αὐστηρός, -d, -dv. (fr. atw to dry up), harsh (Lat. austerus), stringent of taste, αὐστηρὸν καὶ γλυκὺ (καὶ πικρόν), Plat. Ἰοσσ. 10, 897 a.; οἶνος, Diog. Laért. 7, 111. of mind and manners, harsh, rough, rigid, [ef. Trench 8 xiv.]: Lk. xix. 21, 22; (Polyb. 4, 20, 7; Diog. Laért. 7, 26, etc. 2 Mace. xiv. 30).

αὐστηρός austēros 2x

pr. harsh, sour in flavor; met. harsh, rigid, ungenerous, Lk. 19:21, 22*

** αὐστηρός, -ά, -όν

(< αὔω, to dry up), [in LXX: II Mac 14:30*;]

prop., stringent, harsh to the taste. Metaph., in Inscr., of a rough country; of disposition and manners, strict, severe (as in π., of an inspector; MM, s v): Lk 19:21, 22.†

SYN.: σκληρός (Tr., § xiv).

In the parable of the Talents (Matt. xxv.), the slothful servant charges his master with being σκληρός, “an hard man’’ (ver. 24); while in the corresponding parable of St. Luke it is αὐστηρός, ‘an austere man” (xix. 21), which he accuses him of being. It follows that the words must be nearly allied in meaning ; but not that they are identical in this. Σκληρός, derived from σκέλλω, σκλῆναι (= ‘ arefacio’), is properly an epithet applied to that which through lack of moisture is hard and dry, and thus rough and disagreeable to the touch ; or more than this, warped and intractable, the ‘asper’ and ‘durus’ in one. It is then transferred to the Sxl SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 4, region of ethics, in which it chiefly moves, expressing there roughness, harshness, and intractability in the moral nature of a man. Thus Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 3) is σκληρός, and no epithet could better express the evil conditions of the churl. For other company which the word keeps, we find it associated with αὐχμηρός (Plato, Symp. 195 d) ; ἀντίτυπος (Theat. 155 a; Plutarch, De Pyth. Orac. 26) ; ἀμετάστροφος (Plato, Crat. 407 d) ; ἄγριος (Aristotle, Hth. Nic. iv. 8.8; Plutarch, Cons. ad Apoll. 3); ἀνήδυντος (Prac. Ger. Reip. 8); ἀπηνής (De Vit. Pud.) ; avépaatos (De Adul. et Am. 19) ; τραχύς (De Lib. Ed. 18); ἀπαίδευτος (Alex. Virt. sew Fort. Or. i. 5); ἄτρεπτος (Diogenes Laértius, vii. 1. 64, 117); ἀφηνιαστής (Philo, De Septen. 1); αὐθάδης (Gen. xlix. 8) ; πονηρός (1 Sam. xxv. 8). It is set over against εὐηθικός (Plato, Charm. 175 d) ; μαλακός (Protag. 881 d); μαλθακός (Symp. 195 d; Sophocles, (idip. Col. 771). Αὐστηρός, which in the N. T. appears but once (Luke xix. 21), and never in the Septuagint, is in its primary meaning applied to such things as draw together and contract the tongue, are harsh and stringent to the palate, as new wine not yet mellowed by age, unripe fruit, and the like. Thus Cowper, describing himself, when a boy, as gathering from the hedgerows ‘sloes austere,’ uses ‘austere’ with exactest propriety. But just as we have transferred ‘strict’ (from ‘stringo’) to the region of ethics, so the Greeks transferred αὐστηρός, with an image borrowed from the taste, as in σκληρός from the touch. Neither does this word set out anything amiable or attractive in him to whom it is applied. It keeps company with ἀηδής (Plato, Rep. 111. 898 a); ἄκρατος and. ἀνήδυντος (Plutarch, Prec. Cony. 29) ; ἀνήδυστος (Phoc. 5) ; αὐθέκαστος | (De Adul. et Am. 14) ; πικρός (aid. 2) ; ἀγέλαστος and ἀνέντευκτος (De Cup. Div. 7); αὐχμηρός (Philo, De Prem. 1 In Plutarch this word is used in an ill sense, as self-willed, joined by him to ἄτεγκτος, that is, not to be moulded and fashioned like moist clay, in the hands of another, ‘ eigensinnig ;’ being one of the many which, in all languages, beginning with a good sense (Aristotle, Hthic. Nic. iv. 7. 4), have ended with a bad. 46 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ξ χιν et Pen. 5); while Kudemus (Ethic. Eudem. vii. 5) contrasts the αὐστηρός with the εὐτράπελος, using the latter word in a good sense. At the same time none of the epithets with which αὐστηρός is associated imply that deep moral perversity which lies in many with which σκληρός is linked; and, moreover, it is met not seldom in more honorable company; thus it is joined with σώφρων continually (Plutarch, Prec. Conj.7, 29; Quest. Gr. 40); with μουσικός (Symp. v. 2); with σωφρονικός (Clement of Alexandria, Pedag. ii. 4); one, otherwise γενναῖος καὶ μέγας, is αὐστηρός as not sacrificing to the Graces (Plutarch, Amat. 28); while the Stoics affirmed all good men to be ‘austere’ (Diogenes Laértius, vii. 1. 64,117): καὶ αὐστηροὺς δέ φασιν εἶναι πάντας τοὺς σπουδαίους, TO μήτε αὐτοὺς πρὸς ἡδονὴν ὁμιλεῖν, μήτε παρ᾽ ἄλλων τὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν προσδέχεσθαι : οἷ. Plutarch, Prec. Conj. 27. In Latin, ‘austerus ’ is predominantly an epithet of honour (Déderlein, Lat. Synon. vol. iii. p. 232) ; he to whom it is applied is earnest and severe, opposed to all levity ; needing, it may very well be, to watch against harshness, rigour, or moroseness, into which he might easily lapse —(‘non austeritas ejus tristis, non dissoluta sit comitas,’ Quintilian, ii. 2. 5)—but as yet not chargeable with these. We may distinguish, then, between them thus: σκληρός conveys always a reproach and a grave one, indicates a character harsh, inhuman, and in the earlier use of that word) uncivil; in the words of Hesiod, ἀδάμαντος ἔχων κρατερόφρονα θυμόν. It is not so with αὐστηρός. This epithet does not of necessity convey a reproach at all, any more than the German ‘streng,’ which is very different from ‘hart ;’ and even where it does convey a reproof, it is one of far less opprobrious a kind; rather the exaggeration of a virtue pushed too far, than an absolute vice. SV SY VON YES OF Tie NEW TESTAMENT ἢ tA «ε lA

αὐστηρός. The epithet of Lk 19? is poorly rendered by the word we have borrowed. It obviously means ‘‘strict, exacting,’ a man who expects to get blood out of a stone. This sense is well seen in P Tebt II. 31.515 (ii/aA.D.), in which the writer warns his friend, who was evidently connected with the temple finance, to see that his books were in good order, in view of the visit of a government inspector, 6 yap ἄνθρωπος λείαν ἐστὶ[ν] αὐστηρός, ‘a regular martinet.’’ Cf. BGU I. 14017, the copy of a military letter or diploma of the time of Hadrian, in which, with reference to certain regulations affecting his soldiers, the Emperor rejoices that he is able to interpret in a milder manner (φιλανθρωπότερ(ον)) τὸ αὐστηρότερον ὑπὸ τῶν πρὸ ἐμοῦ αὐτοκρατόρων σταθέν. In the curious rhetorical exercise (?) P Oxy III. 47193 (ii/a.D.) we find τί οὖν ὁ κατηφὴς σὺ kal ὑπεραύϊστηρος οὐκ ἐκώλυες ; “why then did not you with your modesty and extreme austerity stop him?’’ (Edd.). Here (as the context shows) a rigorous Puritanism is sarcastically attributed to a high Roman official, whose scandalous relations with a favourite ill became a v2 grads: this is nearer to the English azstere. Four centuries earlier, it describes ‘‘rough”’ country, OG/S 16857 αὐστηροῖς τόποις παρορίοις τῆι Αἰθιοπίαι. So in a metrical epitaph from Cos (i/B.c.), Aazbe/ 201° γυμνάδος αὐστηρὸν διετῆ πόνον ἐκτελέσαντα, of ‘exacting ’’ physical work. We may add that the connotation of the adj. in its later sense is very well given by the combination in Vettius Valens, p. 7511, where a particular conjunction of Venus and Saturn produces αὐστηροὺς ἀγελάστους ἐπισκύνιον ἔχοντας, πρὸς δὲ τὰ ἀφροδίσια σκληροτέρους : the sequel however admits vice, but of a gloomy and bizarre type.

αὐστηρός (austēros) — severe. αὐστηρός, ά, όν, (αὕω) harsh, rough, bitter, ὕδωρ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἶνος αὐ., opposed to γλυκύς, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of country, rugged, τόποι[Refs 1st c.BC+]: metaphorically, harsh, crabbed, ποιητής[Refs 5th c.BC+]; severe, unadorned, ἡ πραγματεία ἔχει αὐ. τι[Refs 2nd c.BC+]severe, [Refs]. adverb -ρῶς, κατεσκευάσθαι[Refs 1st c.BC+] __b in moral sense, rigorous, austere, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; αὐ. καὶ αὐθάδης[Refs 1st c.BC+], Vett. Val.75.11; strict, exacting, [NT+2nd c.AD+]; αὐστηρότερον, τό, excessive rigour, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]. adverb -ρῶς[Refs 1st c.BC+] comparative -ότερον [LXX]