The Curious Background of "Bible": Seventh Week

The word for this week is “bible.” This is rather ubiquitous word with a background more curious than some may suspect. Johnson says this word comes from βιβλιον (biblion). Johnson says this means “a book.” This accords with the general meaning offered by reliable Greek lexicons. However, what Johnson does not mention is the background for βιβλιον. Liddell and Scott (mentioned last week) states that βιβλιον comes from βίβλος (biblos). This word identifies the slices of papyrus plant pith that was used to make the writing material we call papyrus or what the Greeks would have called βίβλος. The name of the end product, a book or properly a scroll, was bound up in the material from which it was made.

The work a day writing material of the ancient Hellenistic world (Greek world) was papyrus sheets made from the papyrus plant. This plant was very common along the Nile River and is still found in various places in the Middle East. The pith of the plant was taken from its outer rind and split into strips. These strips were laid alongside one another until the desired width was achieved. On these strips was laid another set perpendicular to the first and the two adhered to one another by pressure and being left to dry. The individual sheets, about twelve inches square, were polished and joined end to end to make scrolls. The draw back to papyrus sheets and scrolls is their lack of durability in damp conditions. This is why ancient scrolls have survived in places like Qumran, near the Dead Sea (hence the Dead Sea Scrolls), which is one of the hottest and driest places on Earth. Papyrus has also survived in the dry environments found in many places in Egypt.

Βιβλιον and βιβλος mean book. When one says “Holy Bible” the phrase really means holy book, though “bible” is a generic word. Its generic use can be seen in such possible titles such as “The Baker’s Bible” or “The Shooter’s Bible.” The first simply describes a book specific to baking and the latter to those who use firearms. It is the word Holy that distinguishes the Scriptures from other books. Interestingly, the terms Bible and Holy Bible are not found in the King James Bible, though the Greek root  βιβλίον  is found numerous times in reference to the books of both the Old and New Testaments, collectively and individually.

Should any be wondering if the English word paper comes from papyrus or πάπῡρος (papuros) in Greek, it does by way of Latin’s papyrus and through the French word papier. Modern paper, from which books (βιβλία) are made, shares few characteristics with ancient papyrus sheets. Today’s paper is made of plant cellulose multi-directionally bonded to form sheets of nearly infinite sizes. “Multi-directionally bonded” is just a fancy way of saying the plant fibers are pressed together in a soup where the fibers may point in any direction. Papyrus sheets were more akin to modern-day multi-layer plywood than modern paper.

Until next week,

John 

There is More to the Alphabet Than Just the ABCs: Sixth Week

The word for this week’s blog is “alphabet.” Johnson tells us it comes from ἄλφα (alpha) and βῆτα ­(bāta). These, of course, are the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. The Greek word for “alphabet” is ἀλφάβητος (alphabātos) – also coming from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. This is an example of synecdoche, in this context meaning to put a part for the whole. That is, a part of the letters, the a and the b, stands for all of the letters. Interestingly, synecdoche, comes from the Greek root word συνεκδοχή (sunekdoxā) which means to understand one thing by/with another.

I suppose it might be helpful at this point in our blog posts to address the Greek alphabet by way of a chart. Since Greek words are featured every week, such a chart might be helpful to those not already familiar with Greek. The chart offered is from the college textbook I used when I learned Greek.

 

Greek Letter	Name	Transliteration	Sound
α	alpha	a	father
β	beta	b	bible
γ	gamma	g	ǥone
δ	delta	d	dog
ε	epsilon	e	met
ζ	zeta	z	daze (dz)
η	eta	ē (ā)	obey
θ	theta	th	thing
ι	iota	i	intrigue
κ	kappa	k	kitchen
λ	lambda	l	law
μ	mu	m	mother
ν	nu	n	new
ξ	xi	x	axiom (xs)
ο	omicron	o	not
π	pi	p	peach
ρ	rho	r	rod
σ, ς	sigma	s	study
τ	tau	t	talk
υ	upsilon	u	book
φ	phi	ph	phone
χ	chi	ch	loch
ψ	psi	ps	lips
ω	omega	o	tone

 

Learning the alphabet and its pronunciation is a very good starting point. If you know the alphabet, lexicons become open to you. Being able to read Greek text is not necessary to still benefit from lexical study. Two primary lexical sources are: Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and the Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell, Scott, and Jones. Both of these sources are available on Google Books or Internet Archive. As the Liddell, Scott, and Jones hardback is quite expensive, the online format may be more useful and accessible to many readers. The Thayer lexicon is the standard for New Testament Greek and the Liddell lexicon is the standard for nearly all other works.

The preface to John Thornton’s A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250-1820 offers a compelling reason for studying in original languages when possible: 

In many languages, there is not a perfect fit between the semantic field of a word in one language and the semantic field in another, and thus even the best translators must choose one out of two or perhaps even more words that fit in that field.(xv) 

Thornton’s point is well taken. The subtlety of nuance can be hard to express from one language to another. Rather often the only way to properly convey the meaning is by way of explanation. An apt example can be found in the New Testament book of First Peter. Here the apostle writes, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (2:21). In this verse example is a translation of the Greek root word ὑπογραμμός. This is a compound word that combines ὑπό, meaning under and γράφω, meaning to write. The literal meaning is the under writing. The idea is that of a student copying the alphabet under his teacher’s example to learn to write properly. The English word example can only relay an over simplified view of the term. The biblical lesson is to impress upon the reader the need of staying close to the Lord’s example, because straying from it causes the copy to become less and less like the original the further it moves away from it.

 

 

When an Apology is Not Pardon: Fifth Week

 

The word for the blog this week is “apology.” Likely unknown to most people, this word has a very different classical meaning than is found today. Current use is almost always to say that one is sorry for some deed done thought offensive or hurtful to another. The original Greek meaning is very different.

Johnson states that the English word comes from the Greek root ἀπολογία – meaning a reasoned defense. Johnson’s meaning is a “defence” or “excuse.” He says further that it “generally signifies rather excuse than vindication.” It is this shift from defense (“vindication”) to “excuse” that brought the word into its current usage. The earliest example of “apology” given in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1533 and concerns a defense given by Sir Thomas More after he had “given over” the Office of Lord Chancellor of England. More was ousted from his chancellorship for refusing to accede to Crown authority over the authority of the Catholic Church, which refusal led to his execution in 1535. This usage is consistent with the Greek. 

However, the OED also records early uses of “apology” in its common modern meaning. As early as 1597, Shakespeare employs the usage in Richard III, where Richard Duke of Gloucester assures his lord Buckingham that the lord need make no apology but ought rather to pardon him. The contextual connection of “apology” with pardon declares its use as an appeal for forgiveness.

As might be guessed, the Greek New Testament uses ἀπολογία several times. Acts chapters twenty-one and twenty-two offer the account of Paul’s arrest at the Temple in Jerusalem. While being taken to the Antoine soldiers’ barracks (castle, KJV) Paul petitioned the Roman commander that he be allowed to speak to the Jews, gathered about him, who had instigated his arrest. The apostle began his speaking, saying, “Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you” (Acts 22:1, emp. mine). “Defence” is a translation of the Greek root ἀπολογία. Paul was saying – Hear my apology. His defense continued unto the twenty-first verse when he was stopped by his audience. Paul gave proofs of his conversion to Christianity, his commitment to the work of the Lord, and of the Gospel itself. His defense was reasoned from one step to the next, each building on the previous – the hallmarks of a logical apology.

Another example of an apology is one much more contemporary than the days of Paul, Thomas More, or Shakespeare. Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States, constitutionalist, and advocate for American union, spoke eloquently on behalf of the “perpetuity” of the union of the states that form this country. In his First Inaugural speech, March 04, 1861, Lincoln argued that a state of perpetual union exists between the American states. Universal law and the Constitution were the basis for the “perpetuity.” Action by any state by its own initiative to dissolve the constitutional union was unlawful, rendering any state law affecting secession “void.” Lincoln’s conclusion was that the Union was stronger than any state alone and subject only to the sovereign power of the people, as a whole. Lincoln’s speech is a great apology for the American Union.

Though one often hears and even uses the term “apology” to ask pardon or forgiveness, ἀπολογία has a long and illustrious history found in great oration, brave defiance, and irresistible reasoning, leaving honorable examples to a contemporary audience willing to learn the lessons.

 

 

The "Antarctick" -- Interesting in Name, Condition, and Vital to Human Life

 

Our week’s word of interest is “antarctick.” This is certainly a word with which many people are familiar – especially if they are an ornithophile (and of one species in particular). However, there are a few interesting matters associated with the actual word. Johnson defines it as “The southern pole, so called, as opposite to the northern.” Further, he writes that it derives from two Greek roots: ἀντί (anti) and ἄρκτος (arktos). The prefix anti is often used in the English lexicon and is a term of opposition. Indeed, the original sense of the Greek, from which the English is borrowed, is “over against” or opposite. The second Greek word, ἄρκτος (arktos), means “bear, esp[ecially] Ursus arctos, brown bear” as used by Herodotus, the fifth century BC Greek historian, when he described the western parts of ancient Libya being full of wild beasts such as “οἱ ἐλέφαντές τε καὶ ἄρκτοι” (elephants and bears) in his Histories (4.191). The Greek term also relates to the constellation in the northern sky, Ursa Major and the North generally (Can you hear Arctic in ἄρκτος?). It is to the North that Johnson subscribes his use of the Greek noun. When he joins ἀντί and ἄρκτος he is literally saying “opposite the North.” Of course, this is exactly the geographic position of Antarctica, in the South, compared to the Arctic, in the North.

Interestingly, when considering the Arctic, the North country, and bears, one might assume that Ursus arctos (quite literally North bear) would be the taxonomic designation given to polar bears but that is not the case. Polar bears are Thalarctos maritimus – Thalarctos meaning sea-bear and incidentally taken from the Greek words for "sea" and "bear." Certainly such a classification is apt, for polar bears are supremely bears of the sea, whereas, brown bears may live in northern reaches but are not seagoing by choice.

Antarctica is worthy of consideration for many reasons. It is the only continent on the planet unsuited to permanent human settlement. The harshest conditions of land and sea are found there and one the seas about it. Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth and exceedingly dry. How then is there so much accumulated snow and ice on the continent? The answer is simple – what falls hardy ever melts!

Given the connections between ἄρκτος, bears, and the Artic that Antarctica would have indigenous bears, but no bears live on Antarctica. Actually, there are few species that live on Antarctica, even for part of the year, compared to the other continents – a testament to the extreme conditions. Though the land has few inhabitants, the surrounding seas teem with life throughout the year and the cyclical temperature changes of the Antarctic waters fuel the oceans of the world.

There is a great deal more to “antarctick” than merely the pole opposite that in the North, though that limited description is true. The habitat and environmental processes unique to Antarctica and its seas are vital to a properly functioning Earth and thus to the well-being of human beings. Though easily lost from the minds of many, our most southerly continent is worthy of consideration in name and substance.