Greek word · G1978

ἐπίσημος

episēmos

notable

Literally "bearing a mark (sēma) on it": stamped, marked out, so conspicuous, notable, distinguished, famous. It can carry a good or a bad sense depending on context: "distinguished" or "notorious."

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐπίσημος, -ον

(σῆμα, a mark), [in LXX: Genesis 30:42 (קָשַׁר), Esther 5:4 8:13, 1Ma.11:37 1Mac 14:48, 2Ma.15:36, 3Ma.6:1 * ;]

1. bearing a mark; of money, stamped, coined.

2. Metaphorical,

(a) in good sense, notable, illustrious: Romans 16:7;

(b) in bad sense, notorious: Matthew 27:16.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 27:16

Range of meaning

Literally "bearing a mark (sēma) on it": stamped, marked out, so conspicuous, notable, distinguished, famous. It can carry a good or a bad sense depending on context: "distinguished" or "notorious."

Against the English

KJV/WEB "notable," YLT "noted" and NIV "well-known" stay neutral. BSB, ESV, NASB and NRSV "notorious" add a negative judgment that the Greek word itself does not carry. Today "notable" usually sounds like praise, which the Greek does not mean either.

How it drifted

"Notorious" comes from the parallel accounts (Mark 15:7, Luke 23:19, John 18:40), which say Barabbas was a rebel or bandit involved in murder. Translators carry that knowledge into Matthew's neutral word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used positively in Romans 16:7 (Andronicus and Junia, "ἐπίσημοι among the apostles"). In the Septuagint, Esther 5:4 and 3 Maccabees 6:1 use it for "distinguished" persons or occasions. Greek writers also apply it to infamous people, and papyri use it of coins and documents that are "stamped, marked" (BDAG; LSJ).

From the study of Romans 16:7

Range of meaning

ἐπίσημος literally means 'having a mark on it'. It was used of stamped coins and of signs on ships. From there it came to mean conspicuous, well known, distinguished, notable. It could also carry a negative sense, 'notorious' (Matt 27:16, Barabbas). The phrase with ἐν plus a plural group can mean 'distinguished among (as one of) X' or, less often, 'well known to / in the view of X'.

Against the English

Most versions (KJV 'of note among', BSB, NIV and NASB 'outstanding among', NLT 'highly respected among') count Andronicus and Junia as apostles. ESV ('well known to the apostles') and CSB ('noteworthy in the eyes of') read them as people the apostles thought highly of, outside the group.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX 3 Maccabees 6:1 calls Eleazar 'ἐπίσημος among the priests of the land', and he is one of them. Psalms of Solomon 2:6 and Euripides' Hippolytus 103 use ἐν plus dative where the subject arguably stands outside the group. Burer and Wallace (NTS 2001) built the 'well known to' reading on these. Bauckham (Gospel Women, 2002) and Belleville (NTS 2005) collected many more examples where ἐν plus a plural of persons means 'one of'. They argued that the exclusive sense would more naturally be written with a plain dative or ὑπό.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 27:16 ἐπίσημον notable

    At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.

    Here: "Notable, famous, prominent." The word itself does not judge whether the fame is good or bad. Matthew does not say what Barabbas did, only that everyone knew who he was.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 16:7 ἐπίσημοι of note

    Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

    Here: Literally 'bearing a mark', like a stamped coin. The word means conspicuous, well known or outstanding. Whether it means 'outstanding among' the apostles or 'well known to' them is debated.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.