Koine and Biblical and Medieval Greek • Re: What is a βᾶρις?

@Saboi

“πύργος and this the true cognate of *burg-“
No, Germanic (at word-beginning “Anlaut”) b always< idg bh; Greek π alway idg p or q(u).

So *burg is not a cognate of πυργ-.

germanic *burg- (Gothic baurgs = village; in Gothic u+r > au+r) and Berg (=Mountain) < idg. bhr̥gh- (r̥=sillabic r)

It’s plausible to look at a relation between  βαρ- and bhr̥(gh)- since the idg root has a meaning like “high” (and a castle/fortified house was built usually on a mountain.).

The idg root bhr̥- could render Greek βυρ-/βαρ-
What about βρία
https://lsj.gr/wiki/βρία

In some instances βάρις means πόλις
cf. Esther 9:6 ἐν Σούσοις τῇ πόλει = Daniel 8:2 ἐν Σούσοις τῇ βάρει

Psalm 48:3 ἐν ταῖς βάρεσιν αὐτῆς (בארמנותיה )
Psalm 48:13 τὰς βάρεις αὐτῆς (ארמנותיה)
Psalm 122:7 ἐν ταῖς πυργοβάρεσίν σου (בארמנותיך) // ἐν ἐρυμνοῖς σου ?

βαρις and πυργόβαρις are only attested in the Septuagint and Josephus so is evident that βαρις is בירה meaning βρία/πόλις and that in Psalm 122:7 πυργοβάρεσίν is the guise of ἀκροπόλεσιν for Josephus uses βάριν for ἄκραν.

On close inspection of Psalm 48:13 i think the reading should be θάπτετ ἑρμαία αὐτῆς "honour her tombs" or ψυχαγωγετ ἑρμαία αὐτῆς? since the context is the Phoenician νεκρόπολις cf. ψυχαγώγιον

Statistics: Posted by Saboi — Wed Mar 27, 2024 9:07 pm


People who read this article also liked:

[AuthorRecommendedPosts]