κλῆρος

κλῆρος — klēros

κλῆρος, κλήρου, ὁ, from Homer down; the Sept. mostly for גּורָל and נַחֲלָה; a lot; i. e.:

1. an object used in casting or drawing lots, which was either a pebble, or a potsherd, or a bit of wood (hence, κλῆρος is to be derived from κλάω (cf. Ellicott on Col 1:12)): Act 1:26 (see below); βάλλοντες κλῆρον, Mat 27:35; Mar 15:24; Luk 23:34; Joh 19:24 (Psalm 21:19; Jon 1:7, etc.); the lots of the several persons concerned, inscribed with their names, were thrown together into a vase, which was then shaken, and he whose lot first fell out upon the ground was the one chosen (Homer, Iliad 3, 316, 325; 7, 175, etc.; Livy 23, 3 (but cf. B. D. American edition, under the word Lot)); hence, ὁ κλῆρος πίπτει ἐπί τινα, Act 1:26 (Eze 24:6; Jon 1:7).

2. what is obtained by lot, allotted portion: λαγχάνειν and λαμβάνειν τόν κλῆρον τῆς διακονίας, a prrtion in the ministry common to the apostles, Act 1:17; Act 1:25 R G; ἐστι μοι κλῆρος ἐν τίνι, dative of the thing, Act 8:21; like κληρονομία (which see) it is used of the part which one will have in eternal salvation, λαμβάνειν... τόν κλῆρον ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις, among the sanctified, Act 26:18 (Wis 5:5); of eternal salvation itself, κλῆρος τῶν ἁγίων, i. e. the eternal salvation which God has assigned to the saints, Col 1:12 (where cf. Lightfoot). of persons, οἱ κλῆροι, those whose care and oversight has been assigned to one (allotted charge), used of Christian churches, the administration of which falls to the lot of the presbyters: 1Pe 5:3, cf. Act 17:4; (for patristic usage see Sophocles Lexicon, under the word; cf. Lightfoot on Philippians, p. 246f).