STEWARD. Three Heb. and two Gr. expressions are so tr. in the VSS. In the OT, there are many such usages of the form (noun or pronoun), plus preposition plus object of the preposition e.g., Genesis 44:4, אֲשֶׁר עַל־בַּיִת, “(he) who (is) over (his) house.” This form of expression has semantic equivalents in Akkadian and Ugaritic, but it is esp. common to the W Sem. languages. The second such Heb. form is the construct chain with בֶּן, usually tr. “son,” but actually meaning a member “of a class,” “one of,” as in Genesis 15:4, בֶּנ־מֶ֣שֶׁק, which according to the rabbis and the Targum means “steward.” The expression is found only in this passage and so far inexplicable. The common Sem. root שׂר, is sometimes tr. “steward” but means more precisely “overseer,” “captain” (1 Chron 28:1). In the NT, the semantic equivalent of Heb. שַׂר, H8569, Gr. ἐπίτροπος, G2208, appears in Matthew 20:8, et al. but is tr. as “steward” only in KJV of Matthew 20:8 and Luke 8:3. The most common Gr. word used in various forms frequently in the NT is οἰκνόμος as in Luke 12:42 and many other passages. A verbal form, οἰκονομεω, occurs in Luke 16:2 only. This root is the origin of Eng. “economics.”