Difference between revisions of "Patriarch"

<p> (πατριάρχης, from πατριά, ‘clan,’ and ἀρχή, ‘rule’) </p> <p> A patriarch is the father or head of a πατριά or clan. As applied to [[Bible]] characters, the term usually denotes either the forefathers of the human race or the progenitors of Israel-Abraham, Isaac, [[Jacob]] and his twelve sons. In the LXX_ of 1 Chronicles 24:31; 1 Chronicles 27:22, 2 Chronicles 19:8; 2 Chronicles 26:12 πατριάρχαι renders various [[Hebrew]] terms, which appear in our EV_ as ‘principal fathers,’ ‘heads of fathers’ houses,’ and ‘captains.’ In 4 [[Maccabees]] 7:19 reference is made to ‘our patriarchs Abraham, [[Isaac]] and Jacob’ (cf. 4 Maccabees 16:25). In the NT the term is applied to [[Abraham]] (Hebrews 7:4), to the sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8 f.), and also to David, in a text (Acts 2:29) where it has greater dignity than the ordinary ‘king’ would have had. It was of David that St. Peter, speaking μετὰ παῤῥησίας, ‘had to say something not altogether favourable, in order that thereby the glory of Christ might be the more enhanced. There is therefore in this passage a προθεραπεία, or previous mitigation of what he is about to say’ (Bengel, in loco). </p> <p> James Strahan. </p>

<p> Patriarch. (father of a tribe). The name given to the head of a family or tribe, in Old [[Testament]] times. In common usage, the title of patriarch is assigned, especially to those whose lives are recorded in Scripture, previous to the time of Moses, as Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. </p> <p> ("In the early history of the Hebrews, we find the ancestor or father of a family retaining authority over his children, and his children's children, so long as he lived, whatever new connections they might form, when the father died, the branch families did not break off, and form new communities, but usually united under another common head. </p> <p> The eldest son was generally invested with this dignity. His authority was paternal. He was honored as central point of connection, and as the representative of the whole kindred. Thus, each great family had its patriarch, or head, and each tribe its prince, selected from the several heads of the families which it embraced." - McClintock and Strong). </p> <p> ("After the destruction of Jerusalem, patriarch was the title of the chief religious rulers of the [[Jews]] in Asia, and, in early [[Christian]] times, it became the designation of the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, [[Antioch]] and Jerusalem." - American Cyclopedia). </p>

Hebrews 7:4Acts 7:8,9Joshua 14:1 <p> "Patriachal longevity presents itself as one of the most striking of the facts concerning mankind which the early history of the Book of [[Genesis]] places before us...There is a large amount of consentient tradition to the effect that the life of man was originally far more prolonged than it is at present, extending to at least several hundred years. The Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese exaggerated these hundreds into thousands. The [[Greeks]] and Romans, with more moderation, limited human life within a thousand or eight hundred years. The Hindus still farther shortened the term. Their books taught that in the first age of the world man was free from diseases, and lived ordinarily four hundred years; in the second age the term of life was reduced from four hundred to three hundred; in the third it became two hundred; in the fourth and last it was brought down to one hundred" (Rawlinson's [[Historical]] Illustrations). </p>

<p> (1): (n.) A venerable old man; an elder. Also used figuratively. </p> <p> (2): (n.) The father and ruler of a family; one who governs his family or descendants by paternal right; - usually applied to heads of families in ancient history, especially in Biblical and [[Jewish]] history to those who lived before the time of Moses. </p> <p> (3): (n.) A dignitary superior to the order of archbishops; as, the patriarch of Constantinople, of Alexandria, or of Antioch. </p>

<p> PA'TRIARCH, n. L. patriarcha Gr. a family, father, and a chief. </p> 1. The father and ruler of a family one who governs by paternal right. It is usually applied to the progenitors of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the sons of Jacob, or to the heads of families before the flood as the antediluvian patriarchs. 2. A learned and distinguished character among the Jews. 3. In the christian church, a dignitary superior to the order of archbishops as the patriarch of Constantinople, of Alexandria, or of Ephesus.

<p> 'Head of a family,' applied in the N.T. to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as ancestors of the Israelites, and to the twelve sons of Jacob. David also is thus designated. Acts 2:29; Acts 7:8,9; Hebrews 7:4 . In other passages the same persons are called 'the fathers.' </p>

<p> <strong> PATRIARCH. </strong> This term is usually applied to (1) the antediluvian fathers of the human race; (2) the three great progenitors of [[Israel]] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (see sep. artt.); (3) in the NT it is extended to the sons of Jacob ( Acts 7:8-9 ), and to David ( Acts 2:29 ). </p>

<p> In Church history is the name given originally to the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, and later to those also of [[Constantinople]] and Jerusalem, who held a higher rank than other bishops, and exercised a certain authority over the bishops in their districts. The title is in vogue in the Greek, Syrian, Armenian, and other Churches. It was originally given to the chief of a race or clan, the members of which were called after him. </p>