Beginners' Vocab- LXX Eccl.

Greek Koine and Biblical and Medieval Greek
1

(in progress–Chapters 2-12 will follow, maybe 1-2 a week; updates will probably be interrupted by at least one week-long camping trip)
This vocab list is for anyone who has finished Croy or another beginning textbook in Biblical Greek and wants to memorize vocabulary for LXX Ecclesiastes before reading the Greek text. Be sure you are using LXX translation and not KJV when checking for understanding/etc.

Definitions taken mainly from Middle Liddell, and a few from other Perseus dictionaries–so may not correspond exactly to LXX/NT uses in all cases. Also, dictionary forms are given, not the forms found in LXX.

LXX Eccl Chapter 1 Vocabulary - Rev. 2015-07-06
ματαιότης, -ητος (f) – vanity, emptiness, purposelessness
περισσεία, -ας (f) ( περισσός ) – surplus, abundance
μόχθος, -ου (m) – toil, hard work, hardship, distress, trouble
μοχθέω – to be weary with toil; to work hard, to labor
ἕλκω (impf. εἷλκον, fut. ἑλκύσω, aor. εἵλκυσα) - tug, draw, drag
νότος, -ου (m) – south, south wind
βορρᾶς, -ᾶ (m) – north, north wind
ἀνατέλλω – to rise up, grow up; rise; give birth to, bring to light
δύνω [also δύω] – to set, sink go down (esp. of the sun); to go in, enter in
κυκλόω – to encircle, surround, whirl around, go around, form in a circle
κύκλος, -ου (m) – a ring, circle, round; circuit, circular motion, orbit
χείμαρρος, -ου (m) – ravine; winter stream; a torrent
χείμαρρος, -ον (adj) – swollen with rain and melted snow; winter-flowing
ἐμπίπλημαι (ἑμπλήσω, ἑμπλήμην, ἐμπεπληκα, ἐνεπλήσθην) – to fill quite full
ἔγκοπος, -ον (adj) – wearied (from ἐγκόπτω )
ἀκρόασις, -εως (f) – a hearing or listening; an obedience to another
πρόσφατος, -ον (adj) – fresh, recent; fresh-slain, lately slain
ἔμπροσθεν – before, in front of (adv.; prep + gen)
μνήμη, -ης (f) – a remembrance, memory, record of a person or thing
κατασκοπέω – to view closely, to spy out
περισπασμός (m) - distraction
περισπάω (passive?) – to draw off, draw round, draw away, strip off; (passive: to be distracted or engaged in business)
προαίρεσις, -εως (f) – a choosing, a deliberate choice, a purpose, a resolution
διαστρέφω – to turn different ways, to twist about, to distort
ἐπικοσμέω – to add ornaments to, to decorate; to honor, to celebrate
ὑστέρημα, -ατος (n) – deficiency, need
ἀριθμέω – to count up, number
μεγαλύνω – to make great or powerful; to exalt, strengthen
προστίθημι – to add, to add to
ἐπιστήμη, -ης (f) – knowledge, understanding, experience
ἄλγημα, -ατος (n) – pain, suffering

–
I have read and memorized additional NT and classical Greek vocabulary, but I think the lists I’ve made include all words not found in Croy.
I was posting around last summer, i think username philipglass, but couldn’t figure out that login. I appreciated the help that was offered back then, and this forum and a website for Croy were responsible for giving me the assurance that Greek was really do-able. Still reading and learning Greek everyday (in the latter half of Mastronarde and Hansen and Quinn, but taking these textbooks slowly in favor of more extended NT and LXX readings). Eccl. is the first Greek I will be reading without a commentary (pretty much since I haven’t found a commentary to the Greek text.

2

ματαιοτης ματαιοτητων! Sorry, I had to do that. :sunglasses:

3

I went through the first chapter myself, and there are three or four unfamiliar words (or possibly just unfamiliar forms) that I’ll probably add. Also, at least one definition, προαίρεσις, may be odd for the LXX context. I’ll polish this off tomorrow, and should have a Chapter 2 list up by middle of next week.

4

This is a good project. I would have found it useful when I was learning to read the LXX. Keep it up.

This is one where you might find the specialized lexicons helpful. It’s not even clear what the Hebrew word (רְעוּת) means.

Ecc 1:14: εἶδον σὺν πάντα τὰ ποιήματα τὰ πεποιημένα ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἰδοὺ τὰ πάντα ματαιότης καὶ προαίρεσις πνεύματος.

I think the idea here is a δίωξις τοῦ ἀνέμου.

5

Most (if not all) of these words or of their forms are found in the GNT. I think it’s a good idea therefore to first perfect the GNT vocab. before getting into the LXX–

ματαιότητι (Rom. 8:20), περισσεία (2 Cor. 8:2), μόχθῳ (2 Cor. 11;27), ἑλκύσῃ (John 6:44), νότον (Luke 12:55),βορρᾶς ( Luke 13:29) etc…

6

Not necessarily. I would say the best thing for one to do is find something that interests them and read it. If they really want to read Ecclesiastes then I’d say go ahead and jump in. It’s probably easier than reading Paul’s letters anyway.

7

Almost all of the quotes from the Old Testament in the New are from the LXX translation. There are only a few dozen exceptions. So the LXX seems well-worth reading – after all, the authors of the New Testament did.

That said, this is from Ewing’s Lexicon

The five books of Moses are, in this version, very well translated. The other books are, upon the whole, inferior. They are all very literal, but they have been executed with various degrees of skill and accuracy. In some passages of the prophetical parts especially, the translators appear to have been ignorant of the meaning, but to have endeavoured, nevertheless, to transfer it, by a literal rendering of each word in its order; which, while it is hardly intelligible Greek, cannot be supposed properly to express what the interpreters had not perceived. "It is well known (says Dr. Bentley) to any one that ever perused the Septuagint, that they often translate word for word, though the phrase that results from it be against the genius of the Greek tongue. This has so filled that version with Hebraisms, that one may affirm Demosthenes himself could not have thoroughly understood it; and the Greek Fathers oftentimes mistook the sense of it, for want of skill in the Hebrew.”

I don’t have it in front of me, but I believe that Rahlfs disputes the above in his introduction as being too critical.

8

Vocab List in original post has been revised and is now complete.

Markos, thank you for your comment and reading of the noun in question. Did you find that note on the Hebrew in a commentary, or in a specialized lexicon? I’m not trying to supplement my readings with a lot of commentary, but when my reading seems to have a significant divergence from a translation, it would be nice to know where I could go.
(Also, your graded readings from NT and Jonah were huge to me. I probably should have gone through the unexpurgated LXX of Jonah before going through Ecclesiastes–but was excited to read this particular book.)

9

This is a good connection to point out, Isaac.

Ecc. 1:2: ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, τὰ πάντα ματαιότης.



Rom 8:20: τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα, ἐφ’ ἑλπίδι.

On the surface of it, Ecclesiastes’ philosophical skepticism–he almost sounds like Camus in positing that life is fundamentally meaningless and absurd–contradicts the biblical world view that life has meaning. But Paul’s point is that God created a good world with value and meaning, but through sin and the devil it became not only evil, but futile, empty, incapable of giving satisfaction. But this very futility leads to ἐλπίς which is fulfilled apart from this world in Christ.

Solomon got half way there. His experience of ματαιότης drove him to the τὸν θεὸν φοβοῦ καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ φύλασσε (12:13) and this, with a little help from Paul, drives one to Christ.

I’m not a big fan of commentaries either and only go there for cruxes. It’s a methodological question whether one tries to solve the cruxes by going to the Hebrew. (9 times out of 10 I don’t think you have to.) That said, in this case I went to the Soncino commentary on the Hebrew and Gesenius.

Glad to know that you found these useful, not because I have much confidence in how I executed them, but because I believe in the fundamental method.

10

@Markos, non-NT, but have you read through Colson’s reader? Or Moss? I’ve found a number lately, and they seem very useful for improving vocabulary quickly.

11

Oh, yes. Back in the day I read both those readers and all the ones I could get my hands on.

Back then I would have liked even easier Greek, (comprehensible input) leveled against the original. I still DO want such Greek of very hard writers, which is why I appreciate Doukas so much.

Saulos and I did some L2 audio on Moss.

https://archive.org/details/Q.AndA.InAncientGreekAboutMossStorypennyWiseAndPoundFoolish

12

That would be Stories and Legends, A First Greek Reader, by F.H. Colson, M.A., 1950. and Charles M. Moss’ “A First Greek Reader” ?

I had never heard of them before but they are easy enough to find when you know to look - thanks.

13

Luckily, some familiar English with Greek derivations in these first two chapters–neurasthenia, euphoria, blastocyst… Also lot of words that are pretty memorable after seeing a definition for the first time (οἰκοδομέω, οἰκογενής, οἰνοχόος, ἀνδρεία…).
And plenty of familiar NT vocab as well of course.

LXX Ecclesiastes 2 (subject to update for a few more days)

δεῦρο (Attic δευρί) – to call here!, come on!; hither; hitherto, until now
εὐφροσύνη, -ης (f) - mirth, merriment, good cheer; festivity, festivities
ἀφροσύνη, -ης (f) – folly, thoughtlessness, senselessness
γέλως, γέλωτος (m) – laughter
περιφορά, -ᾶς (f) – round motion, circuit, revolution
ὁδηγέω – to lead one upon the way, to lead the way
ποῖος, -α, -ον – of what nature? of what sort?
οἰκοδομέω – to build (a house)
φυτεύω – to plant; to produce, bring about, cause
κῆπος, -ου (m) – a garden, orchard, plantation
ξύλον, -ου (n) – tree; firewood, timber; plank, beam, cross (NT)
παράδεισος, -ου (m) – a park [NT: paradise, Garden of Eden]
κολυμβήθρα, -ας (f) – bath, swimming pool
ποτίζω (fut. -ίσω and -ιῶ) – to give drink to; to water
δρυμός, -οῦ (heterog. pl. δρυμά) (m) – (oak) coppice, wood
βλαστάνω – to bud, sprout, grow
παιδίσκη, -ης (f) – young girl, maiden; young slave, courtesan [dim. of παῖς (f)]
οἰκογενής, -ές (adj) – born in a house
βουκόλιον, -ου (n) – herd of cattle
ποίμνιον, -ου (n) – a flock
περιουσιασμός, -οῦ (m) – wealth, treasure
ᾄδω ( ἀείδω ) - to sing
ἐντρύφημα, -ατον (n) – thing to take pleasure in; to delight
οἰνοχόος, -ου (m; also fem variant) – male wine-bearer
ὑφαιρέω – to draw or take away from a thing
ἀποκωλύω – to hinder, prevent from a thing
εὐφραίνω – to cheer, delight, gladden
μερίς, μερίδος (f) (μέρος) – a part, portion, share
ἐπέρχομαι – to come near, to come to, to come upon
ὀπίσω – after, hereafter; backwards; back, again
ἄφρων, -ον (adj) (gen. -ονος ) - without sense
συνάντημα, -ατος (n) – event, fate
συναντάω – to befall; to meet together, meet face to face
σοφίζω, (fut. -σω) – to make wise, instruct; (pass – to be skilled in; )
περισσός, -η, -ον (adj) - excess, abundance; above the regular amount; extraordinary; excess, extravagant, superflous)
διότι – contraction of διὰ τοῦτο ὅτι; that; for the reason that, since, therefore
καθότι – contraction of καθ᾽ ὅ τι; in what manner
ἐπιλήθω (fut. -σω) (pass?) – to cause to forget a thing; (pass: to be forgotten)
επιλανθάνομαι – to let a thing escape one, to forget, to lose thought of
ἐξουσιάζω (fut. -σω) – to exercise over
ἀποτάσσω (Attic: -ττω) (midd.) – to set apart, assign specially; (midd. - to bid farewell to a person or thing)
ἀνδρεία (f) – manliness, manhood, manly spirit
κοιμάω (midd?) - to lull or put to sleep; (midd. - to fall asleep, lie abed)
δείκνυμι, δείξω, ἔδειξα, δέδειχα, δεδείξομαι, ἐδείχθην (impf. ἐδείκνυν, -υον) – to show, point out, exhibit
φείδομαι, φείσομαι, ἐφεισάμην/πεφιδόμην – to spare, to refrain from; to be sparing, thrifty; to draw back from

Perhaps a whole week before Chapter 3, but maybe by the end of the weekend. Only about a third through Eccl 2, and only began memorizing the second half of these today.

14

Chapter 3 Vocabulary
καιρός, -οῦ (m) – the right or proper time
τίκτω (fut. τέξω and τέξομαι, aor. ἔτεκον ) - to bring into this world; beget; bring forth
ἐκτίλλω – to pluck out
ἰάομαι – to heal, cure
καθαιρέω – to take or pull down
κλαίω – to weep
γελάω – to laugh
κόπτω – to strike
ὀρχέομαι – to dance
περιλαμβάνω – to seize; to surround, encompass; to embrace
περίλημψις, -εως (f) - embracing
μακρύνω - to prolong, to go far from
ῥήγνυμι (also -ύω) (fut. ῥήξω, aor. ἔρρηξα / ἐρράγην, perf. ἔρρηγμαι) – to break, break asunder, shatter
ῥάπτω – to sew or stitch together
μέχρι (μέχρις) – even so far as, as far as, up to (adv. and prep.)
δόμα, -ατος (n) – a gift, present (ie, that which has been given)
ἀφαιρέω (-ησω, ἀφεῖλον, ἀφῄρηκα) – to take away from, to remove
ἀσεβής, -ές (adj) – ungodly, profane (alpha privative)
λαλιά, ᾶς (f) – speech, conversation; manner of speaking, dialect
διακρίνω – to separate; to distinguish; to decide
κτῆνος, -εος (n) – single beast; beast for riding
περισσεύω – to be over and above, more than enough; to be superfluous; to abound in
χοῦς, χοός, χοί, χοά | χόες, χοῶν, χουσί, χόας (m) – soil, dust (Attic decl.)
ἄνω – up, above (adv)
κάτω – down, below (adv)

I have not touched chapter 4 yet. Maybe 1 week before next update.

15

Chapter 4
συκοφατέω – to accuse falsely, slander; to misrepresent; to deal falsely, to give false counsel
συκοφαντία, -ας (f) – false accusation
δάκρυον, -ου (n) - tear
ἰσχύς, -ύος (f) – strength; might, power, force
ζῆλος, -ου (m) – zeal; rivalry, jealousy; zealous imitation, emulation
πλήρωμα, -ατος (n) – fulness, full, fulfillment; a full measure; satiety
δράξ, -ακός (n) [δράγμα, -ατος (n)] – a handful, as much as one can grasp
δεύτερος, -α, -ον (adj) – second; secondly, afterwards, next
περασμός, -οῦ (m) – end, finishing
στερίσκω (στερέω) – to deprive of a thing
ἀγαθωσύνη, -ης (f) – goodness, kindness
μέτοχος, -ον (adj) – sharing in, partaking in (+ gen); an accomplice, a partner (as subst.)
θέρμη, -ης (f) [θερμός (m)] – heat, feverish heat
θερμαίνω (fut. -ανῶ, aor. ἐθέρμηνα, perf.pass. τεθέρμασμαι) – to warm, to heat; (pass- to be warmed, to be heated)
ἐπικραταιόομαι – to be confirmed; to be added strength to
κατέναντι (adv) – over, against, opposite, before
σπαρτίον, -ου (n) – small cord (dim. of σπάρτον)
ἔντριτος, -ον (adj) - threefold
ταχέως (adv) – quickly (from ταχύς)
ἀπορρήγνυμι / -ύω (fut. -ρήξω, 2nd aor. pass. ἀπερράγην) – to break off, snap asunder; (pass. - to be broken off; secured)
πένης, -ητος (m) – day-laborer, poor man
προσέχω / προσισχω – to bring near, attend to, to give heed to
δέσμιος, -α, -ον (adj) – bonding; in bonds, captive

16

I’m putting this on indefinite hold, perhaps stopping. Three things contribute to me pausing this project:

  1. finding glossed readings from the Patristic fathers that were an appropriate level for reading ( http://patristicreaders.com/ )
  2. finding the Hellenistic and Biblical Greek reader (and its free additional exercises) put together by B.H. McClean
  3. finally purchasing a UBS Reader’s NT

I started this because I could not immediately find (free) materials with chapter-by-chapter vocab glosses like this. #1 and #2 solved that problem.
I had an old NA NT, and thought it was stupid to spend $25 for a new Reader’s NT when my goal is to eventually be reading only the critical version. This was an extremely ignorant decision. Buying the Reader’s NT two weeks ago has led to me (re)reading more Greek in less time than anything else.