The adverbial construction απο + adverb with suffix -θεν (απο μακροθεν, απο πριωθεν, απο εμπροσθεν etc.) occurs about 20 times in LXX; in the NT απο μακροθεν 12 times, once απο ανωθεν in Mk 15:38), and in some Churchfathers.
In Homer (Iliad 12:205 and 24:492) απο Τροιηθεν, and in Hesiod απο κρηθεν (downward from the head).
In the Papyri it is rare, but (as far as I could check: Papyri.info, Mayser, Preisigke) not attested BCE.
In TLG I just found the examples of Homer and Hesiod, LXX and Christian texts. I didn’t find examples in other Greek BCE-texts.
Some “biblical” Grammars (Robertson 1930, page 300, Buttmann, 1850, page 62 and the German Blass-Debrunner-Rehkopf 1975 Par. 104 note 3) suppose, the construction - in fact pleonastic - might be due to either a “weakened sense of -θεν” or a “fuller expansion” of the meaning of this suffix.
That explanation might be true, but why then is this construction well attested in the LXX, but neither in Greek Papyri BCE, nor - as it seems - in non-biblical/christian Greek texts? Wouldn’t this explanation go as well for non biblical-christian texts?
If not a weakening of the sense or an enhanced meaning of the adverbial expression is the reason, could then maybe the underlying Hebrew text be the origin of the απο-construction?
It looks as if it came into NT from LXX, and didn’t spread much further. That wouldn’t be too remarkable would it?
(SEG 31.983 has απο πρωιθεν, II/I BCE.)
I have searched and found no other instances, but -θεν does often correspond to מ־.
ἔξωθεν מחוץ “from without” (ἔξω, חוץ) *Gen 6:14
ἔνθεν משם “from there, thence”, ἔνθα שם “there”.
πόθεν מאין "from where, whence, ἵνα אין “where” *Num 11:13
Ecclesiastes 1:10 מלפננו ἀπὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν ?
I think this should instead be ἐπάνωθεν ἡμῶν “from our former (times)” cf. ἐν ἐπάνω χρόνοις .
ἄπωθεν, ἄποθεν from afar or afar, gen., far-from
This would seem redundant if ἄπο- and -θεν are synonyms, but it seems -θεν puts emphases on distance and
so “απο Τροιηθεν” is the same as “ἄπωθεν Τροίης” “from far Troy”?
Τροίηνδε “To Troy”
In the Septuagint language this would be εἰς Τροίην but in 1 Kings 10:7 ירושלמה means Ἱεροσολύμονδε “to Jerusalem”. I cannot find an equivalent to Τροιηθεν in the Hebrew.
Indeed, the christian texts might very well have inherited this construction from the LXX. But why did the LXX used this construction, whilst it wasn’t used in classic Greek, nor in egyptian hellenistic Greek?
I’d guess that απο πρωιθεν in that inscription simply refers to the relatively recent past, some weeks ago, say, or just “early”; but I haven’t properly investigated.
And I really can’t say why the LXX uses the construction. A quirk of low-level Jewish Greek (apparently non-Hebraic?, the semantic overdetermination by underground descent from epic?), continued in the gospels?
μακρόθεν doesn’t have a great deal of pre-LXX attestation, I notice.
Mark’s ἀπὸ ἄνωθεν strikes me as pretty similar to ἐκ τοῦ ἄνωθεν. [Funnily enough, this very phrase struck me as odd the other day, on Holy Friday, when I was reading through passion account in Sinaiticus. And so I looked it up in a critical text to see if it was an error, or if there was another version of this ἀπὸ ἄνωθεν anywhere. But no.]
Anyway, the preposition + article + -θεν phrases seem to have wider usage.