EPISKOPH and hH BASILEIA TOU QEOU

Larry Swain swainl at rocky.edu
Sun Jun 28 03:26:45 EDT 1998


In answer to the first question:  I don't think so.  EPISKOPHS, EPISKOPOS, 
EPISKEPSIS all are derived from EPISKOPEW-to visit, oversee, take care 
over, inspect in Koine.  EPISKOPHS is simply a visit....and EPISKOPOS 
"overseer" "guardian", the one who visits so to speak.  Anyway, the point 
is that the word in question is merely a visit.  The idea that an 
EPISKOPOS, and EPISKOPH as what the EPISKOPOS EPISKOPEW (couldn't resist!) 
is an "office" is a new idea and isn't really fully developed until after 
the New Testament was written.

I happen to think for what it is worth that this verse refers back to 
Zechariah's speech in 1:68-the gospel begins with God visiting and 
effecting salvation, and ends with Jesus , (i. e. the result of God's 
salvific visitation) going to the cross, which is where we are at Lk 19.  
I'm not making a big deal of it, just a very interesting parallelism.

On another interesting note, checking the LJS the only lexicon I have to 
hand at the moment, it does refer to this verse and Numbers 16.29 as 
examples of EPISKOPH meaning "visitation from God"-I don't have a LXX to 
hand either to check on the Numbers passage, perhaps someone on the list 
does.
On the other hand, it is used in Acts and in a couple places in Paul's 
letters to denote a "bishopric", I Tim 3.1 comes to mind-EI TIS EPISKOPHS 
OREGETAI..... which may be in the same ball park as what you're after, but 
not close enough.

All of that to say that I don't think you can read it as being "time to 
perform an office"-its basic Greek meaning is a "watching over", a visit, 
and then in Pauline writings as EPISKOPOS begins to take on new meaning, 
EPISKOPH also becomes the "office" the officer holds.  An overseer has an 
overseership.

Larry Swain



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