Officer
Officer
In the only passages in which this word occurs in the apostolic writings (Act 5:22; Act 5:26), it stands for the Gr. , and denotes an official of the Sanhedrin sent to bring the apostles before the Court. These officials appear to have been under the command of the captain of the Temple (v. 26).
G. Wauchope Stewart.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Officer
Most, if not all, of the Hebrew and Greek words so rendered in the A. V. are either of an indefinite character, or are synonymous terms for functionaries known under other and more specific names. They are the following:
1. , saris (Gen 37:36; Gen 39:1; Gen 40:2). The word usually designates a eunuch; and probably it ought always to be so understood. It is no valid objection to this that Potiphar had a wife, for eunuchs are not all strangers to the sexual passion, and sometimes live in matrimony (Sir 20:4; Mishna, Jebamoth, 8:4; Juvenal, Sat. 1:22; Terence, Eun. 4:3, 23; Chardin, Voyages, 3:397). SEE EUNUCH.
2. , shoter, part. of , to cut, to grave, properly a writer (Sept. ), and, from the use of writing in judicial administration, a magistrate or praecet. It is used of the officers who were set over the Israelites in Egypt (Exodus v. 6-19); of the officers who were appointed along with the elders to administer the public affairs of the Israelites (Num 11:16; Deu 20:5; Deu 20:8-9; Deu 29:10; Deu 31:28; Jos 1:10; Jos 3:2; Jos 8:33, etc.); of magistrates in the cities and towns of Palestine (Deu 16:18; Sept. ; 1Ch 23:4; 1Ch 26:29; 2Ch 19:11; Pro 6:7 [A. V. overseer], etc.); and apparently also of a military chief (2Ch 26:11 [A. V. ruler]). See below.
3. , nitstsab, part. Niph. of , to set orplace,a praefect or director (1Ki 4:5; 1Ki 4:7; 5:30 [A.V. 1Ki 5:16]; 1Ki 9:23, etc.); and , netsib (1Ki 4:7; 1Ki 4:19). SEE GOVERNOR.
4. , rab (Est 1:8; Dan 1:3 [A. V. master]); Sept. . SEE RAB.
5. , pakid, from , to visit, Hiph. to set over, an overseer or magistrate (Gen 41:34, Sept. ; Jdg 9:28, Sept. ; Est 2:3, Sept. ; 2Ch 24:11, Sept. ); and , pekuddah, properly office, but used collectively for a body of officers (Isa 60:17, Sept. ; also 2Ch 24:11 [A. V. office], Sept. ).
6. , those who did the business, marg. A.V., Sept. (Est 9:3). SEE MONARCHY, HEBREW.
In the N.T. the words translated officer are both employed of legal functionaries. They are: 1. , a word of general significance, denoting one who renders service of any kind; it is used, with this rendering, of a functionary whose duty it was to apprehend offenders, or to exact legal penalties from those who had incurred them (Mat 5:25 [for which Luke uses , 12:58]; Joh 7:32; Joh 7:46; Joh 18:3; Joh 18:12; Act 5:22); a messenger or bailiff; like the Roman viator or lictor. Josephus uses the word of an officer two of whom, being Levites, were attached to each magistrate (Ant. 4:8, 14); but it is probable that these were rather clerks or assessors of the court than servants of the class above described. The Mishna also mentions the crier and other officials, but whether these answered to the officers of Josephus and the N.T. cannot be determined. Selden, from Maimonides, mentions the high estimation in which such officials were held (Sanhedr. 4:4; 6:1; Selden, De Synedr. 2:13, 11). 2. The was properly the exactor of the penalty assigned by the judge, and so the word is correctly used by Luke (Luk 12:58). There were at Athens officers bearing this name, whose business it was to register and collect fines imposed by courts of justice; and deliver to the officer means, give in the name of the debtor to the officer of the court (Demosthenes [or Dinarchus] c. Theocr. p. 1218, Reiske; Smith, Dict. of Antiq. Practores, Hyperetes; Jul. Poll. 8:114; Demosth. c. Arist. p. 778; AEsch. c. Timarch. p. 5; Grotius, on Luk 12:58). SEE PUNISHMENT.
The most usual and specific of the above Hebrew words is shoterim’ (), which is best explained as the participle of an old verb, shatar’ (), that still appears in the Arabic, meaning to engrave, to mark upon anything; hence to write, and from the common use of scribes in the East, and especially in Egypt (see Wilkinson, Anc.’ Egypt. 2:176 sq., Harper’s ed.), in all matters of agency, superintendence, and public business, the word naturally passes into the more general meaning of agent or officer (comp. Hengstenberg, Pentat. 1:449 sq.). In English, and other Western languages, words of kindred signification originally have acquired the same latitude of meaning. SEE CLERK; SEE WRITING. These scribes or officers first appear in Egypt as Hebrews appointed to supervise the task of their brethren, and made responsible for its full completion (Exo 5:6; Exo 5:14-15; Exo 5:19). Those only were adapted to this task who, by their skill in writing, were competent to keep lists and tables of persons and their work. Their duties are well illustrated by many groups on the extant Egyptian monuments, in which the scribe is seen registering the workmen engaged in various employments (see Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 2:282 sq.). The elders of the people, while in the wilderness, were appointed officers (Num 11:16; Deu 29:10; Deu 31:28), and at the exode each tribe had its own officers (Deu 1:15; comp. 20:5), who, under Joshua, were the medium of communication between the commander-in-chief and their respective tribes (Jos 1:10; Jos 3:2), and at different times several classes of functionaries are enumerated, the officers () being generally the last mentioned (Jos 8:33; Jos 23:2; Jos 24:1). The law indeed had already ordained (Deu 16:18) that on the settlement in the promised land officers and judges should be appointed in every city; and David seems to have appointed them from among the Levites (1Ch 23:4; 1Ch 26:29; comp. 2Ch 19:11). Other officers are mentioned under David (1Ch 27:1) as engaged in the services of the court, perhaps a kind of chamberlains; but in connection with the army (2Ch 26:11) not only scribes ( SEE SCRIBE ), but also rulers or officers () were employed. None of these, however, are mentioned in the books of Kings. It is clear that although in these passages the Hebrew term shoterim’ in no case refers to mere subordinates engaged in menial duties, as lictors, beadles, etc. (the view of Fuller, Misc. Sacr. 3:19; Selden, De Synedr. 1:15), yet officers of various kinds are denoted by it, especially those whose duties required the keeping of registers and tables. It answers well, accordingly, to the Greek term for a scribe, , and to the English word clerk (comp. Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterthumnsk. 1:829 sq.). It cannot, however, be proved that these officers among the Hebrews had the peculiar charge of the genealogical tables (as Michaelis, Mos. R. p. 281; Jahn, Archaeol. II, 1:62; Hengstenberg, ut sup.), although this duty accords well with the proper meaning of the term. Scribes must, of course, have enrolled the army; but it remains uncertain whether these enlisting officers were permanently connected with the army. SEE CENSUS; SEE SECRETARY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Officer
In New Testament used to translated hufretes “minister” (Mat 5:25), and practor “exacter” or “officer of the court,” only in Luk 12:58.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Officer
OFFICER.The term officer is used in the Gospels (and Acts) as a translation of in the ordinary secular applications of that term (Mat 5:25, Joh 7:32; Joh 7:45; Joh 18:3; Joh 18:12; Joh 18:18; Joh 18:22; Joh 19:6, Act 5:22; Act 5:28). In other two cases (Mar 14:54; Mar 14:65 || Mat 26:58, Joh 18:36) the Authorized Version translation servants; the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 in the former adhering to officers and in the latter putting it in the margin. In most of these cases the officers are servants of the Jewish Council; in Mat 5:25 and Joh 18:36 they may be regarded more generally as servants of the State. In Luk 12:58 officer is the translation of a still humbler term, , a prison official, described in (Revised Version margin) as exactor from his duty of collecting fines. In Joh 4:46 (Revised Version margin) kings officer appears as an alternative to nobleman for a term meaning courtier.
It is evident that in the 16th or 17th century officer had a lower meaning than now.* [Note: The most frequent application of the term was not to commissioners in the army or navy, but to petty officers Of justice, as In sheriffs officer, peace officer. It is this usage that is reflected in the NT.] These belong to the rank and file. They are subordinate officials, with duties purely instrumental, virtually on a level with our policemen. As emphasized in Jn., they are the creatures of the Jews, accompanying the chief priests for the doing of their will; or they may take orders from a captain of the Temple (Act 5:26), or they carry into execution the sentence of a judge (Mat 5:25). St. Luke in his narrative of the Arrest and Trial and in Luk 12:58 avoids the term, but he uses it in Act 5:22; Act 5:26 as above (where, possibly, he is following a source), and four times of religious servicein Luk 4:20 of a minister of the synagogue, in Luk 1:2 and Act 26:16 (Paul) of Christian preachers, and in Act 13:5 of John Mark, who was, in some sense, assistant to Barnabas and Paul. So also St. Paul uses it in 1Co 4:1. In all these cases the Authorized Version renders minister; in two (Luk 4:20, Act 13:5) the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 , without much lucidity, substitutes attendant.
, originally rower, was used in Greece of an assistant or inferior agent in any sort of work. In particular, it was used in a military sense of attendants on heavy-armed soldiers, and also of adjutants to officers of rank. A similar indefiniteness, but always involving subordination, belongs to the NT usage. The term officer, owing to the secular and especially the military associations of the name, was manifestly unsuitable for the description of a Christian minister of any rank. Such terms of ancient administration as (commissioner) and (inspector) were received into modern languages, not by translation into an equivalent, but by a process of adoption and adaptation. But the , whose title, like these, was extended from the secular to the sacred sphere, was too inferior in dignity and too indefinite in character for such distinction. We have indeed in ordinary usage a somewhat similar rank expressed by the term office-bearer, and there is a special episcopal use of official; while a still humbler dignity, parallel with the secular use in Scripture, is denoted by the designation church officer. Of such terms, and of the term officer as representing the servants of the Sanhedrin, the interest pertains merely to the study of language. No theological or ecclesiastical idea is involved; and for practical utility or correctness the only duty of new Revisers towards this term is to eliminate it entirely from the sacred page.
R. Scott.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Officer
OFFICER.By this somewhat indefinite expression are rendered some eight or ten different Heb. and Gr. words, several of which seem to have had an equally wide application. Of the Heb. words the commonest is shtr, from a root which in Assyrian means to write. The shtr, accordingly, was originally, it would seem, a subordinate official attached to the higher military, civil, and judicial officers of the State for secretarial purposes (see Drivers summary of their duties in his Com. on Deu 1:15). In the narrative of the oppression of the Hebrews in Egypt, the officers are the Hebrew subordinates of the Egyptian taskmasters (see Exo 5:14); one of their duties, it may be assumed, was to keep account of the tale of bricks made by each of their compatriots.
In Gen 37:36 and elsewhere officer is the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of the usual word for eunuch (wh. see), but, as Gen 39:1 shows, the original (srs) must here signify, more generally, a court official. Still another word, rendered officer in 1Ki 4:5; 1Ki 4:7 etc., denotes the heads of the twelve administrative districts into which Solomon divided his kingdom, corresponding some what to the collectors in our Indian administration.
In NT officer is, with one exception (Luk 12:58), the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of a Gr. word of equally wide application. In the account of our Lords betrayal and capture the officers are members of the Temple police (Joh 7:32 etc.), as also in the account of the imprisonment of Peter and John (Act 5:22; Act 5:26; cf. Act 4:1). The same word is elsewhere rendered minister, either in the more general sense of attendant (so Act 13:6 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), or in the special sense of the minister (RV [Note: Revised Version.] attendant) or officer of the Jewish synagogue (Luk 4:20), for whom see Synagogue.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Officer
ofi-ser: In the King James Version the term is employed to render different words denoting various officials, domestic, civil and military, such as , sars, eunuch, minister of state (Gen 37:36); , pakdh, person in charge, overseer (Gen 41:34); , necbh, stationed, garrison, prefect (1Ki 4:19); , shoter, scribe or secretary (perhaps arranger or organizer), then any official or overseer. In Est 9:3 for the King James Version officers of the king the Revised Version (British and American) has (more literal) they that did the king’s business.
In the New Testament, officer generally corresponds to the Greek word , huperetes, servant, or any person in the employ of another. In Mat 5:25 the term evidently means bailiff or exactor of the fine imposed by the magistrate, and corresponds to , praktor, used in Luk 12:58.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Officer
This word is used in scripture indefinitely for any one in authority, there being seven Hebrew words so translated. In the N.T. are
1. , from ‘to do or act,’ it occurs only in Luk 12:58. It is used for the officer appointed to exact the money adjudicated by the judge.
2. , lit. ‘an under-rower,’ a subordinate officer, who assisted the priests and the Roman governors. Mat 5:25; Joh 7:32; Joh 7:45-46; Joh 18:3-22; Joh 19:6; Act 5:22; Act 5:26. It is also translated ‘minister’ and ‘servant.’
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Officer
Officer. It is obvious that most, if not all, of the Hebrew words rendered, “officer” are either of an indefinite character, or are synonymous terms for functionaries, known under other and more specific names, as “scribe,” “eunuch” etc. The two words so rendered in the New Testament denote —
1. An inferior officer of a court of justice, a messenger or bailiff, like the Roman viator or lictor. Mat 5:25; Act 5:22.
2. Officers whose duty it was to register and collect fines imposed by courts of justice. Luk 12:58.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Officer
for the original of which see MINISTER, A, No. 3, is translated “officer,” with the following applications, (a) to a magistrate’s attendant, Mat 5:25; (b) to officers of the synagogue, or officers or bailiffs of the Sanhedrin, Mat 26:58; Mar 14:54, Mar 14:65; Joh 7:32, Joh 7:45-46; Joh 18:3, Joh 18:12, Joh 18:18, Joh 18:22; Act_5:19:6; Act 5:22, Act 5:26. See MINISTER, SERVANT.
lit., “one who does,” or “accomplishes” (akin to prasso, “to do”), was used in Athens of one who exacts payment, a collector (the word is frequently used in the papyri of a public accountant); hence, in general, a court “officer,” an attendant in a court of justice (so Deissmann); the word is used in Luk 12:58 (twice). In the Sept., Isa 3:12.