hebrews as an instructional appendix to romans 251
the entry “ἐφάπαξ” in lsJ (91996) is, likewise, brief:
ἐφάπαξ [ᾰπ], adv. once for all, eup.175, Ep.Rom.6.10, Ep.Hebr.7.27, etc. II. at
once, 1 Ep.Cor.15.6.27
G. abbott-smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, offers
occurrences in only eupolis, romans, 1 corinthians, and Hebrews. e. Hatch
and H. a. redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek
Versions of the Old Testament (Including the Apocryphal Books), has no
entry for ἐφάπαξ. the word is not attested in the lxx, philo, or Josephus,
although ἅπαξ does occur in septuagint versions of Gen 18:32, exod 30:10,
lev 16:34,28 and num 16:21.29 G. w. H. lampe’s (ed.) A Patristic Greek
Lexicon (202007) also has no entry for this word. an explanation for the
omission in lampe is provided in the lexicon’s introduction:
the relation of this work to liddell-scott-Jones demands special attention.
no word which is well attested in the latter and has no particular interest
for the reader of the Fathers is included in this book. the absence of a word
must on no account be understood as an indication that it is not used by
the patristic authors.... the user of this work is, in fact, assumed to have
liddell and scott by its side.30
this caveat clearly applies to ἐφάπαξ. as we will see (below) the adverb is
not uncommon in the writings of late antique writers.
In the TDNT article, “ἐφάπαξ” (TDNT), Gustav stählin notes three
well-known papyrological occurrences of the compound: (1) p.lond. V
1708.242: οὐκ ὑφ’ ἕν ἐφάπαξ, “not individually but together”; (2) p.lond. II
483.88: ἐφάπαξ ὁμολογεῖν, “to unanimously agree”; and (3) p.Flor. II
27 lsJ, s.v. ἐφάπαξ.
28 this occurrence in lev 16:34 is highly significant as summation of the annual day of
atonement for the sanctuary and people: καὶ ἔσται τοῦτο ὑμῖν νόμιμον αἰώνιον ἐξιλάσκεσθαι
περὶ τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ποιηθήσεται, καθάπερ
συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ. while too much should not be made of ἅπαξ on its own (it is as
commonplace in Greek literature as english: “once”), the deliberate connection between
ἅπαξ and ἐφάπαξ in Hebrews may signal clarification of the latter by the former. spe-
cifically, the unusual expression ἐφάπαξ in rom 6:10 is clarified in Hebrews through its
correlation with ἅπαξ in lev 16:34. on its own, this argument would not be persuasive.
However, in light of Hebrews’ overwhelming focus on leviticus 16, it makes an obvious
complement. namely, christ’s death ἐφάπαξ (once for all in rom 6:10) is interpreted as
similar to yet superseding leviticus’s day of purgation’s rite taking place ἅπαξ (once per
year in lev 16:34). Grounds for this exegetical move are provided by paul’s own allusion
to leviticus 16 in rom 3:25.
29 Hebrew: pa’am may be translated by ἅπαξ in the lxx; e.g., 1 sam 26:8.
30 PGL, vii.