πρεσβεύω

From the study of Ephesians 6:20

Range of meaning

From presbys, "elder." Originally "to be older or senior." In the classical and Hellenistic periods it mostly meant "to serve as an envoy or ambassador": to travel and speak officially for a city, king or people, carrying their message and their authority. The related noun presbeutēs means "envoy."

Against the English

All the major English versions say "ambassador," which is accurate. But the modern word suggests a resident diplomat in a permanent embassy. The ancient envoy was a messenger sent with a specific word from his sovereign, who stood in the sovereign's place while delivering it.

How it drifted

Mild drift. Modern diplomacy (permanent embassies, career diplomats, protocol) has turned "ambassador" into a job title. The ancient idea was an authorized voice: whoever received or mistreated the envoy received or mistreated the one who sent him.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is common in Greek historians and inscriptions for city embassies. Adolf Deissmann pointed out that in the Greek-speaking Roman East, presbeutēs and presbeuō were the standard terms for the emperor's legate (Latin legatus Augusti), the governor who represented Caesar in a province. Paul uses the same verb in 2 Corinthians 5:20 ("we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were appealing through us"). By international custom the person of an envoy was inviolable, and mistreating envoys was a recognized cause of war. Polybius (2.8) tells how Rome went to war with the Illyrian queen Teuta after Roman envoys were attacked.

From the study of 2 Corinthians 5:20

Range of meaning

Related to presbys ('old man, elder'), because senior men were sent as envoys. The verb means to be an envoy, to go on an embassy, to act as someone's official spokesman. The related nouns presbeia (embassy) and presbeutēs (envoy) belong to the same diplomatic vocabulary.

Against the English

'Ambassador' is a fair rendering, but today it suggests a permanent resident diplomat or, more loosely, a 'brand ambassador' who promotes something. The Greek envoy was sent on a specific mission, carried his sender's message and authority, and was often sent to negotiate the end of hostilities.

How it drifted

Permanent resident embassies developed in Renaissance Europe, and the marketing sense of 'ambassador' is recent. Both make the word sound more ceremonial or promotional than the ancient mission-envoy.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is common in classical and Hellenistic diplomacy for city-to-city embassies. In Greek inscriptions of the Roman East, presbeutēs translates the Latin legatus, including the emperor's provincial legates (presbeutēs kai antistratēgos = legatus pro praetore), as Deissmann documented. Paul uses the verb again of himself in Ephesians 6:20 ('an envoy in chains'). In the LXX the noun appears for envoys sent between kings (e.g. 1 Maccabees 9:70; 13:21; 14:21).