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[[@page.4.6]]

4.6 - Crowns

There are two types of crowns mentioned in the NT, στέφανος [stephanos] and διάδημα [diadēma] . Most discussions of these two words indicate that the stephanos is a victor's crown, whereas the diadema is a royal crown. "The stephanos was the usual crown of exaltation for victors of games, achievements in war, and places of honor at feasts (AV 1Cor. [[9:25|bible.67.9.25]]; RSV, NEB 'wreath')."1 "Probably the widest NT use of the word [stephanos] is in conjunction with the Greek games as parallels to the Christian life (cf. 1Cor. [[9:24|bible.67.9.24]], [[25|bible.67.9.25]]; Gal. [[2:2|bible.69.2.2]]; Php. [[3:14|bible.71.3.14]]; 2Ti. [[2:5|bible.76.2.5]]; 1Pe. [[5:4|bible.81.5.4]])."2 "In each biblical use the diadem is a badge of royalty."3 However, when one analyzes the context within which these two terms appear, it appears that they are not as clearly distinguished as these definitions would imply.

Notes

1 W. E. Raffety, "Crown," in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979, 1915), 1:831.

2 Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 172-173.

3 Geoffrey W. Bromiley, "Diadem," in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979, 1915), 941.


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