. 99) οἰκίας καὶ αὐλῆ [ς ] καὶ τόπων (";grounds";), ib. 30.7 (notice of death—A.D. 173) ἀναγρ (αφομένου) ἐπ᾽ ἀμφόδου Λυσανίου Τόπων ";registered in the quarter of Lysanias’ District"; (Edd.) P Oxy VIII. ii. 8 (A.D. 203) ̣η [μισυ μέρος ] τόπ (ου) περιτετιχισμ (ένου), ";the half share of a walled space"; (Ed.), and P Lond 954.10 (A.D. 260) (= III. p. 153) ψιλὸν τόπον, ";a vacant space.";

See also such prepositional phrases as BGU IV. 1141.9 (B.C. 13) εἰς ἐνφα [ν ]ιστοῦ τόπον με ἔχειν, which is practically = εἰς ἐνφαντιστήν : similarly in Matthew 21:46 εἰς προφήτην may be written εἰς προφήτου τόπον.

P Par 47.16 (c. B.C. 153) (as read UPZ i. p. 332) γίνωσκε ὅτι πιράσεται ὁ δραπέ [δ ]ης μὴ ἀφῖναι ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων ἶναι (";an Ort und Stelle zu sein,"; Wilcken), P Tebt II. 289.6 (A.D. 23) πότερον ἐπὶ τόπων σε ἐάσω πράττοντά τι, ";whether I shall leave you in employment where you are"; (Edd.), P Grenf II. 56.17 (A.D. 162–3) money paid ἐπὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τόπων δημοσίαν τράπεζ (αν), ";to the local public bank,"; and so P Tebt II. 294.16 (A.D. 146), P Oxy VIII. 1120.2 (early iii/A.D.) περὶ ἧς (sc. ὕβρεως) πέπονθεν ἐπὶ τόπων, ";concerning the outrage suffered at his abode"; (Ed.), ib. XIV. 1630.5 (A.D. 222 (?)) ἐπικουρήσας τοῖς κατὰ τόπον γεωργοῖς τά τε σπέρματα [καὶ τὰς δαπάνας ?], ";providing the local cultivators with both seed and expenses"; (Edd.), ib. VII. 1068.11 (iii/A.D.) ἐφ᾽ ᾧ μηδὶς ἐνοχλήσι αὐτῷ (l. αὐτοῖς ?) κατὰ τόπον, ";to the intent that no one in the neighbourhood should trouble them (?)"; (Ed.), and ib. VIII. 1162.2 (iv/A.D.) τοῖς κατὰ τόπον σ ̣υ ̣ν ̣λ ̣ι ̣τουργοῖ [ς ] πρεσβυτ [έ ]ροις, ";to the presbyters who share the local service"; (Ed.). For 1 Corinthians 14:16 see G. H. Whitaker, JTS xxii. (1921), p. 268.

(3) metaph. ";condition,"; as in Hebrews 12:17 : P Michigan Inv. No. 4528.10 (c. A.D. 200) ἐγὼ γὰρ εἰς καλὸν τόπον ἦλθον, a soldier to his mother. We may also note BGU I. 27.11 (ii/A.D.) (Selections, p. 101) where a ship-master writing from Rome to his brother says, παρεδέξατο ἡμᾶς ὁ τόπος ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἤθελεν. Ghedini (Letter, p. 51) commenting on the passage suggests that the letter may be Christian, and τόπος a term borrowed from pagan usage, denoting ";la schola collegi, il centro delle riunioni dei Christiani."; See further ib. p. 127 f., Aegyptus ii. (1921), p. 337 f., ib. viii. (1927), p. 175 (with reference to P Oxy XII. 1492.11 (iii/iv A.D.), and for a different view Wilcken Archiv i. p. 436, iv. p. 208 f., where τόπος is interpreted as collegium naviculariorum at Rome, and ὁ θεός as the god of the seamen’s guild. According to Philo de Somn. i. 63 (ed. Wendland)—ὁ θεὸς καλεῖται τόπος τῷ περιέχειν μὲν τὰ ὅλα.