[B-Greek] Lexica, Dictionaries, Glossaries and Worth/Utility (long ...)

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Jul 18 17:13:27 EDT 2008


On Jul 18, 2008, at 4:07 PM, Jonathan Robie wrote:

> Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>> To illustrate the difference between these resources, let me cite
>> entries for a relatively simple word, TECNH:
>>
>> UBS Dictionary (Barclay Newman): τέχνη, ης f craft, trade;
>> artistic ability, craftsmanship
>>
>
> That's not much better for me than just seeing what English word a
> particular translation uses.
>
>> BDAG: τέχνη, ης, ἡ (Hom.+; loanw. in rabb.) skill, trade Ac
>> 17:29; Rv 18:22. Pl. Dg 2:3. σκηνοποιὸς τῇ τ. α σκ.
>> by trade Ac 18:3. τέχνην ἔχειν have and practice a skill
>> or trade (Eur., Suppl. 381; X., Mem. 3, 10, 1 al.) Hs 9, 9, 2; D  
>> 12:4.
>> —JKube, ΤΕΧΝΗ und ΑΡΕΤΗ ’69.—DELG. M-M. Sv.
>>
>
> One thing I really appreciate is that BDAG has become very accessible.
> It doesn't take much more time to read this than to read the Barclay
> Newman, but I have references to the major uses of the word, the
> definitions are more meticulous and precise, and there are  
> references to
> significant literature that will help me get a deeper understanding.  
> Of
> course, when needed, entries can take pages and can be quite complex,
> but there always seems to be a good reason for that.
>
> And since I focus on the GNT, and sometimes the LXX or early Patristic
> writings it gives me just what I need for the corpus I care about.
>
>> LSJ: techn-ê, hê, (tektôn) art, skill, cunning of hand, esp. in
>> metalworking, Od.3.433, 6.234, 11.614; also of a shipwright, Il.3.61;
>> of a soothsayer, A.Ag.249 (pl., lyr.), Eu.17, S.OT389, etc.; technai
>> heterôn heterai Pi.N.1.25; ôpase t. pasan Id.O.7.50.
>> 	2. craft, cunning, in bad sense, doliê t. Od.4.455, Hes.Th.160:  
>> pl.,
>> arts, wiles, Od.8.327.332, Hes.Th.496,929; doliais technaisi
>> chrêsamenos Pi.N.4.58; technais tinos by his arts (or simply by his
>> agency), Id.O.9.52, P.3.11; technên kakên echei he has a bad trick,
>> Hes.Th.770, cf. Pi.I.4(3).35(53), S Ph.88, etc.
>> 	3. way, manner, or means whereby a thing is gained, without any
>> definite sense of art or craft, mêdemiêi t. in no wise, Hdt.1.112;
>> itheêi t. straightway, Id.9.57; pasêi t. by all means, Ar.Nu.1323,  
>> Th.
>> 65, Ec.366; pantoiai t. S.Aj.752, etc.; ouk apostêsomai ..oute t.  
>> oute
>> mêchanêi oudemiai IG12.39.22; pasêi t. kai mêchanêi X.An.4.5.16;
>> mête t. mête mêchanêi mêdemiai Lys.13.95.
>> 	II. an art, craft, pasai technai brotoisin ek Promêtheôs A.Pr.  
>> 506,
>> cf. IG12.678; tên t. epistasthai to know the craft, Hdt.3.130;
>> phlaurôs echein tên t. ibid.; tês t. empeiros Ar.Ra.811; tautên
>> technên echei he makes this his trade, Lys.1.16, cf. 6.7; en têi t.
>> einai practise it, S.OT562, Pl.Prt.317c; epi technêi mathein ti to
>> learn a thing professionally, opp. epi paideiai, ib.312b, cf. 315a;
>> technai kai ergasiai X.Mem.3.10.1; technên to pragma pepoiêmenoi
>> having made a trade of it, D.37.53; technas askein, meletan,
>> ergazesthai, to practise them,X. Cyr.1.6.26,41 (Pass.), Oec.4.3;
>> patrôian technan ergazesthai halieuesthai Praktika Arch. Het.1932.52
>> (Dodona, iv B.C.); iatros tên t. POxy. 40.5 (ii A.D.);  
>> tetherapeukôs
>> anenklêtôs têi t., of a barber, PEnteux. 47.3 (iii B.C.);  
>> paramenô
>> pros hupêresian tês t. (viz. weaving) Sammelb. 7358.20 (iii A.D.);
>> apo technôn trephesthai live by them, X.Lac. 7.1.
>> 	III. an art or craft, i.e. a set of rules, system or method of  
>> making
>> or doing, whether of the useful arts, or of the fine arts, Epich.
>> 171.11, Pl.Phdr.245a, Arist.Rh.1354a11, EN1140a8; hê empeiria  
>> technên
>> epoiêsen, hê d' apeiria tuchên Polus ap. eund.Metaph. 981a4; hê
>> peri tous logous t. the Art of Rhetoric, Pl.Phd.90b; hoi tas t. tôn
>> logôn suntithentes systems of rhetoric, Arist.Rh.1354a12, cf. Isoc.
>> 13.19, Pl.Phdr.271c, Phld.Rh.2.50 S., al.; hence title of various
>> treatises on Rhetoric (v. VI; but rather tricks of Rhetoric, in
>> Aeschin. 1.117); technêi by rules of art, Pl.Euthd.282d; ê phusei  
>> ê
>> technêi Id.R. 381b; technêi kai epistêmêi Id.Ion532c; aneu
>> technês, meta technês, Id.Phd.89e: t. defined as hexis
>> hodopoiêtikê, Zeno Stoic.1.20, cf. Cleanth. ib.1.110.
>> 	IV. = technêma, work of art, handiwork, kratêres .., andros
>> eucheiros technê S.OC472; hoplois .., Hêphaistou technêi Id.Fr.  
>> 156,
>> cf. Str.14.1.14, PLond.3.854.4 (ii A.D.), Paus.6.25.1, al.
>> 	V. = suntechnia, hê t. tôn lithourgôn, tôn sakkophorôn, Dumont-
>> Homolle Mélanges d' archéol. et d' épigr.p.378 No.65,66  
>> (Perinthus);
>> t. burseôn, suropoiôn, IGRom.1.717,1482 (both Philippopolis); tous
>> kataleipomenous apo têis t. BGU1572.12 (ii A.D.); ho chalkeus apo  
>> tês
>> t. SIG 1140 (Amphipolis).
>> 	VI. treatise on Grammar, D.T. tit., or on Rhetoric, Anaximenes
>> Lampsacenus tit.
>>
>
> I'm usually just a little overwhelmed by LSJ if I try to use an entire
> definition. It is hard for me to know exactly how much of this applies
> to the time period and the place that I am most interested in. How  
> do I
> know which of these definitions are unlikely at the time and place of
> the Greek New Testament?

Well, a relatively small investment must be made in becoming familiar  
with the abbreviations for major authors of the pre-classical (before  
500 BCE) classical (ca. 500-300 BCE) and Hellenistic (ca. 300 BCE -  
400 CE. There's a complete listing of authors and books with an  
indication of the century in which each belongs in the very thorough  
list #I at the beginning of the work. At the Perseus site, that's
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057;query=section%3D%234;layout=;loc=
or http://tinyurl.com/6ayqsb

This really is valuable information. While BDAG will generally  
indicate whether a word has a significant history in earlier Greek  
literature, LSJ will show you more precisely which authors used it and  
when -- but you DO have to have some idea about relative chronology of  
Homer and Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes,  
archaic lyric poets, the historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and  
Xenophon, the major and minor orators including Lysias, Isocrates, and  
Demosthenes, Plato and Aristotle, and then the giant figures of the  
Hellenistic era.

The point is that the usefulness of any reference work requires some  
investment of time and energy to become acquainted with the nature of  
the information delivered by the reference work and the way in which  
that information is structured. I might add, for what it's worth, that  
much of the spade work in graduate school is a matter of becoming  
familiar with and learning how to use the resources. There ain't no  
royal road to learnin'.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Ret)




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