an adjective, "royal, belonging to a king" (basileus), is used of the command, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," "the royal law," James 2:8; this may mean a law which covers or governs other laws and therefore has a specially regal character (as Hort suggests), or because it is made by a King (a meaning which Deissmann assigns) with whom there is no respect of persons; it is used with the pronoun tis, "a certain one," in John 4:46,49 , of a courtier, one in the service of a king, "a nobleman" (some mss. have the noun basilikos, "a petty king," in these two verses). It is used of a country in Acts 12:20 , "the king's (country)," and of royal apparel in Acts 12:21 . See KING , ROYAL.
Note: For eugenes in Luke 19:12 , see NOBLE , No. 1.