ἀπάντησις

From the study of Matthew 25:6

Range of meaning

From apantaō, 'to meet'. Its basic sense is 'a meeting', and it is used especially for going out to meet and welcome someone who is arriving. In Hellenistic Greek, the expression εἰς ἀπάντησιν ('for a meeting') often describes a delegation leaving a town to greet an arriving dignitary on the road and then escort him back in with honour.

Against the English

English 'meet' can mean any encounter, even a chance one. The Greek describes an organised act of welcome: you go out, receive the one arriving, and join his procession inward.

How it drifted

No real drift in the English word itself. 'Meet' is simply a smaller word, and the custom it pointed to is unfamiliar today.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), the phrase is used for people going out to receive an arriving person, e.g. Jephthah's daughter coming out with tambourines to meet her returning father (Judg 11:34) and Saul going out to meet Samuel (1 Sam 13:10). In the New Testament it occurs only three times: here; in Acts 28:15, where believers from Rome travel out to the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet Paul and escort him to the city; and in 1 Thess 4:17 ('to meet the Lord in the air'). Greek writers of the period use it for civic receptions of rulers, and Cicero borrows the Greek word in his letters for towns turning out to greet Caesar (BDAG; Peterson, TDNT).

From the study of 1 Thessalonians 4:17

Range of meaning

A meeting; especially going out to meet and greet someone who is arriving. In Hellenistic usage it often names the formal welcome a city gives a visiting ruler or dignitary. Leading citizens went out beyond the walls to greet him and usually escorted him back into the city.

Against the English

'To meet' is correct but small. English 'meet' can mean any encounter. The Greek phrase eis apantēsin calls up a welcoming party going out to receive someone who is coming.

How it drifted

The English word itself has not changed. What is lost is the custom the phrase called to mind.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament: Jephthah's daughter comes out 'to meet' him (Judges 11:34), and it is frequent for going out to greet someone arriving. NT: the virgins go out 'to meet' the bridegroom and go in with him to the feast (Matthew 25:6); believers from Rome come out as far as the Forum of Appius 'to meet' Paul and escort him into the city (Acts 28:15). Cicero, writing in Latin, uses the Greek word for Italian towns going out to welcome Caesar (Letters to Atticus 8.16.2) and of the welcome given to Octavian (16.11.6). Erik Peterson (1930) argued it was a technical term for the civic reception. Michael Cosby (1994) challenged how closely 1 Thessalonians matches those receptions, and Robert Gundry (1996) replied.

From the study of Acts 28:15

Range of meaning

A 'meeting' or 'going out to meet'. In Hellenistic Greek, the phrase eis apantēsin ('for a meeting') very often describes a civic custom. When an important person approached a city, its citizens or leaders went out along the road to greet him and then escorted him back into town.

Against the English

English 'to meet us' is accurate but flat. It can sound like a chance encounter or a simple pickup. The Greek suggests a welcoming party that goes out to honour an arriving guest and bring him in.

How it drifted

English has no single word for the custom. 'Meet' is the natural rendering, but it loses the ceremony.

Used elsewhere in the period

Polybius and other Hellenistic writers use the word for receptions of kings and generals. Cicero, writing to Atticus in Latin, borrows the Greek apantēseis for the towns of Italy streaming out to greet Julius Caesar (Ad Atticum 8.16.2). In the New Testament it appears only in Matt 25:6 (the bridegroom), here, and 1 Thess 4:17 ('to meet the Lord in the air'). In the Septuagint it is used for going out to meet someone, often an important arrival.