Matt 11:28-30

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue May 18 12:56:48 EDT 1999


At 8:29 AM -0500 5/18/99, Bill Ross wrote:
>>For my yoke is easy and my *burden* light
>
>Does anyone object to translating XRHSTOS as "ergonomic" or "user-friendly?"

It's a common epithet for slaves, at least in Attic Greek--and I rather
suspect that ONHSIMOS, as the name given to Philemon's slave, is simply
synonymous with CRHSTOS in that sense. Would you want to call a slave
"ergonomic" or "user-friendly"? This all strikes me, although I assume it
wasn't so meant, as having sexual overtones--and the verb CRHOMAI (I prefer
to write it that way rather than CRAOMAI, since the contract forms don't
follow normally A-W patterns) has, as one of its very many meanings, "take
advantage of sexually."


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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