Ambassage Ambassador
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [1]
Ambassador, Ambassage . As diplomatic agents of sovereigns or other persons in high authority, ambassadors are frequently mentioned in OT and Apocrypha from the days of Moses (see below) to those of the Maccabees ( 1Ma 9:70; 1Ma 11:9; 1Ma 14:21; 1Ma 15:17 ). Insult to their persons was a sufficient casus belli ( 2 Samuel 10:4 ff.). In several passages ( e.g. Numbers 20:14; Numbers 21:21 , Deuteronomy 2:26 , Judges 11:12; Judges 11:19 , 2 Samuel 5:11 , 2 Kings 19:9 ) the ‘messengers’ of EV [Note: English Version.] are practically ‘ambassadors,’ as the Heb. word is elsewhere rendered ( 2 Chronicles 35:21 , Isaiah 30:4 , Ezekiel 17:15 ). Joshua 9:4 , however, should be read as in RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] . The ambassador of Jeremiah 49:14 (= Obadiah 1:1 ) is probably an angel. In NT the word is used only metaphorically ( 2 Corinthians 5:20 , Ephesians 6:20 ).
‘Ambassage,’ the mission of an ambassador ( 2Ma 4:11 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), is used also as a collective for ambassadors themselves ( Luke 14:32; Luke 19:14 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). In 1Ma 14:23 read with RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘the copy of their words.’
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [2]
denotes (a) "to be elder or eldest, prior in birth or age;" (b) "to be an ambassador," 2—Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20; for Philemon 1:9 see under Aged. There is a suggestion that to be an "ambassador" for Christ involves the experience suggested by the word "elder." Elder men were chosen as "ambassadors."
primarily, "age, eldership, rank," hence, "an embassy or ambassage," is used in Luke 14:32; in 19:14, RV, "ambassage," for AV, "message."
