Midvash

ἐξουσίαexousía

privilege, i.e. (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence

Greek (New Testament) · G1849

Meanings

1. properly, liberty or power to act, freedom to exercise the inward force or faculty expressed by δύναμις (see that word): 1 Corinthians 9:12; ἐ. ἔχειν, 2 Thessalonians 3:9; id. followed by infinitive, John 10:18, 1 Corinthians 9:4, 1 Corinthians 9:5; with genitive object, Romans 9:21; followed by ἐπί, with accusative, Revelation 22:14; περί, 1 Corinthians 7:37.

2. Later, of the power of right, authority: Matthew 21:33, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2; of Messianic authority, Matthew 9:6, Mark 2:10, and elsewhere; of apostolic authority, 2 Corinthians 10:8, 2 Corinthians 13:10; of the authority of government: Matthew 8:9, Matthew 28:18, Jude 1:25, Revelation 12:10, and elsewhere; especially of judicial authority, Luke 20:20, John 19:10, John 19:11.

3. Meton.

(a) jurisdiction: Luke 23:7 (cf. 1 Maccabees 6:11, Isaiah 39:2)

(b) a ruler or magistrate: Romans 13:1-3; plural, Luke 12:11, Romans 13:1, Titus 3:1

(c) of supramundane powers (syn. with ἀρχή, δύναμις, θρόνος, κυριότης): 1 Corinthians 15:24, Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 3:10, Colossians 2:10, 1 Peter 3:22, and elsewhere.

Synonyms

see δύναμις.

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 102 times in the Bible.

  • Matthew 7:29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
  • Matthew 8:9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
  • Matthew 9:6 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
  • Matthew 9:8 Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority.
  • Matthew 10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.
  • Matthew 21:23 When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
See every passage

Source: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), public domain.