Greek word · G20447

ἐπίστασις

epistasis

stoppage

Basically a "standing upon" or "standing over." In Hellenistic Greek it covers (1) a stopping or halt, (2) attention or attending to something, which shades into superintendence or oversight, and (3) a pressing onset, such as a crowd or attack bearing down.

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

What it means

ἐπί-στασις, -εως, ἡ

(ἐφίστημι), [in LXX: 2Ma.6:3 * ;]

1. a stopping, halting (as of soldiers): ὄχλου, collecting a crowd (see Rack-ham, Acts, l.with): Acts 24:12 (WH, Rec. ἐπισύστασις).

2. superintendence, attention (but see Thayer, see word; Field, Notes, 185 f.): 2 Corinthians 11:28 (WH, Rec. ut supr.).†

(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 2 Corinthians 11:28

Range of meaning

Basically a "standing upon" or "standing over." In Hellenistic Greek it covers (1) a stopping or halt, (2) attention or attending to something, which shades into superintendence or oversight, and (3) a pressing onset, such as a crowd or attack bearing down. In Acts 24:12 it is used for "stirring up" (literally making an epistasis of) a crowd.

Against the English

Most modern versions (ESV, NIV, NASB, BSB) say "daily pressure." The KJV's "that which cometh upon me" and the YLT's "the crowding upon me" translate a different word in the later manuscripts (episystasis, "a rising up against, a mob"). The supplied gloss "stoppage" is a real dictionary sense of the word but does not fit this sentence.

Used elsewhere in the period

Polybius and other Hellenistic writers use epistasis for "attention" or "careful consideration." Acts 24:12 uses it of a crowd being stirred up. The related variant episystasis is used in the Greek Old Testament for Korah's rebellion (Num 26:9 LXX) and generally for hostile gatherings.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 24:12 ἐπίστασιν obstruction

    Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city.

2 Corinthians · 1

  1. 2 Corinthians 11:28 ἐπίστασίς stoppage

    Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

    Here: Something that presses or stands over him. That could be the press of people and problems bearing down on him, or the attention his oversight constantly demands. Here it is a weight that bears on him, not a "stoppage."

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