Orator
(1) Isa 3:3, "the eloquent orator"; rather as Vulgate, "skilled in whispering," i.e. incantation (Psa 58:5), lachash. (2) Tertullus, the Jewish accusers' advocate against Paul (Act 24:1). Paul as a Roman citizen was tried with Roman judicial forms (Act 25:9-10), the Roman lawyer pleading in Latin, as Norman French was formerly the language of law proceedings in England in Norman times.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Orator
For AV Is 35 (RV ‘enchanter’) see DIVINATION. In Ac 24' we are told that ‘the high priest Ananias came down with certain elders, and with an orator, one Tertullus’; and a short speech delivered by Tertullus is given. The orator (ῥἡτωρ), who differed from the professional lawyer (iuris- consultus or vou.xds), was the skilled speaker who was hired to present the case in court. His train- ing was rhetorical not legal, so that he does not quite correspond to our barrister. The need of his employment arose partly, as was natural, from the necessity of having the case well stated, partly from the fact that the language of the courts was Latin. So Valerius Maximus (ii. 2. 2) quotes it as an instance of the manner in which the magistrates guarded the majesty of the Roman people, that even in Greece and Asia they refused to give responsa except in Latin. Many young Romans started their oratorical career by practising in the provinces. A good illustration yf the duties of the ῥήτωρ will be found in the lengthy Petition of Dionysia to the Prefect (Grenfell and Hunt, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, pt. ii.…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Orator
The Authorized Version rendering in (Isaiah 3:3) for what is literally “skillful in whisper or incantation.” The title applied to Tertullus, who appeared as the advocate of the Jewish accusers of St. Paul before Felix, (Acts 24:1)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia