Excerpt from A Lexicographical and Historical Study of Diathk: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Classical Period As no special lexicographical work has been done on this word either in classical or in Hellenistic Greek, and the need of such work has been recognized by scholars, no apology is needed for the present dissertation, the purpose of which is to investigate the use of the term in Greek literature, from the earliest times in which it can be found, or in which there are traces of an institution that later came to be desig mated by it, through the classical period. As the primary object in undertaking this work was to make a contribution to New Testament study, it is hoped that it may form a basis for further investigation in Hellenistic literature. In the lexicographical study the year 300 B. C. Has been arbitrarily chosen as a limit to the investigation, the aim being simply to carry it well through the classical period. In the historical study no sharp line of demarkation is observed; but only in a few instances, for obvious reasons, has the ordinary imaginary boundary-line been overstepped. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.