ἐπιστολή, ἐπιστολῆς, ἡ (ἐπιστέλλω), a letter, epistle: Act_15:30; Rom_16:22; 1Co_5:9, etc.; plural, Act_9:2; 2Co_10:10, etc.; ἐπιστολαί συστατικαι, letters of commendation, 2Co_3:1 (Winers Grammar, 176 (165). On the possible use of the plural of this word interchangeably with the singular (cf. Thomas Magister, Ritschl edition, p. 113, 8), see Lightfoot and Meyer on Php_3:1. (Euripides, Thucydides, others)).

ἐπιστολή epistolē 24x word sent; an order, command; an epistle, letter, Act_9:2 ; Act_15:30 epistle; letter.

ἐπι -στολή , -ῆς , ἡ ( < ἐπιατέλλω ), [in LXX for H107 , etc.; freq . in Mac;] 1. a message. 2. a letter, an epistle: Act_9:2 , 1Co_5:9 , al. ; pl ., Act_22:5 , 1Co_16:3 , al. ; ἐ . σνστατικαί , 2Co_3:1 ( cf. Milligan , NTD , 254 f .). (On the NT ἐπιστολαί , cf. Milligan , Th ., 121 ff .; NTD , 85 ff .; Deiss., BS , 3 ff .; St. Paul, 8 ff .)

ἐπιστολή [page 246] Preisigke in his Fachwφrter , p. 90, has classified various more or less technical usages of this common word. Thus in P Amh II. 64 .10 (A.D. 107) the copy of an official letter addressed to the strategus with reference to the public baths of Hermopolis is headed ἀντίγραφον ἐπιστολῆς , and in P Hamb I. 18 ii. 6 (A.D. 222) a συνκολ (λήσιμον ) is mentioned αὐθ (εντικ̣ῶν ) ἐπιστολ (ῶν ) καὶ βιβλ (ιδίων ) ὑποκεκολ (λημένων ). In BGU IV. 1046 ii. 5 (not before A.D. 166) (= Chrest. I. p. 315 ) we learn that the persons selected for certain public duties were appointed by the epistrategus δι᾽ ἐπιστολ (ῆς ) κομισθ (είσης ) καὶ προγρα (φείσης ) ( openly placarded up ); while in Chrest. I. 26 .16 (A.D. 135) a petition, instead of being lodged in the usual way as a ὑπόμνημα , takes the form of an ἐπιστολή : see Wilcken s note ad l. In BGU IV. 1135 .7 (prob. B.C. 10) κατὰ ] νομογραφικὴν ἐπιστ̣[ολήν , the word is = despatch, and in the business letter P Giss I. 105 .20 (V/A.D.) λήμψῃς ἐπιστολάς it is = receipt. The range of the word was thus wide, and its official usage in the above-noted instances may serve as a needed corrective to the over-emphasis which Deissmann ( BS , p. 3 ff., LAE , p. 217 ff.) is inclined to lay upon the popular character of the Pauline ἐπιστολαί : see Milligan Documents , p. 94 f. We may further cite BGU III. 827 .20 (undated) ἰδοὺ δ̣[ὴ ] τρίτην ἐπιστολήν σοι γράφω , which recalls 2Pe_3:1 with an opening like 2Co_12:14 , and P Oxy XII. 1409 .2 (A.D. 278) τῆς γραφείσης ἐπιστολῆς εἰς κοινὸν ἡμῖν στρατη [γοῖς καὶ δε ]καπρώτοις , with reference to a circular letter addressed to the strategi and δεκάπρωτοι of the Heptanomia and Arsinoοte nome by the diœcetes. For the diminutive it is enough to refer to the soldier s letter to his mother, ib. 1481 .3 (early ii/A.D.), in which he explains the reason why he has been so long in sending her an ἐπιστόλιον διότι ἐν παρεμβολῇ ἠμι κ̣α̣ι̣, οὐ δι᾽ ἀσθένε [ι ]αν , ὥστε μὴ λοιπο̣υ̣̑ , that I am in camp, and not that I am ill; so do not grieve about me (Edd.), and P Par 45 .4 (B.C. 153) ἀπόντος μου πεφρόντικα ὑπέρ σου χρήσιμα τῶν σῶν πραγμάτων ἅ σ [οι ] δεδύνημαι διασαφῆσαι διὰ τοῦ ἐπιστολίου , cf. 2Co_10:11 .

ἐπιστολή ἐπιστολή, ἡ, [Etym: ἐπιστέλλω] "a message, command, commission", whether verbal or in writing, Hdt. , attic; ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς by "command", Hdt. "a letter", Lat. epistola, Thuc. , etc.

ἐπι-στολή, -ῆς, ἡ (ἐπιατέλλω), [in LXX for אִגֶּרֶת, etc.; frequently in Mac ;] __1. a message. __2. a letter, an epistle: Act.9:2, 1Co.5:9, al.; pl., Act.22:5, 1Co.16:3, al.; ἐ. σνστατικαί, 2Co.3:1 (cf. Milligan, NTD, 254 f.). (On the NT ἐπιστολαί, cf. Milligan, Th., 121 ff.; NTD, 85 ff.; Deiss., BS, 3 ff.; St. Paul, 8 ff.) (AS)