Greek word · G3971

πατρῷος

patrōos

ancestral

Patrōos means 'belonging to or inherited from one's fathers': ancestral, hereditary. 'The ancestral laws' (hoi patrioi/patrōoi nomoi) was the stock Greek phrase for a people's inherited constitution and customs. Nomos (G3551) in Jewish Greek normally means the Torah, the Law of Moses.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

πατρῷος, -α, -ον

(πατήρ), [in LXX: Proverbs 27:10 (אָב), Esther 7:5, 2 -4Ma.12:1-19 * ;]

of one's fathers, received from one's fathers: Acts 22:3 24:14 28:17.†

(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 Acts 22:3

Range of meaning

Patrōos means 'belonging to or inherited from one's fathers': ancestral, hereditary. 'The ancestral laws' (hoi patrioi/patrōoi nomoi) was the stock Greek phrase for a people's inherited constitution and customs. Nomos (G3551) in Jewish Greek normally means the Torah, the Law of Moses.

Against the English

BSB/KJV/ESV/NASB/WEB 'law of (our) fathers'. NIV 'law of our ancestors'. NLT 'our Jewish laws and customs' brings out the 'customs' side well but loses the inherited, ancestral language. YLT 'a law of the fathers' drops the Greek article, so the specific, well-known Law becomes 'a law'.

How it drifted

A modern reader may hear 'the law' as a list of Old Testament rules, or as a system for earning salvation. Paul's hearers would hear their national, God-given ancestral way of life. For a Pharisee that came wrapped in the interpretive traditions handed down from the fathers.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Maccabees 6:1 and 7:2, 37 (martyrs dying for 'the ancestral laws'); 4 Maccabees 16:16. Josephus constantly calls the Jewish constitution 'the ancestral laws' and notes that the Pharisees passed on regulations 'from the succession of the fathers' not written in the Law of Moses (Ant. 13.297). Roman decrees protected Jews' right to live by their 'ancestral laws' (Ant. 14.213–216). Paul's own phrase is 'the traditions of my fathers' (Gal 1:14).

From the study of Acts 24:14

Range of meaning

Belonging to one's fathers: ancestral, inherited, handed down through the family line.

Against the English

'The God of our fathers' (BSB, ESV, WEB) is accurate. NIV's 'of our ancestors' is gender-inclusive and still accurate. KJV's 'my fathers' reflects the sense without an explicit pronoun. In English, though, 'God of our fathers' can sound merely sentimental. The Greek carried legal and religious weight.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek and Roman usage, theoi patrōoi ('ancestral gods') and ta patria ('ancestral customs') named inherited cults that deserved respect. Rome treated antiquity as a mark of legitimacy and was suspicious of new cults. Acts repeats the theme: 'the ancestral law' (22:3), 'the customs of our fathers' (28:17), 'the God of our fathers' (22:14; compare 3:13; 5:30).

From the study of 4 Maccabees 18:5

Range of meaning

'Ancestral customs': a fixed phrase in Hellenistic and Roman politics for the inherited laws and way of life of a people or city. These were the customs that kings recognised or revoked, not folklore.

Against the English

Brenton has 'the manner of life of their fathers', which is good. The NRSV has 'ancestral customs', which is accurate, though 'customs' can sound like quaint traditions to a modern ear.

How it drifted

English 'custom' has weakened to mean habit or tradition. Here the phrase means Israel's constitution, the Torah lived out as public law.

Used elsewhere in the period

Antiochus III's decree for Jerusalem (Josephus, Antiquities 12.142) allowed the Jews to govern themselves 'according to their ancestral laws'. 2 Macc 6:1 says Antiochus IV forced them to 'abandon the ancestral laws'. 2 Macc 11:24–25 records his successor restoring life 'according to the customs of their ancestors'. 4 Maccabees itself speaks of the 'ancestral law' (4:23; 16:16).

Where it appears

Acts · 3

  1. Acts 22:3 πατρῴου of our Fathers

    “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

    Here: 'Ancestral'. The standard Greek term for a nation's inherited laws and customs. It presents the Torah as the ancestral heritage that Paul shares with every hearer.

  2. Acts 24:14 πατρῴῳ ancestral

    I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,

    Here: 'The God handed down from our forefathers'. To a Roman ear this was the language of an inherited, legitimate ancestral religion. To a Jewish ear it recalled 'the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'.

  3. Acts 28:17 πατρῴοις, of our fathers,

    After three days, he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

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