in the center of the throne

μέσος, η, ον (Hom.+). The distinction between ‘middle’ and ‘among’ for μ. is sometimes rather fluid, and some of the passages here cited may fit equally well under 1 or 2.

① pert. to a middle position spatially or temporally, middle, in the middle.

ⓐ as adj. (of intermediate terms: Pla., Rep. 330b, Pol. 303a) ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν ἀνήρ the man in their midst, apparently surrounded by them Hs 9, 12, 7. μέσης νυκτός at midnight (3 Km 3:20.—B-D-F §270, 2; Rob. 495; Lobeck, Phryn. p. 53; 54; 465) Mt 25:6. ἡμέρας μέσης at midday (Jos., Bell. 1, 651, Ant. 17, 155) Ac 26:13. εἰς μέσην τὴν οἰκοδομήν into the middle of the building Hs 9, 7, 5; cp. 9, 8, 2; 4; 6 (cp. Philo, Fuga 49 εἰς μέσον τὸν ποταμόν; Jos., Ant. 4, 80 εἰς μέσον τὸ πῦρ). ἐσταύρωσαν … μέσον τὸν Ἰησοῦν they crucified Jesus between (them) J 19:18. ἐσχίσθη τὸ καταπέτασμα μέσον the curtain was torn in two Lk 23:45 (cp. Artem. 4, 30 τὸ ἱμάτιον μέσον ἐρρωγέναι). ἐλάκησεν μέσος Ac 1:18 (cp. Aristoph., Ran. 955). ἐν μέσοις τοῖς ὀργάνοις τοῦ διαβόλου in the midst of the tools of the devil 2 Cl 18:2 (for the syntax cp. Gen 2:9 ἐν μέσῳ τῷ παραδείσῳ).

ⓑ as subst. neut. τὸ μ. the middle (on the absence of the art. s. B-D-F §264, 4; cp. Rob. 792) ἀνὰ μέσον τινός (s. ἀνά 1) ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὁρίων within or through the region Mk 7:31. ἀνὰ μ. αὐτῶν between them GPt 4:10; Hs 9, 2, 3; 9, 15, 2. ἀνὰ μ. ἐκκλησίας ἁγίων B 6:16; 4:10; διακρῖναι ἀνὰ μ. τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ between one (congregation) member and another 1 Cor 6:5 (s. ἀνά 1b. Perh. μέσος prompted a shortening of the sentence tending to obscurity; cp. the Stoic expr. μέσα καθήκοντα = καθήκοντα ἃ ἐν μέσῳ ἐστὶ κατορθωμάτων κ. ἁμαρτημάτων: MPohlenz, D. Stoa II ’49, 73f). τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀ. μ. τοῦ θρόνου the lamb who is (seated) on the center of the throne Rv 7:17. ἀνὰ μ. τῆς ὁδοῦ (they made) half their journey GJs 17:3.—διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν through the midst of them (X., An. 1, 4, 4; Aesop. Fab. 147 P.=247 H./201a Ch./152 [I, II] H-H.; Am 5:17; Jer 44:4; Jdth 11:19; 1 Macc 5:46; Ath. 18, 3 ‘between’) Lk 4:30; J 8:59 v.l. διὰ μέσον Σαμαρείας καὶ Γαλιλαίας Lk 17:11 prob. can only mean through Samaria and Galilee; but this raises a practical difficulty, since we should expect to find the provinces mentioned in the opposite order. Perh. the text is damaged (cp. the vv.ll. διὰ μέσου and μέσον; s. B-D-F §222; Rob. 648; JBlinzler, AWikenhauser Festschr. ’54, 46ff. If the v.l. διὰ μέσου Σ. καὶ Γ. should be correct, we could compare Maximus Tyr. 28, 4a διὰ μέσου πίστεως κ. ἀπιστίας=throughout between). For the view that μέσον signifies the area betw. S. and G. s. the comm. Cp. δια B1.—εἰς τὸ μέσον into the middle or center (X., Cyr. 3, 1, 6; Dio Chrys. 19 [36], 24; 3 Km 6:8; Jos., Ant. 9, 149) Mk 3:3; Lk 4:35; 5:19; 6:8; J 20:19, 26 (ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον as Vi. Aesopi G 82 P.); Hs 9, 8, 5; also in the middle 9, 6, 1. W. gen. (X., An. 1, 5; 14a; Jer 21:4; 48:7; Sb 6270, 13) εἰς τὸ μ. αὐτῶν in the midst of them 9, 11, 7. Without the art. (LXX; Jos., Vi. 334; SibOr 3, 674) εἰς μ. τοῦ πεδίου in the middle of the plain Hs 9, 2, 1 (εἰς μ.=‘in the middle’, as Ps.-Clem., Hom. 3, 30 p. 44, 21 Lag.). τί … τὸ ἔριον εἰς μ. τῶν ἀκανθῶν τιθέασιν; Why do they place the wool in the middle of the thorns? 7:11. ἀναστὰς εἰς μ. he arose (and came) forward Mk 14:60 (cp. Theocr. 22, 82 ἐς μέσον=into the middle; Himerius, Or. 63 [=Or. 17], 2 εἰς μέσον ἔρχεσθαι=come into the open; X., Cyr. 4, 1, 1 στὰς εἰς τὸ μ.).—ἐν τῷ μ. among, before (more closely defined by the context, or = in public [so Clearch., Fgm. 45 οἴκοι καὶ μὴ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ; Appian, Liby. 15 §63]) Mt 14:6 (Dio Chrys. 30 [79], 39 ὀρχεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ μέσω; Lucian, Pereg. 8) and into the middle, before (them) (Vi. Aesopi W c. 86 στὰς ἐν τῷ μέσῳ ἔφη) Ac 4:7. Without the art. (LXX) ἐν μέσῳ (on the spelling ἐμ μέσῳ, which occurs several times as v.l., s. B-D-F §19, 1; Mlt-H. 105) abs. into the middle, before (someone) (Appian, Hann. 16 §67, Liby. 14 §59; Jos., Ant. 7, 278) J 8:3; MPol 18:1 and in the middle (Pla., Rep. 558a; Herm. Wr. 4, 3; PLille 1 recto, 5 [259 B.C.]; GrBar 13:4) J 8:9. W. gen. of place (Aeneas Tact. 1529; 1532; TestAbr A 12 p. 90, 21 [Stone p. 28], B 8 p. 113, 3 [St. p. 74]; ParJer 1:2; GrBar 10:2) τῆς θαλάσσης (En 97:7) in the middle of the lake Mk 6:47. τῆς πλατείας through the middle of the street Rv 22:2. ἐν μ. τῆς αὐλῆς in the middle of the courtyard Lk 22:55a; τοῦ τάφου GPt 13:55. ἐν μ. αὐτῆς within it (the city of Jerusalem) Lk 21:21; cp. Dg 12:3; MPol 12:1; 12:2(?). ἐν μ. τοῦ θρόνου καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων on the center of the throne and among the four living creatures Rv 5:6a (w. double gen. also between: Appian, Hann. 14 §60, Bell. Civ. 5, 23 §92; Arrian, Anab. 1, 20, 2; 3, 28, 8 al.; Lucian, Fugit. 10 ἐν μ. ἀλαζονείας κ. φιλοσοφίας). ἐν μέσῳ τ. θρόνου around (on every side of) the throne 4:6 (but between the throne and a more remote point: RBrewer, JBL 71, ’52, 227–31).—ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας Hb 2:12 (Ps 21:23); cp. Ac 17:22. κατὰ μέσον (Jos., Bell. 5, 207; SibOr 3, 802 κατὰ μέσσον=‘in the middle’ [of the day]) κατὰ μ. τῆς νυκτός about midnight Ac 16:25 D; 27:27.

ⓒ The neut. μέσον serves as adv. (e.g., Appian, Bell. Civ. 3, 43 §175 μ.=meanwhile) ἦν μέσον ὡς he was in the center of it as MPol 15:2; and is used as prep. w. gen. (B-D-F §215, 3; Rob. 644. Cp. Hdt. 9, 107, 2; Polyb. 8, 25, 1; Epict. 2, 22, 10; LXX, TestSol; TestAbr A 4 p. 80, 31 [Stone p. 8]; JosAs 24:21; Jos., Ant. 6, 65; SibOr 3, 319) μ. τῆς θαλάσσης in the middle of the lake Mt 14:24 v.l.; μ. γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς in the midst of a crooked generation Phil 2:15 (cp. Maximus Tyr. 36, 5a ἐν μέσῳ τῷ σιδηρῷ τούτῳ γένει).

② pert. to a position within a group, without focus on mediate position, among.

ⓐ as adj. ἐκάθητο ὁ Πέτρος μέσος αὐτῶν Peter was sitting among them Lk 22:55 (the point being not as center of attention but inconspicuously in the group; cp. Jos., Ant. 9, 107). μέσος ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν J 1:26 (Jos., Ant. 14, 23). τοῦ πύργου μέσου Hs 9, 8, 2. εἶδον … μέσον αὐτῶν τὸν Παῦλον AcPl Ha 11, 14.

ⓑ as subst. neuter ἀνὰ μέσον τινός (s. ἀνά 1) among someth. Mt 13:25. W. gen. pl. (TestJob 32:6 ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τέκνων σου) in the midst of, among in answer to the questions where and whither (B-D-F §215, 3 app.) Mt 18:2, 20; Mk 9:36; Lk 2:46; 24:36; Ac 1:15; 2:22; 6:15 D; 27:21; Rv 5:6b; cp. 6:6. Of close personal relationship ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν among you = in communion with you Lk 22:27; 1 Th 2:7.—ἐν μ. λύκων among wolves Mt 10:16; Lk 10:3; 2 Cl 5:2.—W. gen. pl. of things (Alciphron 3, 24, 3) Lk 8:7; Rv 1:13; 2:1. ἐκ (τοῦ) μ. from among (X., An. 1, 5, 14b; oracular response in Diod S 9, 3, 2; LXX=מִתּוֹךְ): αἴρειν τι (or τινά) ἐκ (τοῦ) μέσου (τινῶν) Col 2:14; 1 Cor 5:2 (s. αἴρω 3). ἁρπάσαι αὐτὸν ἐκ μ. αὐτῶν Ac 23:10 (s. ἁρπάζω 2a). ἀφορίζειν τοὺς πονηροὺς ἐκ μ. τῶν δικαίων Mt 13:49 (s. ἀφορίζω 1). γίνεσθαι ἐκ μ. 2 Th 2:7 (s. γίνομαι 6b). ἐξέρχεσθαι ἐκ μ. αὐτῶν from among them Ac 17:33; cp. 2 Cor 6:17 (cp. Is 52:11). κύριος λαμβάνει ἑαυτῷ ἔθνος ἐκ μ. ἐθνῶν 1 Cl 29:3 (cp. Dt 4:34).—B. 864. DELG. M-M. EDNT. TW. Sv.

θρόνος, ου, ὁ (Hom.+; ins, pap, LXX, pseudepigr.; Jos., Ant. 7, 353; 8, 399; Mel., P. 83, 620 ; loanw. in rabb.).

[b]① chair, seat

ⓐ gener. ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου (Mary) sat down on her chair GJs 11:1 (JosAs 7:1 Ἰωσὴφ ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ θρόνου sat on a chair).

ⓑ specif. a chair set aside for one of high status, throne.

α. of human kings and rulers (Hdt. 1, 14, 3; X., Cyr. 6, 1, 6; Herodian 1, 8, 4) καθελεῖν ἀπὸ θρόνων dethrone Lk 1:52. The throne of David (2 Km 3:10; PsSol 17:6), the ancestor of the Messiah 1:32; Ac 2:30.

β. of God (Soph., Ant. 1041; OGI 383 [ins of Antiochus of Commagene] 41f πρὸς οὐρανίους Διὸς Ὠρομάσδου θρόνους; Ps 46:9; Ezk. Trag. vs. 68 [in Eus., PE 9, 29, 5]; TestSol 13:5 C) Hb 12:2; Rv 7:15; 12:5; 22:1, 3; cp. 1:4; 3:21b; 4:2ff, 9; 5:1, 6f, 11, 13 al. (s. Cat. Cod. Astr. IX/2 p. 118f, notes w. lit.).—ὁ θρόνος τ. χάριτος Hb 4:16; τ. μεγαλωσύνης 8:1.—Of heaven as God’s throne (after Is 66:1) Mt 5:34; 23:22; Ac 7:49; B 16:2 (the two last pass. are direct quot. of Is 66:1.—Cp. Theosophien 56, 33f. For heaven as the throne of Zeus s. Orpheus: Hymn. 62, 2f Q. and Demosth. 25, 11).

γ. of Christ, who occupies the throne of his ancestor David (s. α above). It is a θ. δόξης αὐτοῦ Mt 19:28a; 25:31 (PsSol; 2:19); an eternal throne Hb 1:8 (Ps 44:7), which stands at the right hand of the Father’s throne Pol 2:1 or is even identical w. it Rv 22:1, 3; cp. 3:21b. His own are to share this throne w. him vs. 21a.

δ. of the 12 apostles as judges (Philochorus [IV/III B.C.]: 328 Fgm. 64bβ Jac. the νομοφύλακες … ἐπὶ θρόνων ἐκάθηντο; Plut., Mor. 807b; Paus. 2, 31, 3; Ps 121:5; Jos., Ant. 18, 107) or rulers in the time of the final consummation Mt 19:28b (Galen X 406 K. Θέσσαλος ἅμα τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ σοφισταῖς ἐφʼ ὑψηλοῦ θρόνου καθήμενος); Lk 22:30; cp. Rv 20:4.

ε. of the 24 elders of Rv 4:4; 11:16.—Rv also mentions thrones of infernal powers; the throne of the dragon, which the ‘beast’ receives 13:2; cp. 16:10.—ὁ θ. τοῦ Σατανᾶ 2:13 in the letter to Pergamum is freq. (e.g. Dssm., LO 240, 8 [LAE 280, 2]; Lohmeyer ad loc.; Boll 112, 4) taken to be the famous Altar of Zeus there (cp. En 25:3 the mountain whose peak is like a throne); others (Zahn; JWeiss, RE X 551) prefer to think of the temple of Asclepius, and Bousset of Perg. as the center of the emperor-cult.—TBirt, D. Thron d. Satans: PhilologWoch 52, ’32, 259–66.

② supreme power over a political entity, dominion, sovereignty, fig. extension of mng. 1 (a semantic component prob. present in some of the aforementioned passages, for the idea of authority is intimately associated with the chair that is reserved for an authority figure) θ. αἰώνιος of Jesus Christ 1 Cl 65:2; MPol 21.

③ name of a class of powerful beings, earthly or transcendent, the enthroned, pl. (TestLevi 3:8; cp. the astrol. PMich 149 XVI, 23 and 24 [II A.D.].—Kephal. I 117, 24–26, personification of the one who sits on the throne, the judge) perh. of transcendent beings Col 1:16 (cp. Mel., P. 83, 620; DSanger, in EDNT s.v.), but in view of the ref. to things ‘seen and unseen’ in the same vs. it is probable that the author thinks also of earthly rulers (s. 2 above).—B. 481. DELG. 1628–31. M-M. TW.

ἀνά prep. w. acc. (Hom.+), lit. ‘up, up to’; rare in later Gk.

① ἀνὰ μέσον in a position in the middle (Aristot. et al.; Polyb., Diod S, ins, pap, LXX, En; TestAbr B 8, p. 112, 21 al.; JosAs 4:5f; ApcMos; EpArist [ELohmeyer, Diatheke 1913, 86, 1; Nägeli 30; Rossberg 34; Johannessohn, Präp. 170–73, esp. 170, 6]; Just., D. 107, 4 [on Jon 4:11]) w. gen.

ⓐ of position in an area among, in the midst of (PGM 36, 302) ἀ. μ. τοῦ σίτου Mt 13:25; ἀ. μ. τῶν ὁρίων Δεκαπόλεως into the (midst of the) district of Decapolis Mk 7:31; ἤλθωσιν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς ὁδοῦ they had gone half way on their journey GJs 17:3.

ⓑ of pers. (in the middle) between (Diod S 11, 90, 3 ἀνὰ μέσον ποταμῶν δυοῖν; 12, 9, 2; 14, 80, 2; 17, 52, 1; Strabo 4, 4, 2; En 13:9) διαστεῖλαι ἀνὰ μέσον δικαίου καὶ ἁμαρτωλοῦ PsSol 2:34; cp. ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν δύο πυλῶν TestAbr B 8, p. 112, 21 [Stone p. 72]) GPt 4:10=ASyn. 344, 73; Hs 9, 2, 3; 9, 15, 2. With breviloquence—if the text is undamaged, which Mlt. 99 doubts—διακρῖναι ἀ. μ. τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ decide (a case) between members 1 Cor 6:5 (on the shortening cp. Sir 25:18 v.l. ἀ. μ. τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἀναπεσεῖται ὁ ἀνήρ. S. also μέσος 1b beg.—Lawsuits ἀ. μ. Ἑλλήνων: SEG IX, 8, 64; JosAs 28:6 κρινεῖ κύριος ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ ὑμῶν); in the midst of (non-Attic.: IBekker, Anecd. I 1814, 80, 24 ἀ. μέσον• ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐν μέσῳ. Cp. Diod S 1, 30, 4 ἀνὰ μ. τῆς Κοίλης Συρίας; PPetr III, 37a II, 18; Ex 26:28; Josh 16:9; 19:1) τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀ. μ. τοῦ θρόνου in the center of the throne Rv 7:17. ἀ. μ. ἐκκλησίας in the midst of the congregation B 6:16.

② ἀνὰ μέρος lit. ‘up to a part’ or ‘according to a part’ following in sequence, in turn (Aristot., Pol. 1287a, 17; Polyb. 4, 20, 10 ἀνὰ μέρος ᾂδειν; Appian, Iber. 82 §357, Mithrid. 22 §83, Bell. Civ. 3, 44 §183; SEG IX, 8, 122) 1 Cor 14:27.

③ distributive, w. numbers, each, apiece (Aristoph., Ran. 554f; X., An. 4, 6, 4; SEG IX, 8, 27; PAmh II, 88 [128 A.D.]; POxy 819 [I A.D.] al.; Gen 24:22; 3 Km 18:13; 1 Ch 15:26; En 10:19; TestJob 44:5; JosAs; Jos., Ant. 8, 179; 17, 172; Rdm. 20) ἀνὰ δηνάριον a denarius apiece Mt 20:9f. ἀνὰ λαμπάδα a lamp apiece GJs 7:2. ἀνὰ ῥάβδον a staff apiece 8:3 (not pap). ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς ἀνὰ δύο he sent them out two by two Lk 10:1. κλισίας ὡσεὶ ἀνὰ πεντήκοντα by fifties 9:14; ἀνὰ μετρητὰς δύο ἢ τρεῖς two or three measures apiece J 2:6 (Diod S 3, 13, 2 ἀνὰ τρεῖς ἢ δύο). ἀνὰ ἑκατὸν καὶ ἀνὰ πεντήκοντα Mk 6:40 v.l. Lk 9:3; Rv 4:8; GPt 9:35=ASyn. 353, 81. ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν ἀνὰ δύο παρθένοι between them (the maidens at the four corners) two maidens apiece Hs 9, 2, 3 (see MDibelius, Hdb. ad loc.).—In ἀνὰ δύο παρθένοι ἀ. has become fixed as an adverb. Likew. ἀνὰ εἷς ἕκαστος τῶν πυλώνων Rv 21:21 (B-D-F §204; 305; Rob. 571). On ἀνὰ δύο δύο Lk 10:1; cp. AcPh 142 (Aa II/2, 79, 6) and δύο b.—Special lit. on prepositions: B-D-F §203–40; Rdm.² p. 137–46; Mlt-H. 292–332; Rob. 553–649; Mayser II/2, p. 152–68; 337–543.—MJohannessohn, D. Gebrauch d. Präpositionen in LXX: NGG, Beiheft 1926.—PRegard, Contribution à l’Étude des Prépositions dans la langue du NT 1919.—FKrebs, D. Präpositionen b. Polybius, diss. Würzb. 1882; FKrumbholz, De praepos. usu Appianeo, diss. Jena 1885; PMelcher, De sermone Epict. (Diss. philol. Halenses 17, 1) 1905; JKäser, D. Präpos. b. Dionys. Hal., diss. Erl. 1915; HTeykowski, D. Präpositions-gebr. b. Menander, diss. Bonn ’40.—RGünther, D. Präpos. in d. griech. Dialektinschriften: IndogF 20, 1906, 1–163; ENachmanson, Eranos 9, 1909, 66ff.—The works of Kuhring and Rossberg on usage in pap.—GRudberg, Ad usum circumscribentem praepositionum graec.: Eranos 19, 1922, 173–206.—DELG. M-M.