[B-Greek] Lc 6:38

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Thu Oct 27 20:10:02 EDT 2005


On Oct 27, 2005, at 6:08 PM, Daveat168 at aol.com wrote:

> The first part of the verse, as incorporated in the Codex Fuldensis  
> Gospel reads:
> 'Date, et dabitur vobis: mensuram bonam, confertam et coagitatam et  
> superfluentem dabunt in sinum vestrum.'
> Douay-Rheims translates the equivalent Vulgate verse thus:
> 'Give: and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down  
> and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom.'
> However, 'in sinum' is ambiguous, 'sinum' being accusative of  
> either 'sin|us; |us' or 'sin|us; |i'.
> The former is defined by Collins:
> m curve, fold; (fishing) net (GEOG)bay, gulf, valley; (hair) curl;  
> (ship) sail; (toga) fold, pocket, purse; (person) bosom; (fig)  
> protection, love, heart, hiding place.....
> The latter is defined:
> m large cup.
> Clearly Douay Rheims read as the former, but the context clearly  
> implies the latter, giving a picture of judiciously filling a  
> measuring jar or basket, not as you would havfe the up-turned fold  
> of your toga filled!
> Does the Greek enlighten this point?

It would appear that you have no idea what the Greek text of this  
verse is -- you're asking about an explanation of a Latin version.

In point of fact, IN SINUM in this text does indeed mean "into the  
hollow" from the noun SINUS, -US, m., 'hollow' --  the exact  
equivalent of the Greek KOLPOS. It doesn't have any relationship to  
the noun SINUM, -I, n., 'cup.'

You really ought to look at the definition of SINUS in the unabridged  
L&S at the Perseus site: http://tinyurl.com/ck6qh -- the fact is that  
from the fundamental notion of "a hollow" a considerable range of  
senses such as 'bosom,' 'lap', 'purse', etc., etc., etc. derive.

Here's what L&S offer for SINUS, -US, m.:
       I. In gen., a bent surface (raised or depressed), a curve,  
fold, a hollow, etc. (so mostly poet. and in postAug. prose):  --Of  
the bag of a fishing-net; and of a hunter's net; also of a spider's  
web .--Of the bend or belly of a sail swollen by the wind; and so  
with or without velum, l.--Of hair, a curl, ringlet.-- Of the curve  
of a reaping-hookq. --Of bones--
       II. In partic.
             A. The hanging fold of the upper part of the toga, about  
the breast, the bosom of a garment; also the bosom of a person;  
sometimes also the lap (= gremium, the predom. class. signif.; esp.  
freq. in a trop. sense).
                   1. Lit.:
                       b. Transf.
                               (a). The purse, money, which was  
carried in the bosom of the toga (cf. supra, the passage,s, the  
pocketer, i. e. the receiver,
                               (b). Poet., a garment
                               (g). The bosom of a person
                   2. Trop.
                         a. The bosom, as in most other languages,  
for love, protection, asylum, etc.
                         b. The interior, the inmost part of a thing
                         c. In sinu alicujus, in the power or  
possession of
                         d. A hiding-place, place of concealment
                         e. Sinus Abrahae, the place of the spirits  
of the just (eccl. Lat.)
             B. A bay, bight, gulf
                   2. Transf.
                               (a). The land lying on a gulf, a point  
of land that helps to form it
                               (b). A curve or fold in land, a basin,  
hollow, valley

The Greek text: DIDOTE, KAI DOQHSETAI hUMIN: METRON KALON PEPIESMENON  
SESALEUMENON hUPEKCUNNOMENON DWSOUSIN EIS TON KOLPON hUMWN.

Underlying this verse is the way things like grain, liquids, etc.  
were measured out in the market-places of ancient cities in standard- 
measuring holders and then poured into the buyers' bags, bowls, or  
whatever.

AT Robertson has a nice and brief note on this: "Into your bosom (EIS  
TON KOLPON hUMWN). The fold of the wide upper garment bound by the  
girdle made a pocket in common use (Ex 4:6, Pr 6:27, Ps 79:12, Isa  
65:6f, Jer 32:18, ). So Isa 65:7."


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




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