An ( gr, ἐπιστάτης, plural ἐπιστάται, ) in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...

was any sort of superintendent or overseer. In the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

kingdoms generally, an is always connected with a subject district (a regional assembly), where the , as resident representative of the king, exercised control and collected taxes.

Military use

In military texts, an (the one who stands behind) is the man behind a '' protostates'' (the one who stands first). The phalanx was made up of alternate ranks of and . Thus, in a file of eight men, the were the men in positions 1, 3, 5, and 7, while the occupied positions 2, 4, 6, and 8.Arr.Tact.6.6

New Testament usage

The word is also used in "common"

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

and in the Greek

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

to refer to

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. This word is translated into English as 'master,' but that is a simplistic translation. The word might be better understood as belonging to the set of Greek words meaning 'visitor' or 'divine visitation' (), 'letter of instruction' (), as well as 'guardian' or 'caretaker' (), which was a word later translated as

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

. See Luke 5:5 for an example of textual usage.

References

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

*Antigonos Gonatas By William Woodthorpe Tarn Page 195 Ancient Greek titles Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Hellenistic civilization Ancient Greek military terminology {{AncientGreek-lang-stub