[B-Greek] Ankorus, Agkura, Ago

Steven Lo Vullo themelios at charter.net
Sun Apr 24 19:31:22 EDT 2005


On Apr 24, 2005, at 12:35 PM, Paul Ringo wrote:

>     I've been told that the word translated as ankorus actually gives 
> a picture of a person rather than an object.  That person was one on 
> Greek ships who was designated as a swimmer to bring (verb Ago) an 
> anchor or anchor rope into a safe harbor ahead of the ship.  In 
> situations of low tide, storms, crowded harbors etc, this person was 
> given the responsibility to swim to the dock to hold a place for the 
> ship.  When that person was at the dock, the ship was considered to be 
> at dock and a place was held until the ship could physically make it 
> to safe harbor.
>     I know that the root of Ankorus is Agkura and that both of these 
> words are somehow rooted in Ago (to bring or lead).  What I'm not sure 
> about is how (grammatically) these words can be accurately connected 
> or if this is how NT Greeks understood this image.
>     It's a wonderful word picture but I want to make sure it's 
> accurate and that this is how this word in particular (Ankorus) would 
> have been understood 2000 or so years ago.  Thanks for your help.

This is all very confusing. First, I'm not sure what you mean when you 
refer to "the word translated **as** Ankorus." What word is translated 
thus? And where is it translated as such? Second, I could not find 
anything like Ankorus in LSJ, so I assume it is not a Greek word, 
unless I was confused by your transliteration. Third, though I may be 
wrong, I have doubts about AGKURA being related to AGW. According to 
LSJ, AGKURA comes from AGKOS, "a bend," probably indicating the 
**shape** of the object used to hold in place a ship or boat. Fourth, 
as far as I know, AGKURA refers to an object, not a person, unless used 
metaphorically. Grammatically speaking, AGKURAN in Heb 6.19 is linked 
to the feminine ELPIDOS in v. 18 by the feminine relative hHN. So here 
it is the hope of the believer that is the sure and steadfast anchor 
within the veil.
============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI
MAR student
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School




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