Smile
Maurice A. O'Sullivan
mauros at iol.ie
Tue Sep 10 14:24:00 EDT 2002
At 18:32 10/09/02, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>Although I note that LSJ offers only "smile (upon)," I can think of no
>reason why it couldn't mean "laugh at."
Indeed, Carl. I think the author of Sirach might well have had this in
mind, with his only two uses of PROSGELAW, in 13:6 and :11
>> 13:6 When he needs you he will deceive you, he will
smile at you and give you hope. He will speak to you
kindly and say, "What do you need?"
7 He will shame you with his foods, until he has
drained you two or three times; and finally he will
deride you. Should he see you afterwards, he will
forsake you, and shake his head at you.
8 Take care not to be led astray, and not to be humiliated in your
feasting.
9 When a powerful man invites you, be
reserved; and he will invite you the more often.
10 Do not push forward, lest you be repulsed; and do not
remain at a distance, lest you be forgotten.
11 Do not try to treat him as an equal, nor trust his
abundance of words; for he will test you through much
talk, and while he smiles he will be examining you.
I think there's enough ambiguity in that use of PROSGELAW to support your
case.
And as for the besotted king of I Esdra 4 where we read:
>> 4:29 Yet I have seen him with Apame, the king's concubine, the daughter
of the illustrious Bartacus; she would sit at the king's right hand
30 and take the crown from the king's head and put it on her own, and slap
the king with her left hand.
31 At this the king would gaze at her with mouth agape. If she smiles at
him, he laughs; if she loses her temper with him, he flatters her, that she
may be reconciled to him. <<
Given that the Greek of v.31 reads ..... KAI EAN PROSGELASHi AUTWi, YELAi
I think there is every reason for amending the RSV's "she smiles" to "she
laughs at", don't you?
Regards
Maurice
Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie
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