Greek word · G4489
ῥήτωρ
rētōr
spokesman
A public speaker; in classical Athens, a man who spoke in public affairs; in the Roman period, commonly a person trained in rhetoric who spoke for a client before a court, an advocate.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A public speaker; in classical Athens, a man who spoke in public affairs; in the Roman period, commonly a person trained in rhetoric who spoke for a client before a court, an advocate.
- Against the English
KJV and WEB say "orator," which stresses speech-making. BSB, NIV and NASB say "lawyer" or "attorney," which captures the courtroom job but can suggest a legal specialist. ESV's "spokesman" captures that he speaks for others but loses the professional training.
- How it drifted
"Orator" follows the Latin orator, which could itself mean a courtroom advocate. In modern English the word has narrowed to someone who gives grand speeches, so the courtroom sense has largely disappeared.
- Used elsewhere in the period
A papyrus from Roman Egypt dated AD 49 (P.Oxy. 1.37) records a rhētōr speaking for a client at a hearing. Josephus names a rhetor, Irenaeus, who argued for Herod Antipas' claim before Augustus (Ant. 17.226; J.W. 2.21). Bruce Winter has shown that Tertullus' speech in the following verses follows the conventions of forensic speeches of the time.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 24:1 ῥήτορος an orator
Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.
Here: A speaker trained in the art of persuasion and engaged to argue the case in court. This is the only use of the word in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.