ἐπιστάτης, -ov, ὁ, (ἐφίστημι), any sort of a superintendent or overseer (often so in prof. writ., and several times in Sept., as Ex. i. 11; v.14; 1 K. v.16; 2 K. xxv. 19; Jer. xxxvi. (xxix.) 26; 2 Chr. ii 2; xxxi.12); a master, used in this sense for "3 by the disciples [ef. Lk. xvii. 13] when addressing Jesus, who called him thus “ not from the fact that he was a teacher, but because of his authority” (Bretschneider) ; found only in Luke: v. 5; Vili. 24,45; ix. 33,49; xvii. 13.

ἐπιστάτης epistatēs 7x

pr. one who stands by; one who is set over; in NT in voc., equivalent to διδάσκαλε, or ῥαββί, master, doctor, Lk. 5:5; 8:24, 45; 9:33, 49; 17:13*

ἐπιστάτης, -ου, ό

(< ἐφίστημι), [in LXX: IV Ki 25:19, Je 36(29):26 52:25 (פָּקִיד), II Ch 31:12 (נָגִיד), II Mac 5:22, etc. ;]

a chief, commander, master: Lk 5:5 8:24, 45 9:33, 49 17:13 (cf. Dalman, Words, 336 ff.).†

ἐπιστάτης in its original sense of ‘‘ superintendent,”’ ‘© overseer,” found in a number of different connexions, e.g. ἐ. εἰρήνης κώμης (P Oxy I. 642—iii/iv a.D.), ἐ. τοῦ ἱεροῦ (P Par 26727— B.C. 163) and τῶν ἱερῶν (P Leid Gt—end of ii/B.c.), ἐτῆς πόλεως (BGU III. 1006°—iii/B.c.), & τῶν φυλακιτῶν (P Tebt I. 5159. 5. Ὁ. 118). For further particulars regarding ἐ. τῆς κώμης, a local justice, see Archiv iv. p. 35 fi, and for ἐ. τοῦ ἱεροῦ Preisigke Prinz-Joachim-Ostr p. 60 ff., and for the word generally Preisigke Fachworter, p. 89 f. The verb ἐπιστατέω is found in P Oxy XII. 14137 (A.D. 270-5). In connexion with the Lukan use of the subst. applied to Jesus instead of the Hebrew Ῥαββί in the sense of ‘Master,’ Rouffiac (Recherches, p. 56f.) refers to an ἐπιστάταν τῶν παίδων (JG XII. 1, 43), apparently a sort of headmaster, and to τὸν émurta[tny τὸ]ν τῶν ἐφήβῳν, whose duty it was τ[ὰς ψυχ]ὰς πρὸς ἀρετὴν Kal πάθος ἀνθρώπινον προάγεσθαι (Prieze 11279 —after B.c. 84). He adds that the vocative was often used in the Greek gymnasia when the ephebi addressed their masters. See also Dalman /Vords of Jesus, p. 336.

ἐπιστάτης (epistatēs) — master. ἐπιστᾰτ-ης, ου, ὁ, (ἐφίσταμαι) one who stands near or by: hence, like{ἱκέτης}, suppliant, οὐ σύ γ᾽ ἂν.. σῷ ἐπιστάτῃ οὐδ᾽ ἅλα δοίης [Refs 8th c.BC+]

2. in battle-order, one's rear-rank man, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. b. also, even numbers in a λόχος, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

II. one who stands or is mounted upon, ἁρμάτων ἐ., of a charioteer, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐλεφάντων ἐ., of the driver, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

II.2. one who is set over, chief, commander, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ποιμνίων ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐρετμῶν ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θύματος ἐ. [Refs]; but ταύρων πυρπνόων ζεύγλῃσι mastering them with.., [Refs]; ἐνόπτρων καὶ μύρων, of the Trojans, [Refs]; ἐ. Κολωνοῦ, of a tutelary god, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; [καιρὸς] ἀνδράσιν μέγιστος ἔργου παντός ἐστ᾽ ἐ. [Refs]; also in Prose, ἐ. γενέσθαι τῶν λόγων ἴσους καὶ κοινούς judges, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ποίας ἐργασίας ἐ.; Answ. ἐ. τοῦ ποιῆσαι δεινὸν λέγειν (where it ={ἐπιστήμων}) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπιστάται ἄθλων stewards of games, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of a pilot, [Refs]; supervisor of training, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῶν ἐφήβων [NT+1st c.BC+]

III. president of a board or assembly: at Athens, ἐ. τῶν πρυτάνεων chairman of βουλή and ἐκκλησία in 5th C, [Refs 4th c.BC+], later, keeper of Treasury or Archives, [Refs]; ἐ. τῶν προέδρων chairman of βουλή and ἐκκλησία from 4th C [Refs 4th c.BC+]

III.2. overseer, superintendent, in charge of any public building or works, τοῦ νεὼ τοῦ ἐν πόλει, i.e. of the temple of Athena Polias, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἐ. τῶν ἔργων clerk of the works, [LXX+4th c.BC+]; τῶν κοπρώνων [Refs 4th c.BC+]

III.3. governor, administrator, τῆς πόλεως [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; κώμης local magistrate, [Refs]

III.4. ={προστάτης}, Latin patronus, [Refs]

IV. in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; compare ἐπίστατον.