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ARSENOKOITHS
>> we had dealt with other words that begin with ARREN- (=ARSEN-) in
considering
>> ARSENOKOITHS, but we had not even mentioned any other words that have
-KOITHS
>> for their second foot. I was able to find a couple of examples by paging
>> through Liddell & Scott. The first was DOULOKOITHS which L&S translate
>> "Consorting with slaves." The definition sounds bland, but when you
consider
>> that it is equated with DOULOMIKTHS and DOULOGAMOS the meaning becomes
>> clearer. The DOULOKOITHS reference is from Paulus Alexandrinus Astrologus
>> (vi A.D.) O.2 which I don't have readily available, so am unable to give
any
>> notes on the context. The other word is MHTROKOITHS which L&S define
>> "incestuous person." The reference is from Hippon (v B.C.) 14. Again I
am
>> unable to give any notes on the context.
>>........
>>
>> David Moore
>David Wright already threw out a few examples in his 1984 article:
>parakoitEs (bedfellow, spouse), klepsikoitEs (seeking illicit sex),
>androkoitEs (having intercourse with a man), hEmerokoitEs (sleeping by
>day), khamakoitEs (sleeping on the ground), enOtokoitEs (with ears large
>enough to sleep in), borborokoitEs (mudcoucher - a kind of frog), akoitEs
>(bedfellow, spouse), sugkoitos (bedfellow), homokoitos (bedfellow),
>deuterokoiteO, polukoitos (sleeping with many men or women),
>adelphokoitia (incest of brother or sister), anemokoitEs (luller of
>winds), etc.
> The translations here are Wright's - I haven't checked them or their
>usage. What would be important would be to determine their date. Wright
>said "most of them were of very rare occurence." It would be very
>important if any of them were pre-Paul, since it would show
>the formation in question was hardly anomalous. Although Wright was
>trying to undermine the part of Boswell's argument that dealt with
>_arsenokoitEs_ as denoting active sexuality, by providing these examples
>he cast doubt on part of his own thesis: that the term reflects a special
>Jewish neologism based solely on Leviticus 20.
>Greg Jordan
Some of those examples seem to be more to the point than others.
ANDROKOITHS and ADELFOKOITIA, for instance seem to be most analogous to the
term ARSENOKIOTHS. Among those somewhat related analogically to the latter
we might list KLEYIKOITHS and possibly DEUTEROKOITEW AND POLUKIOTOS.
The verb ANDROKOITEW which L&S defines "sleep with a man" may be found in
context in _Berliner griechische Urkunden_, (Berlin, 1895), 1058.30 dated to
the first Century B.C. (i B.C). It is also used by Aetius Medicus (vi A.D.)
1.142. The context, in these cases would have to dictate how we understand
these terms. I don't find ADELFOKOITIA in L&S, but, if it is to be found in
extant literature, its meaning seems clear enough. KLEYIKOITHS is
translated, "seeking illicit love," and carries the somewhat cryptic
reference in L&S: "Ismenias ap. Ps.-Callist. 1.46" which I was unable to
decipher. DEUTEROKOITEW is translated in L&S as simply, "to have a
bedfellow," and the reference given is Athenaeus Grammaticus (ii/iii A.D.)
13.584b. POLUKOITOS and POLUKOITEW (I found the verbal form as well) L&S
translate as "lying (or to lie, in the case of the verb) with many women or
men." References to both are found in Vettius Valens Astrologus (ii A.D.)
118.5 and 75.9, al.
By adding to these DOULOKOITHS and MHTROKIOTHS as mentioned above (The
latter, BTW, is attested from the fifth century B.C.), we should have enough
material to get a clearer idea of the meaning of ARSENOKOITHS in 1Cor. 6:9 if
we could clarify the pertinent contexts.
David Moore
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