[B-Greek] Two men in one bed?
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
nebarry at verizon.net
Thu Jul 20 15:26:33 EDT 2006
>From: Fridolin Janzen <fjanzen at gmx.net>
>Date: 2006/07/20 Thu PM 01:14:20 CDT
>To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: [B-Greek] Two men in one bed?
>Dear friends,
>
>
>
>Luke 17:34 says that two men shall be in one bed (KLINE). Could O
>(masculine) also refer to a woman? Wouldnt it be strange to have two men
>sleeping in one bed at the coming of Christ? Since the meals were taken at a
>KLINE, should this word not be translated as couch or a synonym, in
>order for people to understand the text properly? I used the word divã in
>my translation. Do you think I am on the right track?
>
>We always think the two were sleeping and not participating in a meal,
>because KLINE was translated as bed.
It was quite common in ancient times for people of the same gender to share beds, particularly when traveling. Don't make the mistake of reading modern cultural predilictions into the ancient text...
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Adjunct Faculty & IT Support
The Center for Urban Theological Studies
http://www.cuts.edu
Classics Instructor, The American Academy
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
And my site:
http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry
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