ἀρχή

ἀρχή — archḗ

ἀρχή, ἀρχῆς, ἡ (from Homer down), in the Sept. mostly equivalent to רֹאשׁ, רֵאֹשִׁית, תְּחִלָּה;

1. beginning, origin;

a. used absolutely, of the beginning of all things: ἐν ἀρχή, Joh 1:1 f (Gen 1:1); ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, Mat 19:4 (with which cf. Xenophon, mem. 1, 4, 5 ὁ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιῶν ἀνθρώπους), Mat 19:8; Joh 8:44; 1Jn 1:1; 1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 3:8; more fully ἀπ' ἀρχῆς κτίσεως or κόσμου, Mat 24:21; Mar 10:6; Mar 13:19; 2Th 2:13 (where L (Tr marginal reading WH marginal reading) ἀπαρχήν, which see); 2Pe 3:4; κατ' ἀρχάς, Heb 1:10 (Psalm 101:26 ).

b. in a relative sense, of the beginning of the thing spoken of: ἐξ ἀρχῆς, from the time when Jesus gathered disciples, Joh 6:64; Joh 16:4; ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, Joh 15:27 (since I appeared in public); as soon as instruction was imparted, 1Jn 2:1-29 :,;; 2Jn 1:5 f; more fully ἐν ἀρχή τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, Php 4:15 (Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 47, 2 [ET] (see note in Gebh. and Harn. at the passage and cf.) Polycarp, ad Philipp. 11, 3 [ET]); from the beginning of the gospel history, Luk 1:2; from the commencement of life, Act 26:4; ἐν ἀρχή, in the beginning, when the church was founded, Act 11:15. The accusative ἀρχήν (cf. Winers Grammar, 124 (118); Lightfoot on Col 1:18) and τήν ἀρχήν in the Greek writings (cf. Lennep ad Phalarid., pp. 82ff and, pp. 94ff, Lipsius edition; Brückner in DeWette's Handbook on John, p. 151) is often used adverbially, equivalent to ὅλως altogether (properly, an accusative of 'direction toward':usqueadinitium (cf. Winers Grammar, 230 (216); Buttmann, 153 (134))), commonly followed by a negative, but not always (cf. e. g. Dio Cassius fragment 101 (93 Dindorf); 45:34 (Dindorf vol. ii., p. 194); 59:20; 62:4; see, further, Lycurgus, § 125, Mätzner edition); hence, that extremely difficult passage, Joh 8:25 τήν... ὑμῖν, must in my opinion be interpreted as follows: I am altogether or wholly (i. e. in all respects, precisely) that which I even speak to you (I not only am, but also declare to you what I am; therefore you have no need to question me) (cf. Winers Grammar, 464 (432); Buttmann, 253 (218)). ἀρχήν λαμβάνειν, to take beginning, to begin, Heb 2:3. with the addition of the genitive of the thing spoken of: ὠδίνων, Mat 24:8; Mar 13:8 ((here R G plural); τῶν σημείων, Joh 2:11); ἡμερῶν, Heb 7:3; τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, that from which the gospel history took its beginning, Mar 1:1; τῆς ὑποστάσεως, the confidence with which we have made a beginning, opposed to μέχρι τέλους, Heb 3:14. τά στοιχεῖα τῆς ἀρχῆς, Heb 5:12 (τῆς ἀρχῆς is added for greater explicitness, as in Latinrudimentaprima, Livy 1, 3; Justin., hist. 7, 5; andprimaelamenta, Horat. sat. 1, 1, 26, etc.); ὁ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγος equivalent to ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγος ὁ τῆς ἀρχῆς, i. e. the instruction concerning Christ such as it was at the very outset (cf. Winers Grammar, 188 (177); Buttmann, 155 (136)), Heb 6:1.

2. the person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader: Col 1:18; Rev 1:8 Rec.;; (Deu 21:17; Job 40:14(19), etc.).

3. that by which anything begins to be, the origin, active cause (a sense in which the philosopher Anaximander, 8th century B.C., is said to have been the first to use the word; cf. Simplicius, on Aristotle, phys. f. 9, p. 326, Brandis edition and 32, p. 334, Brandis edition (cf. Teichmüller, Stud. zur Gesch. d. Begriffe, pp. 48ff 560ff)): ἡ ἀρχή τῆς κτίσεως, of Christ as the divine λόγος, Rev 3:14 (cf. Düsterdieck at the passage; Clement of Alexandria, protrept. 1, p. 6, Potter edition (p. 30 edition Sylb.) ὁ λόγος ἀρχή θεία τῶν πάντων; in Ev. Nicod. c. 23 (p. 308, Tischendorf edition, p. 736, Thilo edition) the devil is called ἡ ἀρχή τοῦ θανάτου καί ῤίζα τῆς ἁμαρτίας).

4. the extremity of a thing: of the corners of a sail, Act 10:11; Act 11:5; (Herodotus 4, 60; Diodorus 1, 35; others.).

5. the first place, principality, rule, magistracy (cf. English 'authorities') (ἄρχω τίνος): Luk 12:11; Luk 20:20; Tit 3:1; office given in charge (Gen 40:13; Gen 40:21; 2Ma 4:10, etc.), Jud 1:6. Hence, the term is transferred by Paul to angels and demons holding dominions entrusted to them in the order of things (see ἄγγελος, 2 (cf. Lightfoot on Col 1:16; Meyer on Eph 1:21)): Rom 8:38; 1Co 15:24; Eph 1:21; Eph 3:10; Eph 6:12; Col 1:16; Col 2:10; Col 2:15. See ἐξουσία, 4{c}. ββ.