This first note being a mere exegesis of a single word, is the least attractive of all to a common reader; and some, perhaps, will object to it as needlessly protracted into minute investigations of points not directly important to the narrative; and the writer may have been led beyond the necessity of the case, by the circumstance of his previous occupations having drawn his attention particularly to close etymological and lexicographical research in the Greek language; but he is consoled by the belief that there will be some among his readers who can appreciate and enjoy these minutiæ.] _Apostle._――The most distant theme, to which this word can be traced in Greek, is the verb Στελλω, _stello_, which enters into the composition of Αποστελλω, _apostello_, from which _apostle_ is directly derived. As to the primary meaning of Στελλω, there appears to be some difference of opinion among lexicographers. All the common lexicons give to the meaning “_send_” the first place, as the original sense from which all the others are formed, by different applications of the term. But a little examination into the history of the word, in its uses by the earlier Greeks, seems to give reason for a different arrangement of the meanings. In searching for the original force of a Greek word, the first reference must, of course, be to the father of Grecian song and story. In HOMER, this word, στελλω, is found in such a variety of connections, as to give the most desirable opportunities for reaching its primary meaning. Yet in none of these passages does it stand in such a relation to other words, as to _require_ the meaning of “_send_.” Only a single passage in Homer has ever been supposed to justify the translation of the word in this sense, and even that is translated with equal force and justice, and far more in analogy with the usages of Homer, by the meaning of “_equip_,” or “_prepare_,” which is the idea expressed by it in all other passages where it is used by that author. (See Damm, sub voc.) This is the meaning which the learned Valckenaer gives as the true primary signification of this word, from which, in the revolutions of later usage, the secondary meanings have been derived. In this opinion I have been led to acquiesce, by the historical investigation of the earlier uses of the term, and by the consideration of the natural transition from the primary meaning of “_fix_,” “_equip_,” or “_fit out_,” to that of “_send_,” and other secondary meanings, all which occur only in the later authors. Pindar limits it like Homer. Herodotus never uses the word in the sense of “_send_,” but confines it to the meaning of “_equip_,” “_furnish_,” “_clothe_.” Æschylus gives it the meaning of “_go_,” but not of “_send_.” Sophocles and Euripides also exclude this application of the term.