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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_57581" /> ==
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| <p> (Τύραννος) </p> <p> In the narrative of St. Paul’s sojourn at [[Ephesus]] we are told that after he had spent three months in arguing with the [[Jews]] in the synagogue he succeeded in rousing the hostility of their rulers to such an extent that he was compelled to withdraw from the synagogue altogether, and that he remained in the city for a period of two years, ‘reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus’ ( Acts 19:9). The reference here is extremely vague, and it is not impossible that the first readers were more familiar with the situation alluded to than we can be. </p> <p> There is a remarkable variation in the Greek text, and the original reading is doubtful. Some of the best Manuscripts( <i> e.g. </i> אAB), several cursives (13, 27, 29, 81), and a number of the ancient versions (Sah. Boh. Syr. Pesh. Vulg.[Note: Vulgate.]followed by Tisch. WH[Note: H Westcott-Hort’s Greek Testament.]Revised VersionWeiss and Wendt) omit τινος (‘a certain’ Tyrannus), which we find in Textus Receptus. Probably τινος is an addition by some early copyist, to whom [[Tyrannus]] was merely a name. Another variation is found in the addition by D and T and several versions of ἀπὸ ὥρας πέμπτης ἕως δεκάτης, which is accepted as original by several critics, including Blass, Belser, Nestle, Zöckler, while Wendt sees in it a passage in which D has retained some elements of the original text, otherwise lost. B. Weiss ( <i> Der Codex D, in der Apostelgeschichte </i> ( <i> TU </i> [Note: U Texte and Untersuchungen.]xvii. 1 [Leipzig, 1897]), 110) thinks it may have been added according to an old oral tradition. Ramsay ( <i> The Church in the Roman [[Empire]] </i> , p. 152, <i> St. Paul </i> , p. 270 f.) expresses the view that the phrase is probably part of the original text or at least that the tradition gives an actual account of the real state of affair’s. He quotes Martial, ix. 68, xii. 57, Juvenal, vii. 222-226, to prove that schools opened at daybreak, and that by the fifth hour, 11 a.m., the pupils would be dismissed and the place free for the use of the Apostle. </p> <p> The word σχολή, translation‘school,’ means originally ‘leisure,’ then ‘the products of learned leisure,’ ‘treatises,’ and lastly ‘the place where literary instruction is given,’ a ‘school.’ The ‘school of Tyrannus’ was in all probability some such place, where instruction was given, and more definitely where philosophic lectures were delivered. The question here arises, Is Tyrannus to be conceived of as a lecturer in philosophy in Ephesus at the date of the Apostle’s visit, who gave his lecture-room for the use of the Christians? Two explanations are possible. </p> <p> (1) If the reading τινος of Textus Receptus, etc., be correct, the most probable theory is that Tyrannus was a private teacher in Ephesus who granted the use of his building to St. Paul either free or for hire. This view is strengthened if we accept the other addition to the text which we find in <i> Codex Bezœ </i> , ‘from the fifth to the tenth hour.’ Tyrannus would thus be a teacher or lecturer who used his <i> schola </i> for the early hours of the day and left it free for the [[Apostle]] from one hour before noon to two hours before sunset. From Greek and Latin sources we find that the hours for teaching, and, in fact, for the general business of the day, were the early hours of the forenoon (cf. Ramsay’s allusions to [[Juvenal]] and [[Martial]] referred to above). Ramsay ( <i> Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) </i> iv. 822) expresses the opinion that the full Western text establishes the meaning of an otherwise obscure passage, giving a natural and satisfactory sense. He sees no reason to account for the additions to the text, but thinks that there was considerable temptation to allow the words to drop out, as they seemed quite unimportant to 3rd cent. students. But may not the words have been inserted by one who did not understand the reference to the school of Tyrannus and who desired to make it more intelligible? </p> <p> It is impossible to settle the question whether this Tyrannus supposed to be teaching at Ephesus at the date of the Apostle’s visit was a Jew or a Gentile. It is unlikely that an unconverted Jew would give his building for the Apostle’s use and thus incur the hatred of his co-religionists, and the reference seems to imply that St. Paul had left the unbelieving Jews behind him in the synagogue and taken his adherents with him to the new meeting-place. </p> <p> (2) The only other possible explanation is that the ‘school of Tyrannus’ was the name of some public building in Ephesus which had either belonged to or been used by a person named Tyrannus some time before, and been gifted to the city as a place of public instruction. Teachers of philosophy frequently gave lectures in public buildings or open spaces available to the whole population. Thus the apostle Paul himself addressed the [[Athenians]] in the Areopagus, while in an ancient Pompeiian painting a schoolmaster is represented as teaching in the open forum. On the other hand, it is doubtful if the Apostle could have continued to teach for the period of two years in a public building unless he had received the sanction of the civic authorities to do so, and it is far from probable that he either sought or obtained such permission. At the same time, we have evidence that he was on friendly terms with the [[Asiarchs]] (cf. Acts 19:31; Acts 19:37), and it is not impossible that he may have been allowed to teach without any formal permission or recognition being granted. If the text of the best Manuscripts, which has been adopted in the Revised Version, be correct, then it does seem more than likely that the ‘school of Tyrannus’ was a public or semi-public place of resort and that the phrase would nave as its modern equivalent some such expression as ‘the McEwan Hall,’ or ‘the [[Trades]] Hall,’ or the like. But the whole matter remains in uncertainty, and there is perhaps more to be said for the view implied in the Western text, that Tyrannus was a teacher lecturing in Ephesus at the date of the Apostle’s visit. </p> <p> Literature.-R. J. Knowling, <i> Expositor’s Greek [[Testament]] </i> , ‘Acts,’ 1900, p. 404; W. M. Ramsay, <i> The Church in the Roman Empire </i> , 1893, p. 152, <i> St. Paul the [[Traveller]] and the Roman [[Citizen]] </i> , 1895, p. 270f., article‘Tyrannus’ in <i> Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) </i> ; A. C. McGiffert, <i> History of [[Christianity]] in the [[Apostolic]] Age </i> , 1897, p. 285; F. J. A. Hort, <i> Judaistic Christianity </i> , 1894, p. 93. </p> <p> W. F. Boyd. </p>
| | Tyrannus <ref name="term_63970" /> |
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| | <p> in Greek mythology, was one of the Pterelaidse, who were slain in the contest against the sons of Electryon. </p> |
| == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_54525" /> ==
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| <p> <strong> TYRANNUS </strong> . This man is mentioned only in Acts 19:9 . St. Paul in Ephesus preached before the Jews and proselytes in the synagogue for three months. [[Finding]] them determinedly hostile, he resorted to the ‘school of Tyrannus,’ where he reasoned every day. The expression is somewhat enigmatical to us, as we have no other reference to this institution by which to illustrate it. The Greek word may be translated either ‘school’ or ‘lecture room,’ and Tyrannus may have been either a schoolmaster or what we call a professor. There is the further difficulty that Tyrannus may have been dead at the time, and that the building may have been merely known as ‘Tyrannus’s school,’ in memory of a once famous teacher who taught there. All the probabilities are in favour of this having been the name of a noted public building in Ephesus. [[Permission]] to use this building was given to Paul; perhaps it was hired by him or his friends. All this may be inferred from what is the generally accepted text of the passage in the present day. The Western and other texts have touched up this simpler text, and changed the situation considerably. They have inserted the word ‘a certain’ before ‘Tyrannus,’ and this at once converts the public building into a private one. The person Tyrannus would then be unknown to the readers, and would be one not unfavourable to St. Paul, who lent him his own building with or without fee. The most notable MS of the Western text adds the words: ‘from the fifth hour till the tenth.’ This addition is all of a piece with the idea that Tyrannus was a schoolmaster or professor, whose work, according to the ancient custom, would be over early in the day, thus leaving the building free for the rest of the day. Juvenal describes to us how the boys read their lessons to the master even before dawn. Augustine, himself a professor, tells us that his lecturing work was over early in the day. The experience of moderns in southern countries confirms this: the early morning is the time for brain work in the South, as the young [[Julius]] [[Charles]] [[Hare]] and his brother found when resident as boys in Italy. The hall was free to Paul at the hottest period of the day, when it must have been hard for people to listen, and yet harder for him to preach. All this is conveyed by the reading of the chief representative of the Western text, but the present writer has no doubt that here, as elsewhere, the reviser has been endeavouring to remove obscurity from the narrative. Almost all the Western variants can be explained by a greater or less effort to smooth difficulties of various sorts. The shorter reading discussed in the earlier paragraph is the genuine one. </p> <p> A. Souter. </p> | | == References == |
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| == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_37808" /> ==
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| <p> Acts 19:9. In whose school at Ephesus Paul discussed ( '''''Dielegeto''''' , "reasoned"; same Greek, Acts 17:2) gospel truths with disciples and inquirers (having withdrawn from cavilers) daily for two years. A private synagogue (called '''''Beet Midrash''''' by the Jews), or rather the hall of a [[Gentile]] sophist or lecturer on rhetoric and philosophy; his name is Greek, and the "one" prefixed implies that there was no definite leaning to Christianity in him. He probably hired out his school when not using it himself. Paul in leaving the synagogue would be likely to take a Gentile's hall to gain access to the Gentiles. </p>
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| == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_81583" /> ==
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| <p> It is said in Acts 19:9 , that St. Paul being at Ephesus, and seeing that the Jews to whom he preached, instead of being converted, were rather more hardened and obstinate, he withdrew from their society, nor went to preach in their synagogue, but taught every day in the school of one Tyrannus. It is inquired, Who was this Tyrannus? Some think him to have been a prince or great lord, who accommodated the Apostle with his house, in which to receive and instruct his disciples. But the generality conclude, that Tyrannus was a converted Gentile, a friend of St. Paul, to whom he withdrew. </p>
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| == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_69176" /> ==
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| <p> One at Ephesus in whose school Paul reasoned daily for the space of two years, so that all that dwelt in Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. Acts 19:9,10 . The name is Greek, and nothing is said of Tyrannus being a disciple, so that the [[Christians]] may have hired the 'school,' as halls are rented in the present day. </p>
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| == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_75341" /> ==
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| <p> '''Tyran'nus.''' ''(Sovereign).'' The name of a man in whose school, or place of audience, Paul taught the gospel for two years, during his sojourn at Ephesus. See Acts 19:9. (A.D. 52, 53). The presumption is tha, t Tyrannus himself was a Greek, and a public teacher of philosophy or rhetoric. </p>
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| == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_17412" /> ==
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| <p> The name of a person at Ephesus, in whose school Paul publicly proposed and defended the doctrines of the gospel, Acts 19:9 . By some he is thought to have been a Greek sophist, a teacher of rhetoric or philosophy, converted to Christianity; while others suppose him to have been a [[Jewish]] doctor or rabbi, who had a public school. </p>
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| == People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_70901" /> ==
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| <p> [[Tyrannus]] ( ''Ty-Răn'Nus'' ), ''Tyrant.'' The name of the Greek rhetorician of Ephesus in whose lecture-room Paul delivered discourses daily for two years. Acts 19:9. </p>
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| == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_44317" /> ==
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| <i> tyrant </i> Acts 19:9
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| == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_33818" /> ==
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| Acts 19:9
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_63968" /> ==
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| <p> ( '''''Τύραννος''''' '', Sovereign'' ) '','' the name of a man in whose school or place of audience Paul taught the [[Gospel]] for two years, during his sojourn at Ephesus (see Acts 19:9). A. D. 52, 53. The halls or rooms of the philosophers were called '''''Σχολαί''''' among the later [[Greeks]] (Liddell and Scott, ''S.V.'' ) '';'' and as Luke applies that term to the ''Auditorium'' in this instance, the presumption is that Tyrannus himself was a Greek, and a public teacher of philosophy or rhetoric. He and Paul must have occupied the room at different hours; whether he hired it out to the Christians or gave them the use of it (in either case he must have been friendly to them) is left uncertain. Meyer is disposed to consider that Tyrannus was a Jewish rabbi, and the owner of a private synagogue or house for teaching ( '''''בֵּית''''' '''''מַדְרָשׁ''''' ). But, in the first place, his Greek name, and the fact that he is not mentioned as a Jew or proselyte, disagree with that supposition; and, in the second place, as Paul repaired to this man's school after having been compelled to leave the Jewish synagogue ( Acts 19:9), it is evident that he took this course as a means of gaining access to the heathen; an. object which he would naturally seek through the co-operation of one of their own number, and not by associating himself with a Jew or a Gentile adherent of the Jewish faith. In speaking of him merely as a certain Tyrannus ( '''''Τυρ''''' '''''®''''' '''''Ννου''''' '''''Τινός''''' ), Luke indicates certainly that he was not a believer at first; though it is natural enough to think that he may have become such as the result of his acquaintance with the apostle. Hemsen (Der Apostel Paulus, p; .218) throws out the idea that the hall may have belonged to the authorities of the city, and have derived its name from the original proprietor. See Seelen, De Schola Tyranni, in his Medit. Exeg. 3 615 sq.; Wallen Acta Pauli Ephesin. (Gryph. 1783). (See [[Paul]]). </p>
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| == International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_9215" /> ==
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| <p> ''''' tı̄ ''''' - ''''' ran´us ''''' ( Τύραννος , <i> ''''' Túrannos ''''' </i> ): When the Jews of Ephesus opposed Paul's teaching in the synagogue, he withdrew, and, separating his followers, reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus. "This continued for the space of two years" ( Acts 19:9 , Acts 19:10 ). D S yriac (Western text) adds after Tyrannus ( Acts 19:9 ), "from the 5th hour unto the 10th." <i> ''''' Scholḗ ''''' </i> is the lecture-hall or teaching-room of a philosopher or orator, and such were to be found m every Greek city. Tyrannus may have been (1) a Greek rhetorician or (2) a Jewish rabbi. </p> <p> (1) This is the common opinion, and many identify him with a certain Tyrannus, a sophist, mentioned by Suidas. Paul would thus appear to be one of the traveling rhetors of the time, who had hired such a hall to proclaim his own peculiar philosophy (Ramsay, <i> St. Paul the Traveler </i> , 246,271). </p> <p> (2) Meyer thinks that as the apostle had not passed wholly to the Gentiles, and Jews still flocked to hear him, and also that as Tyrannus is not spoken of as a proselyte ( <i> ''''' sebómenos ''''' </i> <i> ''''' tón ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Theón ''''' </i> ), this <i> ''''' scholē ''''' </i> is the <i> ''''' bēth ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Midrāsh ''''' </i> of a Jewish rabbi. "Paul with his Christians withdrew from the public synagogue to the private synagogue of Tyrannus, where he and his doctrine were more secure from public annoyance" (Meyer in the place cited.). </p> <p> (3) Another view (Overbeck) is that the expression was the standing name of the place after the original owner. </p>
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| == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_16845" /> ==
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| <p> Tyran´nus a sophist or rhetorician of Ephesus, who kept one of those schools of philosophy and eloquence so common at that period. St. Paul preached for two years daily in his school after quitting the synagogue . This proves that the school was Greek, not Jewish. It does not appear whether Tyrannus was himself a convert or not; for it may be that he let to the apostle the house or hall which he used: but it is more pleasant to suppose that he was a convert, and that the apostle was hospitably entertained by him and obtained the use of the hall in which he himself taught. </p>
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| ==References == | |
| <references> | | <references> |
| | | <ref name="term_63970"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/tyrannus+(2) Tyrannus from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref> |
| <ref name="term_57581"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/tyrannus Tyrannus from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref> | |
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| <ref name="term_54525"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/tyrannus Tyrannus from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_37808"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_81583"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_69176"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_75341"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_17412"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_70901"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/tyrannus Tyrannus from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_44317"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_33818"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/tyrannus Tyrannus from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_63968"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/tyrannus Tyrannus from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_9215"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/tyrannus Tyrannus from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_16845"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/tyrannus Tyrannus from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
