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Headword:
*)aba/nteios
Adler number: alpha,15
Translated headword: Abanteios, Abantius, Abantian
Vetting Status: high
Translation: The [house][1] of Abas.[2] Also [attested is] Abantiades.[3]
Greek Original:*)aba/nteios: o( tou= *)/abantos. kai\ *)abantia/dhs.
Notes:
Adler cites as a comparandum
Lexicon Ambrosianum 22, 23, 28.
[1] This suppletion is suggested by the corresponding entry in the
Lexicon of pseudo-
Zonaras 5.1, which is identical to this entry apart from the headword phrase: vs.
*)aba/nteios here, ps.-
Zonaras has
*)aba/nteios do/mos ('Abantian house'). The headword here could serve as a modifier for any substantive of the masculine gender, including a son or descendant, as is suggested by the subsequent reference to a patronymic form. The adjective is unattested outside of grammars and lexica, and ps.-
Zonaras provides the only example of it modifying a specific substantive.
Stephanus of
Byzantium in his entry on 'Abantis', an early name for Euboea (cf. Hesiod fr. 296 Merkelbach-West), notes it as the possessive adjective relating to the Abantes or to their legendary founder Abas, whom
Stephanos identifies either as the son of Lynkeus (see note 2 below) or a homonymous son of Poseidon. Cf. also
Herodianus Peri orthographias 3.2.429.34 and 465.14.
[2] Not the Abas of
alpha 20, but one of the mythological figures of that name; in fact almost certainly A. the son of Lynkeus, king of Argos [
Myth,
Place] after Danaos and father of the twins Akrisios and Proitos (
Pausanias 2.16.2 (web address 1);
Apollodorus,
Library 2.2.1 (web address 2)).
[3] This term is used by (e.g.) Ovid both for an actual son of Abas (
Metamorphoses 4.607 (Acrisius): web address 3) and in the sense of a more distant descendant (4.673 (Perseus, great-grandson of Abas; cf.
pi 1372): web address 4).
Associated internet addresses:
Web address 1,
Web address 2,
Web address 3,
Web address 4
Keywords: biography; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; mythology; poetry
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 22 August 1998@12:47:27.
Vetted by:William Hutton (Entered headword, modified note, added keywords, raised status) on 18 January 2001@09:34:40.
David Whitehead (augmented and modified note; added keyword) on 27 February 2003@07:23:08.
David Whitehead (tweaked tr; augmented notes and keywords; raised status) on 23 August 2007@07:12:31.
William Hutton (augmented notes, tweaked translation) on 23 August 2007@13:11:02.
William Hutton (tweaks and typos) on 24 August 2007@02:44:20.
Jennifer Benedict (cosmetics) on 24 March 2008@23:38:57.
Catharine Roth (upgraded links) on 5 August 2013@01:08:34.
Headword:
*)/abaris
Adler number: alpha,18
Translated headword: Abaris, Avars
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Scythian, son of Seuthes. He wrote the so-called Scythinian Oracles[1] and Marriage of the river Hebros and Purifications and a Theogony in prose and Arrival of Apollo among the Hyperboreans in meter. He came from Scythia to Greece.
The legendary arrow belongs to him, the one he flew on from Greece to Hyperborean Scythia. It was given to him by Apollo.[2]
Gregory the Theologian mentioned this man in his Epitaphios for Basil the Great.[3]
They say[4] that once, when there was a plague throughout the entire inhabited world, Apollo told the Greeks and barbarians who had come to consult his oracle that the Athenian people should make prayers on behalf of all of them. So, many peoples sent ambassadors to them, and Abaris, they say, came as ambassador of the Hyperboreans in the third Olympiad.[5]
[Note] that the Bulgarians thoroughly destroyed the Avars[6] by force.
[Note] that these Avars drove out the Sabinorians, when they themselves had been expelled by peoples living near the shore of the Ocean, who left their own land when a mist formed in the flood of the Ocean and a crowd of griffins appeared; the story was that they would not stop until they had devoured the race of men. So the people driven away by these monsters invaded their neighbors. As the invaders were stronger, the others submitted and left, just as the Saragurians, when they were driven out, went to the Akatziri Huns.[7]
The declension is Abaris, Abaridos [genitive singular], Abaridas [accusative plural], and with apocope Abaris [also accusative plural, with a long iota].
See about these things under 'Bulgarians'.[8]
Greek Original:*)/abaris: *sku/qhs, *seu/qou ui(o/s. sunegra/yato de\ xrhsmou\s tou\s kaloume/nous *skuqinou\s kai\ *ga/mon *(/ebrou tou= potamou= kai\ *kaqarmou\s kai\ *qeogoni/an kataloga/dhn kai\ *)apo/llwnos a)/ficin ei)s *(uperbore/ous e)mme/trws. h(=ke de\ e)k *skuqw=n ei)s *(ella/da. tou/tou o( muqologou/menos o)i+sto\s, tou= petome/nou a)po\ th=s *(ella/dos me/xri tw=n *(uperbore/wn *skuqw=n: e)do/qh de\ au)tw=| para\ tou= *)apo/llwnos. tou/tou kai\ *grhgo/rios o( *qeolo/gos e)n tw=| ei)s to\n me/gan *basi/leion *)epitafi/w| mnh/mhn pepoi/htai. fasi\ de\ o(/ti loimou= kata\ pa=san th\n oi)koume/nhn gegono/tos a)nei=len o( *)apo/llwn manteuome/nois *(/ellhsi kai\ barba/rois to\n *)aqhnai/wn dh=mon u(pe\r pa/ntwn eu)xa\s poih/sasqai. presbeuome/nwn de\ pollw=n e)qnw=n pro\s au)tou\s, kai\ *)/abarin e)c *(uperbore/wn presbeuth\n a)fike/sqai le/gousi kata\ th\n g# *)olumpia/da. o(/ti tou\s *)aba/ris oi( *bou/lgaroi kata\ kra/tos a)/rdhn h)fa/nisan. o(/ti oi( *)aba/ris ou(=toi e)ch/lasan *sabi/nwras, metana/stai geno/menoi u(po\ e)qnw=n oi)kou/ntwn me\n th\n parwkeani=tin a)kth/n, th\n de\ xw/ran a)polipo/ntwn dia\ to\ e)c a)naxu/sews tou= *)wkeanou= o(mixlw=des gino/menon, kai\ grupw=n de\ plh=qos a)nafane/n: o(/per h)=n lo/gos mh\ pro/teron pau/sasqai pri\n h)\ bora\n poih=sai to\ tw=n a)nqrw/pwn ge/nos. dio\ dh\ u(po\ tw=nde e)launo/menoi tw=n deinw=n toi=s plhsioxw/rois e)ne/ballon: kai\ tw=n e)pio/ntwn dunatwte/rwn o)/ntwn oi( th\n e)/fodon u(fista/menoi metani/stanto, w(/sper kai\ oi( *sara/gouroi e)laqe/ntes pro\s toi=s *)akati/rois *ou)/nnois e)ge/nonto. kli/netai de\ *)/abaris, *)aba/ridos, tou\s *)aba/ridas, kai\ kata\ a)pokoph\n *)aba/ris. zh/tei peri\ tw=n au)tw=n e)n tw=| *bou/lgaroi.
Notes:
See generally A.H. Griffiths in OCD(4) p.1: "legendary devotee of Apollo from the far north, a shamanistic missionary and saviour-figure like
Aristeas [
alpha 3900]". Adler credits this part of the entry to the
Epitome Onomatologi Hesychii Milesii.
[1] Or in one manuscript, 'Skythian'.
[2] Perhaps from a scholion on the passage about to be cited (so Adler). Cf.
Herodotos 4.36.1 (web address 1).
[3] Gregory of Nazianzus PG 36.524b.
[4] This material is from Harpokration s.v.
*)/abaris
[5] 768-765 BCE. Harpokration (see preceding note) cites Hippostratos (FGrH 568 F4) to this effect, but adds that there were later alternatives: the twenty-first Olympiad (696-693) or "the time of Croesus, king of
Lydia" (so
Pindar, fr.270 Snell-Maehler), i.e. c.560-546.
[6] The word used for the Avars here,
*)aba/ris, is a homograph for the name of the Hyperborean wise man Abaris, so this separate section on the Avars is included in this entry. There is no indication that the lexicographer sees any connection between the two topics. In mid-C6 CE the Avars were a nomadic people of the steppe north of the Black Sea; cf.
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium s.v. Avars. On the territories of the Avars and of their surrounding ethnic groups in the epoch of Justinian (cf.
iota 446 generally), see Louth (110, map).
[7]
Priscus fr.30 FHG (4.104), still 30 Bornmann. The final part reappears at
alpha 820 and
sigma 111.
[8]
beta 423.
References:
RE Abaris (1) I.16-17
Macartney, C.A. "On the Greek Sources for the History of the Turks in the Sixth Century." BSOAS 11 (1944): 266-275
A.P. Kazhdan, ed. et al., The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, (Oxford 1991)
A. Louth, "Justinian and His Legacy," in J. Shepard, ed., The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500-1492, (Cambridge 2008) 99-129.
Associated internet address:
Web address 1
Keywords: biography; Christianity; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; historiography; history; mythology; philosophy; poetry; religion; rhetoric
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 21 August 1998@17:03:41.
Vetted by:William Hutton (Modified translation and notes, added keywords, set status.) on 19 January 2001@14:57:43.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and bibliography; cosmetics) on 9 February 2001@05:20:43.
David Whitehead (added note) on 14 February 2001@06:09:48.
Mihai Olteanu (The only thracian item concerning Abaris is his father's name. Everything else pledes for his sythian ('hyperborean') origin. This is why I suppose we deal here with a copist mistake, and I propose the emendation: ́Αβαρις: Σκύθης, *Σκύθου υἱός (for Σκύθης as mythological character, see for example Herodotos 4,10).) on 22 January 2002@21:55:20.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics) on 23 January 2002@03:11:25.
David Whitehead (augmented n.6 and added a keyword) on 5 October 2004@03:21:13.
William Hutton (augmented notes, added link and keywords, set status) on 24 August 2007@11:05:00.
Jennifer Benedict (cosmeticule) on 25 March 2008@00:16:43.
David Whitehead (another note; cosmetics) on 28 March 2014@06:23:27.
David Whitehead (updated a ref) on 29 July 2014@12:06:21.
David Whitehead (updated a ref) on 31 January 2015@09:22:24.
Catharine Roth (tweaked translation) on 18 February 2024@01:49:17.
Ronald Allen (expanded n.6, added further bibliography) on 21 August 2024@11:18:37.
Headword:
*)abarni/s
Adler number: alpha,19
Translated headword: Abarnis
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Name of a city.
Greek Original:*)abarni/s: o)/noma po/lews.
Notes:
Same entry, according to Adler, in the
Ambrosian Lexicon (74), and cf. more generally the
scholia to Apollonius Rhodius,
Argonautica 1.932 (where the genitive case occurs), on which see further below.
Abarnis lay on the southern shore of the Propontis (Sea of Marmara), between
Parion and
Lampsakos; Barrington Atlas map 51 grid H4. According to
Stephanus of
Byzantium s.v.
*)/abarnos (sic), Abarnos and Aparnis were also attested versions of its name.
A scholium to Apollonius Rhodius,
Argonautica 1.932 (repeated in more legible form in
Etymologicum Magnum 2.11-28) provides an etymological explanation of the origin of the name in Aphrodite's refusal (
a)parnh/sasqai) to recognize her offspring Priapos, who was born in the region.
Keywords: children; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; gender and sexuality; geography; mythology; religion; women
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 22 August 1998@12:55:54.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)aba/skanos
Adler number: alpha,22
Translated headword: unprejudiced
Vetting Status: high
Translation: [Meaning someone/something] deceit-free, envy-free.
"He [
Mithradates] became an unprejudiced witness to Caesar of the achievements of Antipater."[1]
Greek Original:*)aba/skanos: a)yeudh\s, a)nepi/fqonos. o( de\ ma/rtus a)ba/skanos gi/netai pro\s *kai/sara tw=n *)antipa/trou katorqwma/twn.
Notes:
For the etymology of the (rare) headword adjective cf.
beta 167,
beta 168,
beta 169.
[1]
Josephus,
Jewish War 1.192 (see web address 1 below). For Antipater, father of Herod the Great, see OCD(4) s.v. Antipater(6), pp.107-8. 'Caesar' is Julius Caesar.
Mithradates is not one of the six kings of Pontus who bore that name (cf.
mu 1044) but the half-caste son of the last of them: a.k.a. M. of Pergamum.
Associated internet address:
Web address 1
Keywords: biography; definition; ethics; geography; historiography; history
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 22 August 1998@12:59:41.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)/abaton
Adler number: alpha,23
Translated headword: inaccessible
Vetting Status: high
Translation: [Meaning something] sacred, unapproachable, desolate;[1] also an 'inaccessible' road, [meaning] impassable.
Greek Original:*)/abaton: i(ero\n, a)pro/siton, e)/rhmon: kai\ o(do\s a)/batos, h( a)po/reutos.
Notes:
The headword is the neuter singular form of this adjective, which, as a substantive, can be used for the
adyton of a temple or shrine.
[1] Up to this point the entry =
Synagoge alpha5, and
Photius,
Lexicon alpha31 Theodoridis; cf.
Hesychius alpha91 (where Latte confidently asserts that the headword is quoted from
Euripides,
Bacchae 10).
Keywords: architecture; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; religion; tragedy
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 23 August 1998@16:21:29.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)/abdhra
Adler number: alpha,26
Translated headword: Abdera
Vetting Status: high
Translation: The sea, and a name of a city[1] and 'Abderite' [is] the citizen [of it].[2]
Also Phalera and
Kythera [sc. are spelled with
eta]; but Gadeira, Stageira, Topeira, and Dobeira [sc. are spelled with
epsiloniota].[3]
Greek Original:*)/abdhra: h( qa/lassa, kai\ o)/noma po/lews kai\ *)abdhri/ths o( poli/ths. kai\ *fa/lhra kai\ *ku/qhra. *ga/deira de\ kai\ *sta/geira kai\ *to/peira kai\ *do/beira.
Notes:
[1] Actually, as
Stephanus of
Byzantium and others noted, there were two cities called
Abdera: one, the present-day Avdira, in northern Greece (Barrington Atlas map 51 grid D3; RE I.22-23; OCD(4) s.v.); the other, the present-day Adra, in southern
Spain (Barrington Atlas map 27 grid B5). But the idea of
Abdera as 'the sea' is unintelligible.
[2] Similarly glossed in the
Etymologicum Magnum and the
Lexicon Ambrosianum. An "Abderite" could also signify someone generically stupid: see LSJ s.v.
*)abdhri/ths (web address 1 below).
[3] These six city-names (whether spelled with an eta, like
Abdera, or epsilon-iota; there would have been little difference in pronounciation by the time of the Suda) generate an ethnikon in the same way. See also
delta 1318,
sigma 977. This part of the entry, Adler reports, is lacking in mss A (= Parisinus 2625), G (= Parisinus 2623), and T (= Vaticanus 881).
Associated internet address:
Web address 1
Keywords: definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 23 August 1998@16:24:49.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abe/bhla
Adler number: alpha,29
Translated headword: inviolable [places]
Vetting Status: high
Translation: [Meaning] places that must not be walked on, holy and sacred places. For be/bhla meant what is not holy or sacred, where anyone may walk.
Also [sc. attested is] be/bhloi, [meaning] those who do not have a share in sacred things.[1]
Also [sc. attested is the phrase] lo/goi a)be/bhloi, [meaning] words that may not be spoken.[2]
Also [sc. attested is] a)be/bhlos, [meaning someone or something masculine] pure.[3]
Greek Original:*)abe/bhla: ta\ mh\ ba/sima xwri/a, i(era\ de\ kai\ o(/sia. be/bhla ga\r e)le/geto ta\ mh\ o(/sia mhde\ i(era\, panti\ de\ ba/sima. kai\ *be/bhloi, oi( mh\ kekoinwnhko/tes i(erw=n. kai\ *lo/goi a)be/bhloi, oi( a)po/rrhtoi. kai\ *)abe/bhlos, o( kaqaro/s.
Notes:
The closest parallel to the entry as a whole is
Photius,
Lexicon alpha34 Theodoridis. Various parts of it appear in other lexica, as noted below.
[1] This part is a paraphrase of what appears in
Photius; cf.
beta 218.
[2] This part of the entry is not paralleled in other lexica.
[3] This appears as the first gloss in
Photius and constitutes the entire entry at
Synagoge alpha6; cf.
Hesychius alpha101, with neuter/accusative equivalents. Cyril of Alexandria uses the headword frequently in conjunction with
kaqaro/s.
Keywords: Christianity; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; ethics; geography; religion
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 23 August 1998@16:27:02.
Vetted by:William Hutton (Modified translation and keywords, set status) on 20 January 2001@23:11:04.
Catharine Roth (Added link.) on 21 January 2001@01:35:20.
David Whitehead (supplemented translation; added keyword; cosmetics) on 9 June 2003@07:15:41.
Catharine Roth (changed italics to betacode) on 8 October 2005@00:35:16.
Catharine Roth (augmented notes, deleted link, raised status) on 8 October 2007@00:22:04.
William Hutton (Augmented and rearranged notes) on 11 November 2007@07:30:53.
Jennifer Benedict (changed spelling of "Photios" so that it's linked in) on 25 March 2008@01:01:35.
David Whitehead (more keywords; cosmetics) on 19 December 2011@06:44:18.
David Whitehead on 16 August 2013@06:37:30.
Catharine Roth (coding) on 3 September 2014@23:32:38.
David Whitehead (another keyword; cosmetics) on 2 April 2015@09:11:39.
Headword:
*)abiadhno/s
Adler number: alpha,40
Translated headword: Abiadenian
Vetting Status: high
Translation: From the city Abiadene.
Greek Original:*)abiadhno/s: a)po\ po/lews *)abiadhnh=s.
Notes:
No such city is attested, so surely the name in question here is Adiabene (see
alpha 470, and generally OCD(4) p.12), even though that is consistently classified as a "territory" (in present-day Iraq) rather than a "city".
This entry occurs only here and in the derivative ps.-
Zonaras.
Keywords: definition; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@18:53:03.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abi/gas
Adler number: alpha,43
Translated headword: Abigas
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A river.
Greek Original:*)abi/gas: potamo/s.
Notes:
In Numidia; the present-day Oued bou Roughal, in (present-day)
Algeria. Barrington Atlas Map 34 grid F2. Mentioned in (e.g.)
Procopius,
History of the Wars of Justinian 4.19.7 (web address 1).
See again under
rho 270.
Associated internet address:
Web address 1
Keywords: definition; geography; historiography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@18:57:23.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)/abinna
Adler number: alpha,46
Translated headword: Abinna, Abila
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Name of a city.
Greek Original:*)/abinna: o)/noma po/lews.
Notes:
Claudius
Ptolemy 6.3.5 lists a city Abinna in what would be present-day Iran.
Note also Abinna as the name of a headland, in 'Libya', according to
Philostratus (
Life of Apollonius of Tyana 5.1) -- which is in fact Mt. Abila in Mauretania, the African side of the "Pillars of Heracles"; present-day Spanish-owned Monte Acho (Barrington Atlas map 28 grid D2).
Reference:
RE 1.99
Keywords: definition; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@18:58:33.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abi/saros
Adler number: alpha,52
Translated headword: Abisaros, Abisareis
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Name of a place.
Greek Original:*)abi/saros: o)/noma to/pou.
Note:
In the mountains of NE India, present-day Hazara: Sanskrit Abhisara; Barrington Atlas map 6 grid C3. The Atlas uses the nominative plural Abisareis, which is found in e.g. Arrian, Indica 4.12, and represents a pluralisation of the (Greek version of the) ruler's name, Abisares; and the Suda's Abisaros is presumably a non-existent nominative derived from the genitive of this name, Abisarou.
Reference:
A.B.Bosworth, Commentary on Arrian's History of Alexander, ii (1995) 177-8.
Keywords: definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; historiography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:04:58.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abou/lhton
kako/n
Adler number: alpha,62
Translated headword: involuntary evil, undesired evil
Vetting Status: high
Translation: [Meaning something] unwanted, what one does not want.[1]
Also [sc. attested is] abouletos, he who does not wish; but Aboulitos [is] a proper name, with the 'i'.[2]
Greek Original:*)abou/lhton kako/n: a)qe/lhton, o(\ ou) qe/lei tis. kai\ *)abou/lhtos, o( mh\ boulo/menos, *)abou/litos de\ o)/noma ku/rion, dia\ tou= i.
Notes:
[1] The headword phrase has the same or similar glossing in other lexica (references at
Photius alpha46 Theodoridis), and is presumably quoted from somewhere.
[2] For Aboulitos (or -tes), satrap of Susiana under Alexander the Great, see
Plutarch,
Alexander 68; Arrian,
Anabasis 3.8.5, etc.
Keywords: biography; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; ethics; geography; historiography; history
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:22:25.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abwnoteixi/ths
Adler number: alpha,65
Translated headword: Abonoteichites, Abonoteichos-man
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A proper name.
Greek Original:*)abwnoteixi/ths: o)/noma ku/rion.
Note:
Rather than a personal name, this headword is probably an ethnic: that of someone from Abono(u)teichos, a city on the southern coast of the Black Sea (ancient
Paphlagonia); Barrington Atlas map 86 grid D2.
Reference:
RE I.106
Keywords: definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:25:00.
Vetted by:David Whitehead (cosmetics) on 9 October 2000@07:04:30.
William Hutton (Cosmetics, augmented note) on 30 January 2001@22:48:53.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 19 July 2011@08:21:47.
Headword:
*)/abwra
Adler number: alpha,66
Translated headword: Abora
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Name of a place.
Greek Original:*)/abwra: o)/noma to/pou.
Notes:
Not otherwise attested as such, but perhaps (e.g.) Abour (India) or Abra (
Spain).
There is also the river Aborra/Chaborra in
Syria/Turkey with a presumably associated district of Abourene.
Alternative names for the Oreitae on the Makran coast were the Aboritae and Abortae.
Keywords: definition; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:25:34.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abwrigh=nes
Adler number: alpha,67
Translated headword: Aborigines
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A people.
But [sc. also attested in the form] Aboriginoi.[1]
Greek Original:*)abwrigh=nes: e)/qnos. *)aborigi=noi de/.
Notes:
Transliteration of Latin
Aborigines (the ancestors of the Romans). Another attested variant is
*a)borigi=nes: so e.g.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
Roman Antiquities 1.9, cited in the long entry in
Stephanus of
Byzantium s.v. (which defines them as an "Italian" people).
[1] A marginal addition in ms A.
Keywords: definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:26:22.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abraa/m
Adler number: alpha,69
Translated headword: Abraham
Vetting Status: high
Translation: The first among patriarchs; [it was he] in whom the Hebrew people took pride at first, before they rebelled against God, became estranged from Him, and shed upon themselves the blood of His Only-Begotten Son.[1] This man came out of the land of the Chaldeans, who devoted their entire lives to the stars and heavenly bodies. Trained, therefore, as was their ancestral custom, to observe the motions of the heavenly bodies[2] he surmised that the masterwork underlying this visible creation was not to be found in such objects, but had a Creator who set them in motion, gave harmony to their paths, and ordered the entire universe. Because of the greatness and beauty of the things He had made, Abraham, as it was likely, ceased devoting himself to gazing out into the heavens nor did he squander his passion in their pursuit. Instead, by surmounting the celestial vaults and transcending all the intelligible realm beyond the cosmos, Abraham no longer stood apart from the One sought, until finally the Creator for whom he yearned manifested Himself to Abraham in likenesses[3] and forms. And in this way the Unseen and Invisible revealed Himself. And [God] sent him forth from his own land as a wanderer and settled him in the land of the Canaanites. There he dwelled, now being in about his ninety-ninth year.[4] Until this time, he was childless; then [God] made him the father of the miraculous and blessed Isaac that he might have a first-born, only-begotten son[5] -- prefiguring the mystical image of the First-Born, Only-Begotten Son.[6] This was an exceedingly singular[7] honor bestowed upon Abraham, for the Creator favored him with the titles Servant, Beloved, and Father by flesh of the Only Begotten Son of Him who fashioned the entire universe.[8] Abraham invented sacred writing and devised the language of which Hebrew children had a command, as they were this man's disciples and descendants. Moreover, the Greek alphabet received its impetus from this script,[9] even if Greeks amused themselves by forming the letters differently. Proof of this is in the pronunciation of the first and preeminent letter "alpha" because it derives its name from the Hebrew "aleph" by way of the Blessed, First, and Eternal Name.[10] So too, the Greeks through Abraham came to possess books on dream interpretation. Witness to this is Joseph, the truly wondrous descendant of Abraham, who interpreted Pharoah's dreams as they were going to turn out in fact. In this,
Philo, the Jewish philosopher, will be my confirmation via his work
Life of the Statesman.[11] About
Philo it is said "
Philo platonizes and
Plato philonizes."[12]
The practice of idolatry extended from Serug[13] to the time of Abraham's father Tharron.[14] Thus, when Abraham was 14 years old[15] and deemed worthy of divine knowledge, he upbraided his father, "Why do you lead the people astray for harmful gain (that is, with idols)? There is no other God but the One in heaven, the Creator of the entire universe." Yet seeing the people serving earthly things, he embarked on a tireless quest, seeking out with his pious heart the Truly Existing God.[16] But seeing that the sky is sometimes light and sometimes dark, he said to himself, "That is not God." Observing similarly the sun and the moon, the one obscured and eclipsed and the other waning and occluded, he said, "Those are not gods either." True, he was trained in astronomy by his father, but Abraham all the same was puzzled by the motions of the stars and scornful of them. But God appeared to him and said, "Go out of your land and leave your kinsmen."[17] Abraham took his father's idols, smashing some and incinerating others. Then he went away with his father out of the land of the Chaldeans. And they came to Haran,[18] where his father died. He left there, obeying the Lord's word, with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot[19] and all their possessions, and came to the promised land Canaan, which the Canaanites had seized and settled in. When a famine arose, Abraham left the land of the Canaanites and went into Egypt, where Abimelech[20] the king took his wife Sarah. God struck terror into Abimelech and paralysed his limbs, saying "Give this man back his wife, because he is a prophet and will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not give her back, know that you and your entire household will die." When Abraham got his wife back, undefiled, he prayed, and Abimelech and his household were cured of the paralysis.[21] After this the king, honoring Abraham and devoting himself to his sayings, became a pious and expert teacher to the Egyptians. The same Abraham, upon returning from war,[22] was considered worthy of blessing by Melchisedek, king of Salem, who brought bread and wine out to him. Melchisedek was a priest of the Most High, and Abraham gave to Him a tenth of all he had. Melchisedek was without father, mother, or lineage, like the Son of God.[23]
When Abram[24] lamented to God about his childlessness, God revealed to him through a dream that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. And he believed God, and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.[25] Now Sarah, who was barren, gave Abraham permission to father a child with her maidservant, and she bore Ismael.[26] And when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and altered his name to Abraham, for until then he had been called Abram. Similarly, Sarah became Sarrah with another "r".[27] And Abraham circumcised Ismael and all his descendants. Moreover, when the Lord was being shown the hospitality of Abraham's house, He promised Abraham that Sarrah would bear him a son. But Sarrah smiled; and the one who was begotten was called Isaac, by the Hebrew name that means "laughter with delight."[28]
Also [sc. attested is the adjective]
*abramiai=os: [meaning] descendant of Abraham, or towering, revered.[29]
Greek Original:*)abraa/m: o( prw=tos e)n patria/rxais: ei)s o(\n a)pesemnu/neto dh=mos o( tw=n *(ebrai/wn to\ pro/teron, pri\n h)\ qeou= a)poskirth=sai kai\ gene/sqai tou/tou a)llo/trioi kai\ to\ tou= monogenou=s ui(ou= au)tou= ai(=ma e)f' e(autou\s e)pispa/sasqai. ou(=tos e)k me\n th=s *xaldai/wn gh=s u(ph=rxen o(rmw/menos, tw=n peri\ ta\ mete/wra kai\ tou\s a)ste/ras to\n bi/on o(/lon katanalisko/ntwn. a)skhqei\s ou)=n kata\ to\n pa/trion no/mon ta\s tw=n e)pourani/wn a)ste/rwn kinh/seis kai\ stoxasa/menos w(s ou)k e)n tou/tois i(/statai to\ megalourgo\n th=s fainome/nhs tauthsi\ kti/sews, a)ll' e)/xei tina\ to\n dhmiourgo\n to\n kai\ kinou=nta kai\ dieuqu/nonta th\n e)narmo/nion tw=n a)ste/rwn porei/an kai\ tou= ko/smou panto\s th\n kata/stasin, kai\ dia\ tou= mege/qous kai\ th=s kallonh=s tw=n ktisma/twn to\n genesiourgo\n au)tw=n, w(s e)nh=n, qewrh/sas ou)k e)/sth me/xri tou/twn, ou)de\ th\n e)/fesin ei)s tau=ta katedapa/nhsen, a)lla\ tw=n ou)rani/wn a(yi/dwn u(perarqei\s kai\ pa=san diaba\s th\n nohth/n te kai\ u(perko/smion su/mphcin ou)k a)pe/sth tou= zhtoume/nou, e(/ws ou(= o( poqou/menos e(auto\n au)tw=| e)fane/rwse tu/pois te kai\ morfw/masin, oi(=s e(auto\n e)mfani/zei o( a)fanh\s kai\ a)o/ratos. kai\ metana/sthn au)to\n e)k th=s patri/dos labw\n e)pi\ th\n *xanani=tin kate/sthse, to\n e)nenhkosto/n pou kai\ e)/naton h)/dh xro/non pare/lkonta: kai\ a)/paida me/xri to/te tugxa/nonta gennh/tora tou= qaumasi/ou kai\ ma/karos kate/- sthsen *)isaa\k, i(/n' e)/xoi monogenh= ui(o\n kai\ prwto/tokon, tou= monogenou=s kai\ prwtoto/kou mustikh\n ei)ko/na prodiagra/fonta: tou=to ge/ras au)tw=| kat' e)cai/reton xarisa/menos, to\ dou=lon kai\ fi/lon kai\ pate/ra xrhmati/sai tou= monogenou=s ui(ou= kata\ sa/rka, tou= to\n ko/smon o(/lon dhmiourgh/santos. ou(=tos eu(=re me\n i(era\ gra/mmata kai\ glw=ssan e)mhxanh/sato, h(=s *(ebrai/wn pai=des e)n e)pisth/mh| e)tu/gxanon, w(s o)/ntes tou/tou maqhtai\ kai\ a)po/gonoi. e)k tou/tou kai\ ta\ *(ellh/nwn gra/mmata ta\s a)forma\s e)/labon, ka)\n a)/llws kai\ a)/llws e(autou\s diapai/zontes a)nagra/fwsin *(/ellhnes. kai\ tou/tou martu/rion h( tou= *)/alfa fwnh\ tou= prw/tou stoixei/ou kai\ a)/rxontos, a)po\ tou= *)/alef *(ebrai/ou labo/ntos th\n e)pi/klhsin tou= makari/ou kai\ prw/tou kai\ a)qana/tou o)no/matos. e)k tou/tou kai\ ta\ o)nei/rwn bibli/a e)sfeteri/santo *(/ellhnes. kai\ ma/rtus *)iwsh\f o( panqau/mastos o( tou/tou a)po/gonos, o( tou= *faraw\ ta\ e)nu/pnia w(s e)/mellon a)pobh/sesqai dihgou/menos. tou=to/ moi kai\ *fi/lwn, e)c *(ebrai/wn filo/sofos, e)n tw=| tou= *politikou= bi/w| sunepimarturh/setai, *fi/lwn, peri\ ou(= e)rrh/qh, *fi/lwn platwni/zei, kai\ *pla/twn filwni/zei. o(/ti h)/rcato h( ei)dwlolatrei/a a)po\ *serou\x e(/ws tw=n xro/nwn *qa/rra tou= patro\s *)abraa/m. o(\s *)abraa\m u(pa/rxwn e)tw=n id# kai\ qeognwsi/as a)ciwqei\s e)nouqe/tei to\n pate/ra au)tou=, le/gwn: ti/ plana=|s tou\s a)nqrw/pous dia\ ke/rdos e)pizh/mion [toute/sti ta\ ei)/dwla]; ou)k e)/stin a)/llos qeo\s ei) mh\ o( e)n toi=s ou)ranoi=s, o( kai\ pa/nta to\n ko/smon dhmiourgh/sas. o(rw=n ga\r tou\s a)nqrw/pous ktismatolatrou=ntas dih/rxeto diaponou/menos kai\ to\n o)/ntws o)/nta qeo\n e)kzhtw=n e)k filoqe/ou kardi/as. o(rw=n de\ to\n ou)rano\n pote\ me\n lampro\n, pote\ de\ skoteino\n, e)/legen e)n e(autw=|: ou)k e)/stin ou(=tos qeo/s. o(moi/ws kai\ to\n h(/lion kai\ th\n selh/nhn, to\n me\n a)pokrupto/menon kai\ a)maurou/menon, th\n de\ fqi/nousan kai\ a)polh/gousan, e)/fhsen: ou)d' ou(=toi/ ei)si qeoi/. kai\ me/ntoi kai\ th\n tw=n a)ste/rwn ki/nhsin, e)k tou= patro\s ga\r e)paideu/eto th\n a)stronomi/an, kai\ a)porw=n e)dusxe/rainen. w)/fqh de\ au)tw=| o( qeo\s kai\ le/gei au)tw=|: e)/celqe e)k th=s gh=s sou kai\ e)k th=s suggenei/as sou. kai\ labw\n ta\ ei)/dwla tou= patro\s kai\ ta\ me\n kla/sas ta\ de\ e)mpuri/sas a)nexw/rhse meta\ tou= patro\s e)k gh=s *xaldai/wn: kai\ e)lqo/ntos ei)s *xarra\n, e)teleu/thsen o( path\r au)tou=. kai\ e)celqw\n e)kei=qen e)n lo/gw| *kuri/ou h)=lqe su\n th=| gunaiki\ *sa/rra| kai\ tw=| a)neyiw=| *lw\t meta\ pa/shs au)tw=n th=s a)poskeuh=s ei)s th\n o)feilome/nhn gh=n *xanaa\n, h(\n oi( *xananai=oi turannikw=s a)felo/menoi w)/|khsan. limou= de\ genome/nou katalipw\n th\n *xananai/wn gh=n ei)s *ai)/gupton a)ph/|ei, ou(= th\n gunai=ka *sa/rran *)abime/lex h(/rpasen o( basileu/s. tou=ton o( qeo\s e)kdeimatw/sas kai\ pa/resin tw=n melw=n e)pa/cas, a)po/dos, e)/fh, th\n gunai=ka tw=| a)nqrw/pw|, o(/ti profh/ths e)sti\ kai\ proseu/cetai peri\ sou= kai\ zh/seis. ei) de\ mh\ a)podw=|s, gnw=qi o(/ti a)poqanh=| su\ kai\ ta\ sa\ pa/nta. kai\ ou(/tws a)polabw\n th\n gunai=ka a)mi/anton kai\ proseuca/menos i)aqh=nai e)poi/hse th=s pare/sews *)abime/lex kai\ to\n oi)=kon au)tou=. e)/ktote timw=n au)to\n o( basileu\s kai\ prose/xwn toi=s u(p' au)tou= legome/nois, dida/skalos eu)sebei/as kai\ polupeiri/as *ai)gupti/ois e)ge/neto. o( au)to\s *)/abram u(postre/fwn e)k tou= pole/mou th=s eu)logi/as tou= *melxisede\k kathci/wtai, tou= basile/ws *salh\m, o(\s e)ch/negken au)tw=| a)/rtous kai\ oi)=non. h)=n de\ kai\ i(ereu\s tou= *(uyi/stou. kai\ e)/dwken au)tw=| *)/abram deka/thn a)po\ pa/ntwn. h)=n de\ o( *melxisede\k a)pa/twr, a)mh/twr, a)genealo/ghtos, a)fwmoiwme/nos tw=| ui(w=| tou= qeou=. tw=| de\ *)/abram a)tekni/an o)lofurome/nw| kaq' u(/pnous e)pidei/cas o( qeo\s tou\s a)ste/ras kata\ to\ plh=qos au)tw=n e)/sesqai/ oi( to\ spe/rma proedh/lou. o( de\ e)pi/steuse tw=| qew=|, kai\ e)logi/sqh au)tw=| ei)s dikaiosu/nhn. h( de\ *sa/rra stei=ra ou)=sa sunexw/rhsen *)/abram a)po\ th=s paidi/skhs paidopoih/sasqai: kai\ i)/sxei to\n *)ismah/l. e)nenh/konta de\ kai\ e)nne/a e)tw=n o)/nti tw=| *)/abram e)pifanei\s o( qeo\s *)abraa\m metwno/masen: *)/abram ga\r prw/hn w)noma/zeto: o(moi/ws kai\ th\n *sa/ran *sa/rran, prosqei\s kai\ e(/teron r. kai\ perie/teme to\n *)ismah\l kai\ pa/ntas tou\s e)c au)tou=. *ku/rios de\ tw=| *)abraa\m e)picenwqei\s e)phggei/lato te/cesqai *sa/rran au)tw=| pai=da. h( de\ e)meidi/ase, kai\ *)isaa\k to\ gennhqe\n proshgoreu/qh, ferwnu/mws tw=| meq' h(donh=s ge/lwti kata\ th\n *(ebrai/+da dia/lekton. kai\ *)abramiai=os: o( a)po/gonos *)abraa\m, h)\ gigantiai=os, i(eropreph/s.
Notes:
This long entry is derived in part directly from George the Monk, in part indirectly from
Philo of Alexandria; see further in the notes below.
[1] cf.
Matthew 27:25 (web address 1).
[2] The Suda's attention to Chaldean astrology derives from
Philo,
On Abraham, (Colson,
Philo Vol VI: XV.69-70).
[3] Use of
tu/pos here is twofold: 1) To assert that God's appearance to Abraham was indirect (echoing
Philo,
On Abraham, XVII.79-80); 2) To impart, as if a corollary of
tu/pos in Romans 5:14, that God's manifestation to Abraham was a type or prefiguration of Christ.
[4] Abraham is 100 years old at Isaac's birth (
Genesis 21:5); however, the Suda follows
Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews 1.191-93 (web address 2 below) in assuming Abraham's age as 99 at the time of God's promise.
[5] The Suda here omits Ishmael, born to Abraham by the Egyptian slave Hagar when he was 86 years old (
Genesis 16:1-16). The Suda's omission tacitly acknowledges a covenantal and legal distinction clearly drawn in Genesis. In Isaac, God establishes an "everlasting covenant" for his progeny, whereas God blesses Ishmael and makes him "fruitful and exceedingly numerous" (
Genesis 17:19-20). Isaac's filial status is made explicit by God in identifying him as Abraham's "only son" (
Genesis 22:12) through whom "offspring shall be named" for Abraham, whereas Ishmael, although destined to father a nation, is identified by God as "the son of the slave woman" (
Genesis 21:12-13). Ishmael is, however, mentioned later in the entry.
[6] Christological imagery links Isaac to the personage of Jesus (
Matthew 1:1-2 at web address 3 below). See also
delta 94, notes 1 and 14.
[7] The Suda underscores the magnitude of the honor with a hyperbolic
kat' before
e)cai/reton.
[8] The statement, rooted in a paternalistic-filial model that originates in Abraham and culminates in the figure of Christ, approximates the transcendental premise: Abraham is to Joseph as Isaac is to Christ.
[9] The Suda confuses Mosaic and Abrahamic lore. The 2nd century BCE Jewish writer Eupolemus claimed for
Moses the invention and propagation of writing: "
Moses was the first wise man, the first who imparted the alphabet to the Jews; the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phoenicians." The 2nd century BCE Egyptian Jewish writer Artapanus attributed hieroglyphics to
Moses. According to the 2nd century BCE Samaritan writer Ps.-Eupolemus and Artapanus, astrology and astronomy originated with Abraham, who taught these disciplines and other tools of culture to the Jews, Phoenicians, and Egyptians. They, in turn, transmitted these arts to the Greeks.
Philo in
On Abraham stresses Abraham's expertise as a teacher. (
Encyc. Judaica, Vol 6.964-65; Gruen, 146-51, 157, 294; Grant, 77;
Philo, XI.52) At
sigma 295, Seth is credited with the invention of the alphabet; Greek legend named Cadmus or
Linus as the one who introduced the alphabet to Greece (
gamma 416,
kappa 21,
kappa 22,
lambda 568). See also
phi 787.
[10] The reference recalls א aleph as the initial letter of
ʾelohīm, the most frequent generic name for God in the OT, used about 2,500 times--but a distant second to the unspoken covenant name YHWH (Yahweh), which occurs some 6,800 times (Perdue, 685-86). Cf.
alpha 1445.
[11] A reference to
Philo's
*bi/os politikou= o(/per e)sti peri\ *)iwsh/f (Colson,
Philo Vol VI, 140ff.)
[12] Adapted from Jerome's
On Illustrious Men (11):
h)\ *pla/twn filwni/zei h)\ *fi/lwn platwni/zei ("Either
Plato philonizes or
Philo platonizes.") Cf.
phi 448 and
Photius,
Bibliotheca 86b 25.
[13] Abraham's grandfather (
Genesis 11:22). Seruch in the
LXX, שרוג
śerūḡ in Hebrew. See also
sigma 253.
[14] Abraham's father (
Genesis 11:24). Tharra (
*qa/rra,
*qarra/) or Tharrha (
*qa/r)r(a) (Hatch, Concordance, Appendix 1, 71; Brenton, 13); in Hebrew תרח
Teraḥ. From the
Chronicon of George the Monk, 92.11-12; cf. Malalas 55.5-6.
[15] The Midrash sets Abraham's rejection of idolatry at age 13 (Encyc. Judaica, 4.244). From here to "teacher to the Egyptians," the Suda's source is the
Chronicon of George the Monk, 93.16 - 95.17.
[16] On God as "He who is," see
omicron 438,
omega 105.
[17] cf.
Philo,
On Abraham XIV.62.
[18] The call in
Genesis 12:1-5 brings Abraham from Haran (חרן) to Canaan (כנען). The Suda adheres to
Philo,
On Abraham, XIV. 67:
metani/statai...a)po\ th=s *xaldai/wn gh=s...e)is th\n *xarrai/wn gh=n.
[19]
Philo shows
a)delfidou=s, as at
On Abraham, XXXVII.212, rather than the Suda's potentially ambiguous
a)neyio/s for nephew (see LSJ s.v. at web address 4).
[20] On Abimelech, see
alpha 45.
[21] The affliction cured in
Genesis 20:17-18 is unspecified for Abimelech, but clearly is sterility for the female members of his house.
Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews 1.208 (web address 5) relates that a "dangerous distemper" (Whiston trans.) afflicted Abimelech. For other traditions, see EncycJudaica, 2.76.
[22]
Genesis 14:14-18; the Suda's source is the
Chronicon of George the Monk, 100.17-26; 101.5-7.
[23] See
Hebrews 7:3 (web address 6). In the Suda, see
mu 544,
mu 545,
mu 546.
[24] The Greek mainly uses Abraam (אברהם
ʾAḇraham) to this point, but here Abram (אברם), his pre-covenant name (
Genesis 17:5).
[25]
Genesis 15:5-6. The statement "and he believed God and God reckoned it to him as righteousness" appears also in
Romans 4:3 (web address 7),
Galatians 3:6 (web address 8), and
James 2:23 (web address 9). A more idiomatic and semantically precise translation of the Hebrew (והאמין בה' ויחשבה לו צדקה
weheʾemīn bah' wayyaḥšeḇeha lō ṣedaqah) reads: "And because he put his trust in the Lord, He reckoned it to his merit" (Plaut, 146). This version takes into interpretive account the imperfective waw consecutive (consequential) (Kautzsch, 111.l).
[26] Ismael (Ishmael) appears in the Suda at
iota 644, but with a gloss that belongs to Isaak.
[27]
Genesis 17:15. Also as
*sa/r)r(a or Sarrha (Brenton, 18). The Hebrew covenant name change is Sarai to Sarah (both meaning Princess).
[28] Isaac (יצחק
yiṣḥaq) from the Hebrew meaning "he (Abraham) laughed" in
Genesis 17:17, and puns Sarah's תצחק
tiṣḥaq ("she laughed") in
Genesis 18:12. (Kohlenberger, Vol 1, 37, 39; Anderson, 182) In the Suda, see
iota 606 (mostly taken from this entry).
[29] This adjectival derivative of Abraham's name appears in
4 Maccabees 9:21
LXX. The gloss replicates, apart from word order, one in
Photius; cf.
Synagoge alpha17,
Hesychius alpha181.
References:
Anderson, A.W. Understanding the Old Testament. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1966
Attridge, H.W. "The Letter to the Hebrews" in The HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV). New York: HarperCollins, 1993
Brenton, L.C.L. The Septuagint with Apocrypha. Peabody: Henrickson, 1999 (reprint of 1851 edn.)
Colson F.H., Philo (Vol VI), Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1994
Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1973
Grant, M. From Alexander to Cleopatra: The Hellenistic World. New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1982
Gruen, E.S. Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition. Berkeley: University of California, 1998
Hatch, E., Redpath, H.A., and Muraoka, T. A Concordance to the Septuagint. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998
Kautzsch, E. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. Oxford: Clarendon, 1910
Keck, L.E. "The Letter of Paul to the Romans" in The HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV). New York: HarperCollins, 1993
Kohlenberger, J.R. The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987
Perdue, L.G. "Names of God in the Old Testament" in Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985
Plaut, W.G. The Torah: Genesis, A Modern Commentary. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1972
Smyth, H.W. Greek Grammar. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1984
Whiston, W. The Works of Josephus. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987 (reprint of 1736 edn.)
Associated internet addresses:
Web address 1,
Web address 2,
Web address 3,
Web address 4,
Web address 5,
Web address 6,
Web address 7,
Web address 8,
Web address 9
Keywords: aetiology; biography; children; Christianity; chronology; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; dreams; food; gender and sexuality; geography; historiography; history; law; medicine; religion; science and technology; women
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 20 August 1998@17:54:17.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abrani=tis
Adler number: alpha,72
Translated headword: Abranitis
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A territory.
Greek Original:*)abrani=tis: xw/ra.
Note:
The term is attested only here and in the equivalent entry in ps.-
Zonaras. Perhaps the territory of (or otherwise connected with) Abra in southern
Spain: Barrington Atlas map 27 grid A4.
Keywords: definition; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:28:23.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abretthnh/
Adler number: alpha,75
Translated headword: Abrettene
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A territory, the one [sc. also] called
Mysia.
Greek Original:*)abretthnh/: xw/ra, h( legome/nh *musi/a.
Notes:
Comparably, according to Adler, in the
Ambrosian Lexicon.
Abrettene is mentioned by
Strabo and Arrian, amongst others. Its name is derived from the nymph Brettia (according to
Stephanus of
Byzantium s.v.), and it lay between the Rhyndakos and Makestos rivers in Asian
Mysia (present-day Turkey): Barrington Atlas map 62 grid A2.
For
Mysia see also
mu 1472 and further cross-references there.
Keywords: definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; religion
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:30:35.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abrhli/a
Adler number: alpha,76
Translated headword: Abrelia, Avrelia, Aurelia
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A territory.[1] Also [sc. attested are] Aurelianus and Aurelius, proper names.
Greek Original:*)abrhli/a: xw/ra. kai\ *)abrhliano\s kai\ *)abrh/lios, o)no/mata ku/ria.
Notes:
The three spellings in this entry reflect late Greek pronunciation (with beta representing a fricative) of these Latinate names.
[1] Presumably that of one of the several cities named Aurelia, e.g. A.
Neapolis in Caria; cf. Barrington Atlas map 61 grid G2.
Keywords: definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:31:10.
Vetted by:William Hutton (Added headwords, modified translation, added note and keyword, set status) on 31 January 2001@13:11:38.
David Whitehead (modified translation; added note and keyword) on 3 February 2003@06:11:21.
David Whitehead (rearranged notes; cosmetics) on 1 August 2011@07:53:36.
Catharine Roth (another transliteration of the headword) on 27 March 2024@01:02:27.
Ronald Allen (added map reference) on 31 March 2024@13:32:55.
Headword:
*)abrio/rhc
Adler number: alpha,80
Translated headword: Abriorex, Abriorix
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Proper name.
Greek Original:*)abrio/rhc: o)/noma ku/rion.
Note:
Attested only here and, according to Adler, in the
Ambrosian Lexicon in this form ending eta-xi; nevertheless this is surely Abriorix (a.k.a. Ambiorix), leader of the Gallic Eburones against Julius Caesar in 54-53 BCE. The spelling
*)ambio/ric appears once in
Plutarch and frequently in
Cassius Dio.
Keywords: biography; definition; geography; historiography; history; military affairs
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:34:00.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)abroga/sths
Adler number: alpha,81
Translated headword: Abrogastes, Arbogast
Vetting Status: high
Translation: A Frank, who was fierce as flame from[1] strength of body and ruggedness of spirit; by happenstance second in rank to Baudo.[2] He was especially solid and complete in regard to self-control and made war on money, giving no quarter--for[3] he was no different from the common soldiers in terms of wealth at least. For this reason he seemed useful to the emperor
Theodosius,[4] since he added to the manly and just manner of Valentinian[5] his own gravity, as a just and unswerving standard for the palace, not to do harm or wrong in any matters of the court.
Greek Original:*)abroga/sths: *fra/ggos, o(\s kata\ a)lkh\n sw/matos kai\ qumou= traxu/thta flogoeidh\s h)=n, deuteragwnisth\s tugxa/nwn *bau/dwnos. a)/llws te h)=n kai\ pro\s swfrosu/nhn pephgw/s te kai\ dihrqrwme/nos kai\ pro\s xrh/mata po/lemon polemw=n a)/spondon. die/fere gou=n tw=n eu)telw=n stratiwtw=n o(/son ge ei)s plou=ton ou)de/n. kai\ dia\ tou=to e)do/kei tw=| basilei= *qeodosi/w| xrh/simos, o(/s ge pro\s to\n *ou)alentinianou= tro/pon a)rrenwpo\n o)/nta kai\ di/kaion, kai\ to\ par' e(autou= ba/ros e)peti/qei, kaqa/per o)rqo\n kai\ a)strabh= to\n ka/nona toi=s basilei/ois, pro\s to\ mhde\n tw=n peri\ th\n au)lh\n parabla/ptesqai h)\ a(marta/nesqai.
Notes:
This entry -- which has been tentatively identified as a fragment (no.53 FHG; Blockley,
Eunapius fr. 58.[1]) of the sophist and historian
Eunapius of
Sardis -- concerns the Frankish general Flavius Arbogastes (died 394). (The present headword 'Abrogastes' is a rare variant of, or error for, the name.)
[1] Causal
kata/ (LSJ s.v. IV).
[2] His predecessor (and, allegedly, father) Flavius Bauto.
[3] "Part proof"
gou=n (Denniston, p. 451).
[4]
theta 144.
[5]
omicron 762.
References:
Banchich, T.M. "Eunapius, Eustathius, and the Suda." AJP 109 (1988) 223-225
Blockley, R.C. The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus. Vol. II. Liverpool: Francis Cairns, 1983.
Denniston, J.D. The Greek Particles. Second Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954.
Keywords: biography; economics; ethics; geography; historiography; history; medicine; military affairs
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:34:42.
Vetted by:William Hutton (Added headword, modified translation, added keywords, set status) on 31 January 2001@16:29:34.
David Whitehead (added note and keyword; cosmetics) on 1 February 2001@04:13:55.
David Whitehead (another keyword) on 28 November 2005@08:20:03.
David Whitehead (tweaks to tr; augmented notes and keywords) on 20 December 2011@03:53:50.
Aaron Baker (Modified translation; added grammatical notes; added Blockly cite; added bibliography.) on 3 June 2015@22:23:43.
Aaron Baker (Added period after "Bauto.") on 3 June 2015@22:25:43.
Catharine Roth (coded Greek) on 3 June 2015@23:24:46.
Catharine Roth (added bibliography) on 27 January 2016@22:44:10.
Headword:
*(abroko/mas
Adler number: alpha,83
Translated headword: Abrokomas, Habrokomas, Abrocomas
Vetting Status: high
Translation: This man was satrap[1] under Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.[2]
Greek Original:*(abroko/mas: ou(=tos satra/phs h)=n *)artace/rcou tou= *persw=n basile/ws.
Notes:
From Harpokration (and
Photius) s.v. The name has a smooth breathing (Abrokomas) there, as in
Xenophon before them (below); in the Suda it is rough (Habrokomas).
[1] Provincial governor; see
sigma 153 (and generally OCD(4) p.1321).
[2] There were several Persian kings of this name (see generally OCD(4) p.175), but probably Artaxerxes II (405/4-359/8) is meant; he had a general called Abrokomas, mentioned by
Xenophon in the
Anabasis.
Keywords: biography; chronology; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; historiography; history; military affairs; politics
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:36:18.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*(abro\s
leimw\n
kai\
notero\s
kai\
eu)qalh/s
Adler number: alpha,88
Translated headword: a meadow delicate and moist and flourishing
Vetting Status: high
Translation: "All decked out as luxuriously as possible and in a manner that was amazing in terms of wealth, for someone, that is, who marvels at wealth."
Greek Original:*(abro\s leimw\n kai\ notero\s kai\ eu)qalh/s. pa/ntas de\ w(s a(bro/tata/ te kai\ a(/ma e)s e)/kplhcin kata\ plou=ton, tw=| ge dh\ plou=ton qauma/zonti, e)stalme/nous.
Notes:
The precise relationship between the headword phrase -- a re-arranged version of part of
Aelian fr. 126a Domingo-Forasté (123 Hercher), quoted in
epsilon 3095 -- and the quotation which serves as its gloss is unclear, though the latter too has been suggested as coming from
Aelian: so Adler at
epsilon 3200. Adler regards the quotation here (lacking in ms S) as an interpolation from
epsilon 3200.
The manuscripts and
Photius read
kaino/teros "newer"; Markland (Jeremiah Markland, 1693–1776) emended to
kai\ notero\s by comparison with
epsilon 3095.
Keywords: daily life; economics; ethics; geography; poetry
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:40:06.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*(abro/teron
Adler number: alpha,91
Translated headword: more delicately
Vetting Status: high
Translation: "But they behaved more delicately than them and were full of Sybaris."
Greek Original:*(abro/teron: a)ll' a(bro/teron au)tw=n ei)=xon kai\ *suba/ridos mestoi\ h)=san.
Notes:
Keywords: dialects, grammar, and etymology; ethics; geography; imagery; rhetoric
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:42:22.
Vetted by:
Headword:
*)/abrwn
Adler number: alpha,97
Translated headword: Abron, Habron
Vetting Status: high
Translation: Phrygian or Rhodian, grammarian, student of Tryphon,[1] sophist at Rome, the offspring of slaves, according to
Hermippus.[2]
Greek Original:*)/abrwn: *fru\c h)\ *(ro/dios, grammatiko\s, maqhth\s *tru/fwnos, sofisteu/sas e)n *(rw/mh|, gegonw\s de\ e)k dou/lwn, w(/s fhsin *(/ermippos.
Notes:
Presumably Habron (the aspirated version of the name is the more authentic), RE 8.2155 #4 (and OCD(4) s.v.), author of a treatise
On the Pronoun in the C1 CE.
[1] Tryphon:
tau 1115.
[2] For
Hermippus see
epsilon 3045. This is his fr. 73 FHG (3.52).
Reference:
R. Berndt, 'Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Habron', Berliner philologioscher Wochenschrift 35 (1915) 1452-1455, 1483
Keywords: biography; daily life; dialects, grammar, and etymology; geography; philosophy; rhetoric
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:46:35.
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