Ἑρμᾶς
Hermas
Definition
Hermas is the name of a specific individual mentioned in the New Testament. In Romans 16:14, Paul sends greetings to him as one of the 'brothers' among a group of believers in Rome. The name itself is a personal name, not a title or descriptive term. As a proper noun, it refers solely to this one Christian individual, and there are no other major senses or meanings attached to the word in the biblical text.
Biblical Usage
The word Ἑρμᾶς is used only once in the New Testament, in Romans 16:14. It appears in a list of greetings from Paul to various Christians in Rome, identifying Hermas as a member of the Christian community there. The usage is purely as a personal identifier within an epistolary greeting.
Etymology
The name Ἑρμᾶς (Hermas) is of Greek origin. It is a shortened form or derivative of the name of the Greek god Hermes (Ἑρμῆς), who was the messenger of the gods. As a personal name, it was common in the Greco-Roman world, much like using a name derived from a deity or mythological figure.
Semantic Range
In the first-century Roman world, using names derived from pagan deities was very common and did not necessarily indicate personal religious devotion to that god. It was simply a cultural naming convention. By including Hermas in his greetings, Paul demonstrates the inclusive nature of the early church, where individuals from standard Greco-Roman cultural backgrounds were welcomed as fellow believers in Christ.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, a concise public-domain resource suitable for introductory word study. Brief glosses are supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). For advanced research, standard scholarly references include BDAG (Danker, 3rd ed.) and LSJ.
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