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The Greek noun '''aphedron''' is a term for [[latrine]].
The Greek noun '''aphedron''' is a term for [[latrine]].


The word occurs only once in the [[New Testament]] (Mark 7:19), and was unknown in classical texts. The Vulgate rendered the term ''secessus'', latrine.<ref>Vulgate 7:19 "quia non intrat in cor ejus, sed in ventrum vadit, et in secessum exit, purgans omnes escas?"</ref> [[John Wycliffe|Wycliffe]] avoided the reference to a privy with "and beneath it goeth out," while [[Martin Luther]] translated the word as ''natürliche Gang'' ("natural course"),<ref>Markus 7:19 Denn es gehet nicht in sein Herz, sondern in den Bauch und gehet aus durch den natürlichen Gang, der alle Speise ausfeget. 1545</ref> though [[Tyndale]]'s "and goeth out into the draught" is more clear. Perhaps due in part to Luther's "natural course," various 18th and 19th Century scholars assumed it was a [[euphemism]] for the human bowel.<ref>[[Robley Dunglison]], ''Medical lexicon: a dictionary of medical science'' 1855, page 88.</ref> However the discovery and publication of an inscription at [[Pergamon]] confirmed that the word does, as per Latin ''secessus'', in fact mean [[latrine]]<ref>[http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2318184 Perseus database]</ref>
The word occurs twice in the [[New Testament]] (Matthew 15:17, Mark 7:19) and was unknown in classical texts. The Vulgate rendered the term ''secessus'', latrine.<ref>Vulgate 7:19 "quia non intrat in cor ejus, sed in ventrum vadit, et in secessum exit, purgans omnes escas?"</ref> [[John Wycliffe|Wycliffe]] avoided the reference to a privy with "and beneath it goeth out," while [[Martin Luther]] translated the word as ''natürliche Gang'' ("natural course"),<ref>Markus 7:19 Denn es gehet nicht in sein Herz, sondern in den Bauch und gehet aus durch den natürlichen Gang, der alle Speise ausfeget. 1545</ref> though [[Tyndale]]'s "and goeth out into the draught" is more clear. Perhaps due in part to Luther's "natural course," various 18th and 19th Century scholars assumed it was a [[euphemism]] for the human bowel.<ref>[[Robley Dunglison]], ''Medical lexicon: a dictionary of medical science'' 1855, page 88.</ref> However the discovery and publication of an inscription at [[Pergamon]] confirmed that the word does, as per Latin ''secessus'', in fact mean [[latrine]]<ref>[http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2318184 Perseus database]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.archive.org/stream/orientisgraeciin02dittuoft#page/n5/mode/2up Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae, ed. W. Dittenberger, Leipzig 1903-5 p.105]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.archive.org/stream/orientisgraeciin02dittuoft#page/n5/mode/2up Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae, ed. W. Dittenberger, Leipzig 1903-5 p.105]</ref>


Revision as of 18:46, 23 April 2014

The Greek noun aphedron is a term for latrine.

The word occurs twice in the New Testament (Matthew 15:17, Mark 7:19) and was unknown in classical texts. The Vulgate rendered the term secessus, latrine.[1] Wycliffe avoided the reference to a privy with "and beneath it goeth out," while Martin Luther translated the word as natürliche Gang ("natural course"),[2] though Tyndale's "and goeth out into the draught" is more clear. Perhaps due in part to Luther's "natural course," various 18th and 19th Century scholars assumed it was a euphemism for the human bowel.[3] However the discovery and publication of an inscription at Pergamon confirmed that the word does, as per Latin secessus, in fact mean latrine[4] [5]

Further the Mark 7:19 verse says "out into the afedron, cleaning all meats" which makes no sense if the meat is still lodged in the lower intestine.[6]

Inscription

The following is a transcription and translation of the relevant text from Lex de astynomis Pergamenorum ("Law of the town clerks of Pergamos") following the Greek text as published by Klaffenbach (1954).[7][8]

483.220 ΑΦΕΔΡΩΝΩΝ = Concerning privies.
ΟΙ ΑΣΤΥΝΟΜΟΙ = the town clerks ΕΠΙΜΕΛΕΙΑΝ = care (f.acc.) ΠΟΙΕΙΣΘΩΣΑΝ = shall make ΤΩΝ ΤΕ = of the ΔΗΜΟΣΙΩΝ = public ΑΦΕΔΡΩΝΩΝ = privies, ΚΑΙ ΤΩΝ = and of ΕΞ ΑΥΤΩΝ = out of them ΥΠΟΝΟΜΩΝ = sewers pl. ΚΑΙ ΕΑΝ = and if ΤΙΝΕΣ = some ΜΗ ΣΤΕΓΝΟΙ = not covers/lids pl. ΥΠΑΡΧΩΣΙΝ = already in existence ΚΑΙ ΤΩΝ.... = and of.... (text broken)

Translation: Concerning WCs. The town clerks shall maintain the public WCs and their outpipes. And if some of them are not covered and of them... (text broken).

References

  1. ^ Vulgate 7:19 "quia non intrat in cor ejus, sed in ventrum vadit, et in secessum exit, purgans omnes escas?"
  2. ^ Markus 7:19 Denn es gehet nicht in sein Herz, sondern in den Bauch und gehet aus durch den natürlichen Gang, der alle Speise ausfeget. 1545
  3. ^ Robley Dunglison, Medical lexicon: a dictionary of medical science 1855, page 88.
  4. ^ Perseus database
  5. ^ Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae, ed. W. Dittenberger, Leipzig 1903-5 p.105
  6. ^ James Hope Moulton and George Milligan The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament
  7. ^ G. Klaffenbach, Lex de astynomis Pergamenorum (1954).
  8. ^ The nature and function of water, baths, bathing, and hygiene from ... - Page 252 Cynthia Kosso, Anne Scott - 2009 "Günther Klaffenbach, “Die Astynomeninschrift von Pergamon,” Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst 6 (1953), 3–25 took charge of providing a full, yet strictly philological, commentary. "
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