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STEWARD.—This term is found six times in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] of OT. It is applied to Eliezer in Gen_15:2, where RV [Note: Revised Version.] rightly tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘he that shall he possessor of my house.’ In Gen_43:19; Gen_44:1-4 Joseph’s ‘steward’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) is lit. ‘he who was over his house’ (cf. Gen_43:16, 1Ki_16:19 in RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). In 1Ch_28:1 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘stewards’ is tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of Heb. sârîm (lit. ‘princes,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘rulers’). For the ‘steward’ of Dan_1:11; Dan_1:18 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), see Melzar.
The NT terms are (1) epitropos, ‘steward’ in Mat_20:8, Luk_8:3; also translated in Gal_4:2 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘tutors,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘guardians.’ (2) oikonomos, the usual term, found both literally and metaphorically, as is also the cognate noun oikonomia ‘stewardship.’ The latter is used literally in Luk_16:2; Luk_16:8; Luk_16:4, and metaphorically in 1Co_9:17, Eph_3:2, Col_1:25, 1Ti_1:4 [in last three ‘dispensation,’ RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘stewardship’].
W. F. Boyd.