Lexicon :: Strong's G536 - aparchē

ἀπαρχή, -ῆς, ἡ, (from ἀπάρχομαι:
a. to offer firstlings or first-fruits;
b. to take away the first-fruits; cf. ἀπό in ἀποδεκατόω), in Sept. generally equivalent to רֵאשִׁית; the first-fruits of the productions of the earth (both those in a natural state and those prepared for use by hand), which were offered to God; cf. Winers RWB under the word Erstlinge [BB. DD. under the word First-fruits]: ἡ ἀπαρχή namely, τοῦ φυράματος, the first portion of the dough, from which sacred loaves were to be prepared (Numbers 15:19-21), Romans 11:16.
Hence, in a transferred use, employed
a. of persons consecrated to God, leading the rest in time: ἀπ. τῆς Ἀχαΐας the first person in Achaia to enroll himself as a Christian, 1 Corinthians 16:15; with εἰς Χριστόν added, Romans 16:5; with a reference to the moral creation effected by Christianity all the Christians of that age are called ἀπαρχή τις (a kind of first-fruits) τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ κτισμάτων, James 1:18 (see Huther at the passage) [noteworthy is εἵλατο ὑμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἀπαρχήν etc. as first-fruits] 2 Thessalonians 2:13 L Tr marginal reading WH marginal reading; Christ is called ἀπ. τῶν κεκοιμημένων as the first one recalled to life of them that have fallen asleep, 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23 (here the phrase seems also to signify that by his case the future resurrection of Christians is guaranteed; because the first-fruits forerun and are, as it were, a pledge and promise of the rest of the harvest).
b. of persons superior in excellence to others of the same class: so in Revelation 14:4 of a certain class of Christians sacred and dear to God and Christ beyond all others (Schol. ad Euripides, Or. 96 ἀπαρχὴ ἐλέγετο οὐ μόνον τὸ πρῶτον τῇ τάξει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ πρῶτον τῇ τιμῇ).
c. οἱ ἔχοντες τὴν ἀπ. τοῦ πνεύματος who have the first-fruits (of future blessings) in the Spirit (τοῦ πν. is genitive of apposition), Romans 8:23; cf. what Winer § 59, 8 a. says in opposition to those [e. g. Meyer, but see Weiss in edition 6] who take τοῦ πν. as a partitive genitive, so that οἱ ἔχ. τ. ἀπ. τοῦ πν. are distinguished from the great multitude who will receive the Spirit subsequently. (In Greek writings from [Sophocles] Herodotus down.)

BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's