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ARSENOKOITHS
jordan@chuma.cas.usf.edu (Greg Jordan) quoted and commented as follows:
>> 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.
>By assuming some are more related semantically than others, you are
>already assuming the definition of _arsenokoitEs_ is known and able to be
>compared with some select others.
>> 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.
> I don't think any of these examples will be helpful for determining
>the meaning of _arsenokoitEs_ in Paul. The mere existence of the
>morphemes arsen- and -koit- in other combinations only proves that they
>were lexically productive. That does, though, cast doubt on the idea
>that _arsenokoitEs_ was a Pauline neologism based on Leviticus 20, since
>as you say, many of them occur centuries before Paul wrote.
Since all of the compounds we have mentioned which contain KOIT- are also
extremely rare words, I should say that it is not possible to draw
conclusions from this evidence as to whether Paul coined ARSENOKOITHS or not.
Some of these words themselves could have been coined by the authors in
whose works they appear.
It is precisely because ARSENOKOITHS is a rare word that etymologic
considerations may give us some of the best evidence of its meaning. The
best of the other evidence we have available is the contexts in which the
word is found in 1Cor. 6:9 and 1Tim. 1:10. In both of these cases,
ARSENOKOITHS is found in lists of sins. Because of that, one should be able
to safely eliminate analogous words that have a neutral moral sense.
Why concentrate on factors that don't really give us any answers? There is
no reason to back away from the best evidence we have.
David Moore