ἐξουσία,
ἐξουσίας,
ἡ (from
ἔξεστι,
ἐξόν, which see), from
Euripides,
Xenophon,
Plato down; the
Sept. for
מֶמְשָׁלָה and Chaldean
שָׁלְטָן;
power.
1. power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; leave or permission:
1 Corinthians 9:12,
18;
ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν,
2 Thessalonians 3:9; with an infinitive added indicating the thing to be done,
John 10:18;
1 Corinthians 9:4;
Hebrews 13:10 (
WH brackets
ἐξουσία); followed by an infinitive with
τοῦ,
1 Corinthians 9:6 (
L T Tr WH omit
τοῦ); with a genitive of the thing or the person with regard to which one has the power to decide:
Romans 9:21 (where an explanatory infinitive is added (
Buttmann, 260 (224)));
1 Corinthians 9:12;
ἐπί τό ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, permission to use the tree of life,
Revelation 22:14 (see
ἐπί, C. I. 2 e.);
ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν περί τοῦ ἰδίου θελήματος (opposed to
ἀνάγκην ἔχειν (cf.
Winer's Grammar, § 30, 3 N. 5)),
1 Corinthians 7:37;
ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐξουσία (appointed, see
τίθημι, 1 a. sub at the end) according to his own choice,
Acts 1:7;
ἐν τῇ σῇ ἐξουσία ὑπῆρχεν, i. e. at thy free disposal,
Acts 5:4; used of liberty under the gospel, as opposed to the yoke of the Mosaic law,
1 Corinthians 8:9.
2. physical and mental power; the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises: Matthew 9:8;
Acts 8:19;
Revelation 9:3,
19;
Revelation 13:2,
4;
Revelation 18:1; followed by an infinitive of the thing to be done,
Mark 3:15;
Luke 12:5;
John 1:12;
Revelation 9:10;
Revelation 11:6;
Revelation 13:5; followed by
τοῦ with the infinitive
Luke 10:19;
αὕτη ἐστιν ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους, this is the power that darkness exerts,
Luke 22:53;
ποιεῖν ἐξουσίαν to exert power, give exhibitions of power,
Revelation 13:12;
ἐν ἐξουσία εἶναι, to be possessed of power and influence,
Luke 4:32; also
ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν (both expressions refer to the ability and weight which Jesus exhibited in his teaching)
Matthew 7:29; (
Mark 1:22);
κατ' ἐξουσίαν powerfully, Mark 1:27; also
ἐν ἐξουσία,
Luke 4:36.
3. the power of authority (influence)
and of right:
Matthew 21:23;
Mark 11:28;
Luke 20:2; spoken of the authority of an apostle,
2 Corinthians 10:8;
2 Corinthians 13:10; of the divine authority granted to Jesus as Messiah, with the infinitive of the thing to be done,
Matthew 9:6;
Mark 2:10;
Luke 5:24;
John 5:27;
ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσία; clothed in what authority (i. e. thine own or God's?),
Matthew 21:23,
24,
27;
Mark 11:28,
29,
33;
Luke 20:2,
8;
delegated authority (German
Vollmacht, authorization):
παρά τίνος, with the genitive of the person by whom the authority is given, or received,
Acts 9:14;
Acts 26:10,
12 (
R G).
4. the power of rule or government (the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed (generally translated
authority));
a. universally:
Matthew 28:18;
Jude 1:25;
Revelation 12:10;
Revelation 17:13;
λαμβάνειν,
ἐξουσίαν ὡς βασιλεύς,
Revelation 17:12;
εἰμί ὑπό ἐξουσίαν, I am under authority,
Matthew 8:9; with
τασσόμενος added, (
Matthew 8:9 L WH brackets);
Luke 7:8;
ἐξουσία τίνος, the genitive of the object,
authority (to be exercised)
over, as
τῶν πνευμάτων τῶν ἀκαθάρτων,
Mark 6:7; with
ὥστε ἐκβάλλειν αὐτά added,
Matthew 10:1;
ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, authority over all mankind,
John 17:2 (
πάσης σαρκός κυρειαν, Bel and the Dragon, verse 5); (the genitive of the subject,
τοῦ Σατανᾶ,
Acts 26:18);
ἐπί τινα, power over one, so as to be able to subdue, drive out, destroy,
Revelation 6:8;
ἐπί τά δαιμόνια,
Luke 9:1; or to hold submissive to one's will,
Revelation 13:7;
ἐπί τάς πληγάς, the power to inflict plagues and to put an end to them,
Revelation 16:9;
ἐπί τῶν ἐθνῶν, over the heathen nations,
Revelation 2:26;
ἐπί τίνος, to destroy one,
Revelation 20:6;
ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν ἐπί τοῦ πυρός, to preside, have control, over fire, to hold it subject to his will,
Revelation 14:18;
ἐπί τῶν ὑδάτων,
Revelation 11:6;
ἐπάνω τίνος ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν, to be ruler over a thing,
Luke 19:17.
b. specifically,
α. of the power of judicial decision;
ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν with an infinitive of the thing decided:
σταυρῶσαι and
ἀπολῦσαι τινα,
John 19:10; followed by
κατά τίνος, the power of deciding against one,
John 19:11;
παραδοῦναι τινα...
τῇ ἐξουσία τοῦ ἡγεμόνος,
Luke 20:20.
β. of authority to manage domestic affairs:
Mark 13:34.
c. metonymically,
α. a thing subject to authority or rule:
Luke 4:6;
jurisdiction:
ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας ἡδωρου ἐστιν,
Luke 23:7 (1 Macc. 6:11 (cf.
Psalm 113:2 (
Ps. 114:2);
Isaiah 39:2)).
β. one who possesses authority; (cf. the Latin use of
honestates,
dignitates,
auctoritates (so the English
authorities, dignities, etc.) in reference to persons);
αα. a
ruler, human magistrate (
Dionysius Halicarnassus 8, 44; 11, 32):
Romans 13:1-3; plural:
Luke 12:11;
Romans 13:1;
Titus 3:1.
ββ. the leading and more powerful among created beings superior to man, spiritual potentates; used in the plural of a certain class of angels (see
ἀρχή,
δύναμις,
θρόνος,
κυριότης):
Colossians 1:16;
1 Peter 3:22 (cf. Fritzsche on Romans, vol. ii., p. 226f; (
Lightfoot on Colossians, the passage cited)); with
ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις added,
Ephesians 3:10;
πᾶσα ἐξουσία,
1 Corinthians 15:24;
Ephesians 1:21;
Colossians 2:10; used also of demons: in the plural,
Ephesians 6:12;
Colossians 2:15; collectively (cf.
Lob. ad Phryn., p. 469),
ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ ἀέρος (see
ἀήρ),
Ephesians 2:2;
τοῦ σκότους,
Colossians 1:13 (others refer this to 4 a. (or c.
α.) above (cf.
Luke 22:53 in 2), and regard
σκότος as personified; see
σκότος, b.).
d. a sign of the husband's authority over his wife, i. e. the veil with which propriety required a woman to cover herself,
1 Corinthians 11:10 (as
βασιλεία is used by
Diodorus 1, 47 for the sign of regal power, i. e. a crown). (Synonym: see
δύναμις, at the end. On the infinitive after
ἐξουσία, and
ἐξουσία ἔχειν cf.
Buttmann, 260 (223f).)
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
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