διπλοῦς

From the study of 1 Timothy 5:17

Range of meaning

Double, twofold, twice as much. It can be meant literally (two times an amount) or loosely, for something ample or generous.

Against the English

Every major English version keeps 'double'. The interpretive question is what the doubling refers to, and the translations mostly leave that open.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rev 18:6 ('pay her back double'); Matt 23:15 ('twice as much a son of hell'). LXX Deut 21:17 gives the firstborn 'double' (diplа) of the inheritance. Some interpreters see an echo of a double portion here, though the letter does not signal one. Scholars also cite Greek associations that gave their officers extra or double shares at common meals as a mark of honour.

From the study of Matthew 23:15

Range of meaning

A comparative built on diplous, 'double'. It means 'twice as much', 'doubly more'. The form is rare, which may add emphasis.

Against the English

Translations render it fairly ('twice as much', 'twofold more'). The danger is reading it as a precise measurement rather than prophetic overstatement.

Used elsewhere in the period

Justin Martyr, writing in the mid-2nd century, seems to echo this verse when he tells his Jewish dialogue partner that proselytes 'blaspheme his name twice as much as you' (Dialogue with Trypho 122). That shows how early Christian readers applied it. Ancient polemic often used this kind of exaggerated comparison (see Luke T. Johnson's study of ancient polemical conventions).