An (; plural ) in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

was any sort of superintendent or overseer. In the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

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 (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

and in the Greek

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

to refer to

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. 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 member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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

References

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

*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