Foreward
In 1 Mac 9" it is said of the army of Bacchides, ' they that marched in the foreward were all mighty men.' The Gr. for ' they that marched in the foreward ' is oi i!fiixra.-fuvi(!Ta.i, whence comes our ' protagonist.' The same word occurs in 2 Mac 15*', where Judas is called 6 TpioTaywvKXTTjs vTT^p rujv iroXtruJc, AV ' the chief defender of the citizens,' RV 'the foremost cham- pion of his fellow-citizens.'
It signified first the principal actor in a play, and then the person taking a leading part in any enterprise, the one who ' plays first fiddle,' in fact, as Liddell and Scott suggest. The Eng. phrase ' in the fore- ward ' comes from Geneva, ' they that foght in the forewarde were all valiant men.' The fore- ward ( = ' front-guard ') was the foremost line of an army, its vanguard ; thus Caxton (1489), Sonnes of Ai/mon, i.
41, ' Fyrste of aJle came the fore- warde wyth the Oryflame ' ; and Shaks. Bich, III. V. ui. 293— * My foreward shall be drawB out all in length, Consisting equally of horse and foot.' RV translates, ' the mighty men that fought in the front of the battle ' ; which is almost a return to Wyclif (1382), 'the first of the bateU al the miglity.' J. Hasting?.
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