Men of the Sea and the Desert: A Study Of THE WORD “Father” In The New Testament
The word πατήρ is the Greek word for father. It occurs over 400 times in the New Testament and is heir to a range of meanings dating back to Homeric times.
Fathers in Homer
Fathers in Homer are most often the begetters of children, both natural and immortal.
Odysseus comes to the aid of Agamemnon in the second book of the Iliad with an oath “μηδ’ ἐτι Τηλεμάχοιο πατήρ κεκλημένος είην” (may I no more be called the father of Telemachus) while the goddess Thetis sits “ἐν βένθεσσιν αλος παρὰ πατρὶ γέροντι” (in the depths of the sea beside the old man, her father).
The term is also used occasionally as an epithet for Zeus as the father of gods and men “Ζεῦ τε πάτερ και…” (father Zeus and …).
In the plural, fathers can refers to one’s forbears “μή τι καταισχύνειν πατέρων γένος” (to bring no disgrace upon the house of your fathers).
Finally, it can be used in the vocative as a term of respect when addressing an elder as when Hermes addresses a terrified Priam: “πη, πάτερ, ῶδ’ ίππους τε καὶ ημιόνους ἰθύνεις…” (where, father, do you guide horses and mules…).
A Technical Interlude
Πατήρ, πατρός, ο is a slightly irregular third declension noun with the stem πατερ that contracts in the genitive singular and in the dative singular and plural. The dative plural also has an irregular ending -ασιν.
It declines as per below.
Fathers in the New Testament
The word πατήρ carries meanings similar to the Homeric but the mix is radically different.
The word only occasionally refers to the begetter of natural children. James and John leave “τὸ πλοῖον και τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν” (the boat and their father) to follow Jesus and the prodigal son returns to a joyous - albeit fictitious - parent. This use, however, is not common.
It is also used to refer to one’s forefathers. The Jews answer Jesus “ο πατὴρ υμῶν Αβραάμ εστιν” (Abraham is our father) in John 8:39.
Again, like Homer, it can be a respectful term of address in the vocative. Stephen addresses the council as “Ανδρες ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες” (men brothers and fathers) in Acts 7:2.
While only rarely does Homer refer to Zeus with the epithet “father”, the New Testament’s most common use of the term by a long way is as a reference to the supreme deity, the creator of all i.e. Father with a capital “F”.
This usage is common with the authors of the Gospels and Acts and more often than not is either a direct or indirect quote of Jesus in reference to the first person of the Trinity; the letter writers also use this term freely to name the deity.
Perhaps the most famous example of this usage is Jesus teaching his disciples to pray: “Πάτερ, ἀγιασθήτω τὸ ὀνομά σου” (Father, hallowed be your name). Although the word “father” is in the vocative here, this is far more than a polite form of address.
Cognate Words
For a word as common as “πατήρ”, there are few, if any, important cognates to be aware of.
Πατρίς, ίδος, η is a term for one’s fatherland or home town but occurs only eight times in the New Testament.
Πατριάρχης, ου, ο translates almost directly as patriarch and occurs only four times.
Apart from these two terms, all other cognates occur three times or less within the text of the New Testament and can be looked up in a dictionary when required.
