STRONGS G2341:
θηριομαχέω,
-ῶ: 1 aorist
ἐθηριομάχησα; (
θηριομάχος);
to fight with wild beasts (Diodorus 3, 43, 7; Artemidorus Daldianus, oneir. 2, 54; 5, 49);
εἰ ἐθηριομάχησα ἐν Ἐφέσῳ,
1 Corinthians 15:32 — these words some take literally, supposing that Paul was condemned to fight with wild beasts; others explain them tropically of a fierce contest with brutal and ferocious men (so
θηριομαχεῖν in Ignatius ad Rom. 5, [etc.];
οἴοις θηρίοις μαχόμεθα says Pompey, in the Appendix, bell. 104:2, 61; see
θηρίον). The former opinion encounters the objection that Paul would not have omitted this most terrible of all perils from the catalogue in
2 Corinthians 11:23ff.
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