The purpose of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is to mediate between ordinary lexicography and the specific task of exposition, more particularly of the theological level. It therefore treats those New Testament words, including the more important prepositions and numbers, that are theologically significant. These words are dealt with in the order of the Greek alphabet. The usual procedure in the Dictionary is to present the word in its secular Greek background; to assess its role in the Old Testament, both in the Hebrew and the Septuagint texts; next to discover its use in such sources as Philo, Josephus, the pseudepigraphal and rabbinical literature; then to see its varied uses in the New Testament, sometimes classified according to synoptic, Johannine, Petrine and Pauline usage. Where pertinent, a subsection on the Apostolic Fathers is included.