231he Sayings of the Desert Fathers: Their Evidence for Late Koine GreekJohn A. L. LeeHonorarv Fellow, Macquarie UniversitvHonorarv Member of Facultv, St AndrewsGreek Orthodox Theological CollegeAbstract. The Sayings oI the Desert Fathers, in their Greek form, date fromIJ-J ADandarewrittenintheGreeklanguageoftheirtime. Thev contain both savings and simple narratives, composed for the most part in evervdav, not literarv Greek. These texts therefore have the potential to provide useful evidence for the ongoing development ofGreekinthelateKoineperiod(IJ-JIAD).Thereisashortage of evidence of this kind and the Sayings have received little notice. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the linguistic value of the Sayings, concentrating on the Alphabetic collection. One Saying (Paphnoutios2)issampledhrst,withobservationsonfeaturesof interest there, then other features found elsewhere in the corpus are listed with brief comments. The list is extensive but not exhaustive or svstematic. a full studv still needs to be done. The obfective of the paper is linguistic, not theological, nor does it aim to resolve textual questions pending until a critical text of the Alphabetic collection is achieved.TheDesertFatherswerethosefrstChristianasceticswho withdrew Irom the world and went out into the Egyptian desert toIocusonthespiritualliIeinsolitude. Abba Antoniosisstill commemoratedtodayastheonewholedtheway.TheSavingsarea collectionoIbothmemorablesayingsandsimplenarrativesaboutthe Fathersthatwerethoughtworthremembering.Theyalwayscontain some point oI signifcance related to the spiritual liIe and practice. They PHRONEMA, VOL. 30(1), 2015, 23-42Mostofthematerialofthisarticlewashrstpresentedatthe'ImagesofEgvpt` conference at Macquarie Universitv, Svdnev in April, 2004. I am grateful to Trevor Evansfortheinvitationtopresentattheconference,andalsotothestudentsofSt Andrews Theological College who over the vears 1988-2000 foined me in reading the Sayings in the 'Advanced Koine` course.24The Savings of the Desert Fathersrange in length Irom a line or two to stories extending over two pages. IntheIormoIthecollectionstudiedhere,theGreekAlphabetic,there are some 130 named monks, and the number oI Savings attached to each ranges Irom one to over 200 in the case oI Abba Poimen.Inmostcases,thematerialhasanEgyptiansetting,thatis, almostalloItheFathersarelocatedinEgyptandthevarioussayings andnarrativestakeplaceinEgypt.ThetextssurviveinanumberoI languages,butitappearsthattheGreekIormwastheearliest,Irom which translations were made into Syriac, Armenian, Sahidic, and so on. WeknowthatsomeoIthesemonkswereEgyptiansandmaynothave spoken Greek, so some translation into Greek is likely to have occurred at an early stage. The Greek collection is in three Iorms, the Alphabetic, theAnonvmous,andtheSvstematic,withalotoImaterialincommon. TheAlphabeticarrangesthematerialbythenamesoItheFathers(or Mothers)withwhomthesayingorstoryisassociated;theAnonvmous collects sayings that have no name attached; and the Svstematic arranges much oI the same material by topics or themes, 21 in all. It appears that the Alphabetic collection came frst. That is the one on which this paper is based.1Whofrstputthismaterialtogether,andwhodidanynecessary translating, say Irom Coptic into Greek, we do not know. But the nature oItheGreekitselIindicatessomething.Itisnotlearnedorliterary Greek,norisitentirelyvernacular,butitismiddle-levelKoineGreek 1FortheIoregoingpointssee:Jean-ClaudeGuy,Recherchessurlatradition grecquedesApophthegmataPatrum(Subsidiahagiographica,36;Bruxelles: SocietedesBollandistes,1962;repr.withsuppl.1984);Jean-ClaudeGuy,Les ApophtegmesdesPeres.Collectionsvstematique(3vols.;Paris:CerI,1993-2005);BenedictaWard,TheSavingsoftheDesertFathers.TheAlphabetical Collection,Translated,withaForeword(rev.ed.London:Mowbray,1984) xvii-xxxi;JohnWortley,HowtheDesertFathers'Meditated,`GRBS46 (2006)315-28;PerRnnegrd,ThreadsandImages.TheUseofScripturein ApophthegmataPatrum(CB,NTSeries44;WinonaLake,Ind.:Eisenbrauns, 2010)5-11,withIurtherbibliog.197-98;DomCuthbertButler,TheLausiac Historv of Palladius (2 vols.; Cambridge: at the University Press, 1898, 1904) 1:208-15.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201525oI a century beIore the beginning oI early Medieval Greek (6001100).2 There is no evidence oI interIerence Irom Coptic, but biblical Greek, that is, the Greek oI the New Testament and the Greek Old Testament ('the Scriptures), has a signifcant infuence on the language and there is much use oI scriptural quotations and allusions.3 Much oI this infuence could come,andinsomeinstancesclearlydoescome,IromliturgicalGreek, which itselI is deeply infuenced by the Greek oI both Testaments.4 Apart Irom these infuences, the narrative Iramework and most oI the Savings material is in the ordinary Greek oI the period and as a result is oI great interest linguistically.Text and TranslationsThe ruling edition oI the Greek text oI the Alphabetic collection is that IoundinMigne`sgreatcollectionoIpatristictexts.5Itisbasicallya reprint oI an edition oI 1677 by Jean-Baptiste Cotelier, derived Irom one twelIth-century manuscript.6 A modern critical text oI the Alphabetic is obviouslyneeded,butinthemeantimewehavenochoicebuttouse Migne`stext. ThereisalsoamorerecenteditionbyPaschos,whichis aconvenientworktousebutisinessencethesametextasinMigne.7 2CI. Robert Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek (2nd ed.; Cambridge: CUP, 1983) 53, 55 Ior the term ('early middle ages) and dates.3See Rnnegrd, Threads and Images.4CI.JohnA.L.Lee,TheLXXintheLiturgyandLectionaryoItheGreek OrthodoxChurch`in A.SalvesenandM.Law,eds.,OxfordHandbookofthe Septuagint (OxIord: OUP, Iorthcoming).5J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Graeca (162 vols.; Paris: Migne,1857-1866),vol.65.TextalsoavailableelectronicallyinThesaurus Linguae Graecae (no. 2742).6Guy, Recherches, 8 n. 2; 13; 18-19. The MS is Paris grec 1599; Guy gives the date 'XIIe siecle without comment. Migne gives the title oI his source at PG 65, 71-72 (below heading).7H.B.Huoo,ToIcoov:ikov,p:oiAao0cyno:oAyicvIcoov:cv.Hoooyo, Kcincvov,Icooooiov,l,oio,Eoc:poiov0cno:cv(ko.tpitq.A0qvui Aotqp, 1981). As Iar as I am aware, there is no work in progress on a critical editionoItheAlphabetic.Guy`scriticaleditionoItheSvstematicreached completionin2005(LesApophtegmesdesPeres:seen.1).Thisincludesan index oI words (3:251-463).26The Savings of the Desert FathersIn the Iollowing discussion, Migne`s is the text quoted, with a reIerence to Paschos as well (the numbering sometimes diIIers). Despite the lack oIapropercriticaledition,linguisticstudiescanandshouldproceed on the basis oI the text available (as the translations have done), on the understanding that when a critical text is produced, earlier comments on languagemightneedsomecorrectionorrevision. Thealternativeisto delay such study indefnitely. Furthermore, observations on the language maythemselvescontributetoestablishingthetextwhenthetaskis undertaken.TherearemoderntranslationsoItheAlphabeticcollection,into EnglishbySrBenedictaWard;intoFrenchbyJean-ClaudeGuyand LucienRegnault;andintoModernGreekbyBasileiosPentzas.8In Migne`s edition there is a Latin parallel version. The author is not stated, but presumably it was Migne or Cotelier. This is not the same version as the sixth-century translation oI the Svstematic collection to be noticed in a moment.

The date oI the material is important Ior linguistic study, though precise datingisnotnecessary:adatewithinacenturyorevenlongeris adequate. We have one indication oI date in the Iact that the MS oI the AlphabeticcollectiononwhichthefrsteditionwasbasedisIromthe twelIthcentury.Moreover,therearestillolderMSSoIthiscollection dating Irom X-XI AD.9 This is useIul to begin with, as establishing that there can have been no intrusion oI late Medieval or Modern Ieatures that arose in the language aIter X-XI AD. But we can narrow the date much 8Ward,TheSavings;Jean-ClaudeGuy,LesApophtegmesdesPeresduDesert. Seriealphabetique.Traductionfranaise(Paris:Hachette,1967-68);Lucien Regnault, Les sentences des peres du desert. Collection alphabetique (Solesmes: Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, 1981); B. Hcvtu, Eiac Icocv To Icoov:ikov o`vcocpvikpoaoooop(A0qvuiAotqp,1983). Ward`stranslation, onwhich everyone relies, is not as accurate as it is assumed to be (Ior an example, see n. 33). A revision is needed.9Guy, Recherches 16.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201527Iurther. A terminus ante quem is provided by the Latin translation oI the Svstematic collection made by two Popes, Pelagius I and John III.10 This wasmadeintheearlysixthcentury,sothedateoIcompilationoIthe Svstematic must precede, and the compilation oI the Alphabetic preceded it.Guyfndsadatearound530ADIorbothcollectionsassured,and argues Iurther that both can be dated to 480-490 AD.11The history oI the material beIore then is hazy. We do not know how it came to be written down or how much adjustment (and translation) there was between the original saying and its appearance in written Iorm, or at the fnal stage oI compilation. Oral transmission is obviously likely to have had a role. But we know that the frst generation oI monks belong totheIourthcentury. Antoniosissaidtohavegoneoutintothedesert around 285, and he died in 356. Makarios the Egyptian, the Iounder oI Scetis,overlappedwith Antoniosanddiedin390. Thelastgeneration, which included Arsenios (d. 449) and Poimen (d. aIter Arsenios), are in the fIth century.12 So we can say with some confdence that the material originatesinIV-V ADandthatthecompilationdateislateVorearly VI AD, let us say around 500 AD. The Savings thereIore could provide good evidence oI Greek oI the fIth century, right in the middle oI 'Late Koine, that is, Greek oI IV-VI AD.13ThereishoweverthequestionoIchangesinthecourseoI transmission,asthetextswerecopiedbetween500andthesurviving MSS.Firstasregardsmodernisation,thatis,intrusionoImorerecent Ieatures oI the popular language, it is evident that this has had no major eIIect.Totakespecifccases,thephonologicalchangeoIthelossoI unaccented initial vowels except u-, which took place along with related changesinearlyMedievalGreek,isnotinevidence;noristhelossoI 10On their dates see Guy, Les Apophtegmes. Collection svstematique 1:80, and Ior details oI editions see, e.g., Wortley, How the Desert Fathers` 328.11Guy, Les Apophtegmes. Collection svstematique 1:80-3.12For these dates, see ibid 47-8, 76, 78.13For the term see John A. L. Lee, Tuaootce` in J. Joosten and P. J. Tomson (eds.),JocesBiblicae.SeptuagintGreekanditsSignihcancefortheNew Testament (Leuven, 2007) 99-113, at 113.28The Savings of the Desert Fathersfnal-v.14Thelatermorphologicalchangestothenounandverbthat might have intruded are also not to be seen.15 All this does not rule out the possibility, even likelihood, that minor spelling changes or slips occurred. 'Improvement oI the text, that is, Irom vernacular to more educated, is a diIIerent possibility to consider, and eliminate. The presence oI so many lower-register items oI vocabulary suggests that no, or at least very little, 'improvement oI this kind occurred in transmission: words like vcpov ('water) and acpve ('cross over) and others noticed below would be strongcandidatesIorreplacementinthatcase.Itseemsratherthatthe character oI the text was fxed at the time oI compilation around 500 AD.Further evidence that the Greek text goes back to the early sixth century is Iound in the Iact that the VI AD Latin translation mentioned above appears to have been made Irom the same Greek text as the one wehave.ThattranslationisoItheSvstematiccollection,butmuchoI the same material appears in the Alphabetic, though in a diIIerent order, and the Greek texts can be compared. In the Paphnoutios text discussed below, Ior instance, the text in Migne (Alphabetic) diIIers only in very minordetailsIromthatinGuy`seditionoItheSvstematic;16theLatin versioncanbeseentotranslatethisGreek.17ThetranslationthereIore indicates the existence in the early sixth century oI a Greek text oI the Alphabetic like the one we now have, even though the current MSS are later.14Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek 57-58; cI. GeoIIrey C. Horrocks, Greek. A Historv of the Language and its Speakers (2nd ed.; London: Longman, 2010) 274-7.15Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek 58-60; 63-6; cI. Horrocks, Greek 284-323.16Guy, Les Apophtegmes. Collection svstematique 3:19-20; XVII 15.17Migne,PatrologiaLatina73,975AB. ThefrstIewlines:Dicebantdeabbate Paphnutio,quianoncitobibebatvinum.Ambulansautemaliquandoiter, supervenitinconventulatronum,etinveniteosbibentes.cognovitautemeum quiprimuseratlatronum,etsciebatquianonbiberetvinum.Jidensergoeum de multo labore fatigatum, implevit calicem vini, et in alia manu tenuit gladium evaginatum, et dicit seni. Si non bibis, occidam te.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201529

The aim oI this paper is philological, to draw attention to the value oI the SavingsasawitnesstoLateKoineGreek. Theirpotentialcontribution IorthispurposehasbeengenerallyoverlookedinstudyoIthehistory oI the Greek language. While some oI the vocabulary has been noted in Lampe`s lexicon,18 and is oIten well observed in Sophocles`,19 there is no mention oI the Savings in a standard work such as Browning and there appears to be just one in Horrocks.20 But they oIIer riches that ought to be better known. In a short paper such as this, the thorough study that needs to be done is not possible. My paper is to be seen as a frst Ioray into a subject that awaits a much larger enquiry.OthersourcesoIGreekoIthesameperiodmaybementioned in passing. There are oI course numerous patristic works contemporary withtheSavings.ButtheirGreekisusuallyoIamuchhigherliterary level,oItenIollowingAtticmodels,andprovideslittleinIormation about spoken Greek. One work oI a similar linguistic level and similar in content, a little later in date, is the Meadow oI John Moschos.21 One knownparallelbetweenitslanguageandthatoItheSavingsisthe occasional use oI 0ce as a Iuture auxiliary.22 It too could do with more 18G.W.H.Lampe,ed.,APatristicGreekLexicon(OxIord:ClarendonPress, |1968|).19E.A.Sophocles,GreekLexiconoftheRomanandBv:antinePeriods(New York: Charles Scribner`s Sons, 1900). See, e.g., s.vv. vcpov, uiov.20Browning,MedievalandModernGreek;Horrocks,Greek292,onkdvcvat Migne 65, 261B |not 45| (the book has no Greek index). I do not fnd the Savings (Aao0cyno:o...) in the list oI works covered in the Mcyo Acikov :p Epvikp Icoop, ed. Ieuvvq L. Zcpo (9 vols.; A0qvui Aq. Aqqtpukou, 1953).21Text in Migne, PG vol. 87 (TLG no. 2856). See Horrocks, Greek 253-56 Ior an extract with comments. The Historia Monachorum (TLG no. 2744), is another similartext,earlierindate(V AD),butsomewhatmoreliteraryinlanguage: textinAndre-JeanFestugiere,HistoriaMonachoruminAegvpto(Subsidia Hagiographica34;Brussels:SocietedesBollandistes,1961);Engl.translation byNormanRussellinTheLivesoftheDesertFathers(London:Mowbray, 1981).22John A.L.Lee,Auxiliary0ce`inT.V.EvansandD.D.Obbink,eds.,The Language of the Papvri (OxIord: OUP, 2010) 15-34, at 23.30The Savings of the Desert Fathersthoroughstudy.ButtheothermainsourceoIeverydayGreekinthis period, as in all earlier periods Irom the time the evidence begins in III BC,isthebodyoIdocumentarytextspreservedonpapyrusandstone. TheyoIcoursevaryinlinguisticlevel,butparallelswiththeevidence oI the Savings are evident (e.g., vcpov, io0oopiu, below). Making the links and exploiting the Iull value oI the combined evidence is something still to be done.23In the Iollowing discussion, I start with a sample text and note the Ieatures oI interest occurring in it. This shows at a glance what a typical sayingislikeanditslinguisticpotential.ThenIollowlistsoIIeatures Irom elsewhere in the Savings, with brieI remarks on their signifcance. A Iull discussion oI each item and its place in the longer-term history oI the language cannot be attempted here. Many oI the items will be recognised bystudentsoIvariousaspectsoIKoineGreekusage,includingthatoI theNewTestamentandeventheSeptuagint.Someareearlyinstances oI developments that were to become established later in Greek and to continue into the modern language; others look back to older usage on which they throw new or additional light.A Sample Text with Features of InterestPaphnoutios 1/2 (P105, M377C380A)2423Fergus Millar, in A Greek Roman Empire. Power and Belief under Theodosius II (408-450) (Berkeley: Univ. CaliIornia Press, 2006) 16, presses the claims oI therecordsoIthefIth-centuryChurchCouncildebatesasrepresenting'Ior spoken Greek by Iar the best evidence Ior the Greek language that survives Irom Antiquity. A record oI what was spoken in the Councils they may be, but Millar overlookstheeducatedqualityoItheGreekusedbythelearnedbishops.For betterrepresentativesoI'spokenGreek,seetheletteroIcondolence,POxy 16.1874 (VI AD) or the catalogue oI complaints against a husband, POxy 6.903 (IV AD)or the Savings. (I am grateIul to Trevor Evans and Genevieve Young-Evans Ior bringing Millar`s remark to my attention.)24Key: name oI Abba saying no. (x/x iI diIIerent in P and M); P Paschos page; M Migne, PG 65, col. no. This saying is Iound in the Svstematic collection at Guy, Les Apophtegmes XVII 15.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201531cov acpi to u Huvoutiou, ti ov xoce caivcv oivov. Oocuevocaotccvc0qcnvekoqyovpotev,kuicpcv uutouaivovtuoivov.Tyvetcocuutovoupipotq,kui poci ti ou aivci oivov. Kui 0cev uutov on cuou koaou, cyctoc aotqpiov ovou, kui to io cv tp cipi uuto, kui cci t( cpovti Tuv q aip, ovce oc. Ivou oc o cpev ti cvtoqv Oco0cctaoiqoui,ovcvouutovkcqoot,cuckui caicv. O oc upipotq cxcvqocv uut(, cev Lvyeqov oi, u, ti c0t oc. Kui cci o cpev Hiotcue t( Oc(, tioiutoaotqpiovtotonotccxooccokuicvt(vv kui cv t( covti uievi. Acci o upipotq Hiotcue t( Oc(, ti on xo vv ov q kukoaoiqoe tivu. Kui ckcqocv o cpev ov tov koqiov, uci to 0cqu uuto t tov Kupiov.Translation.TheysaidconcerningAbbaPaphnoutiosthathe drank wine reluctantly. Once when he was on a journey he Iound himselI Iace to Iace with a gang oI robbers, and he Iound them drinking wine. The robber chieI recognised him and knew that he did not drink wine. Seeing that he was tired Irom great exertion, he flled a cup oI wine and with his sword in his hand said to the elder, 'II you don`t drink, I`ll kill you. The elder, knowing that he was about to perIorm a command Irom God, and wishing to win over the robber, took it and drank. The robber chieI made a metania to him, saying, 'Forgive me, Abba, Ior distressing you. Theeldersaid,'ItrustinGodthatbecauseoIthiscuphewill show you mercy both now and in the age to come. The robber chieI said, 'I trust in God that Irom now on I will do no harm to anyone. And so the elder won over the whole gang, by giving up his own will Ior the Lord.ThisisasimplenarrativeinordinaryGreek,withoccasionalbiblical fourishes. It is literate but not literary. Even a short extract like this is Iull oI interesting linguistic material. Some Ieatures are routine Koine usage, thoughuseIulasconfrmingthecontinuanceoIthewordorusetothis date; others open up a whole line oI enquiry. The notes indicate the point oI interest, without going into Iull detail.outuce.ThisisevidenceoItuceinthesenseoI'readily, without hesitation, a weakening oI the original sense 'quickly. It could 32The Savings of the Desert Fatherssupport a similar interpretation oI NT Gal 1:6; 2 Thess 2:2; 1 Tim 5:22. The attestation noted in BDAG is quite limited.25cupc0q,'IoundhimselI.Thatis,'hecametobe,arrivedat, asinthesimilarEnglishexpression,andFrenchsetrouver(cI.Guy`s translationilsetrouva).Thereisnoactualfndinginvolved.Thishas relevancetothedebatedoccurrencein Acts8:40,whereevenSemitic infuence has been suggested: see BDAG, s.v. 1.b. There are others in the Savings, e.g., Milesios 2: P77, M297B.cauveisnormally'above;hereitislikeEngl.'ontopoI,in eIIect 'Iace to Iace with. Similarly q0ov aotc cauve uuto tpc potui (Theodoros oI Pherme 29: P41, M196A). CI. Irom Iurther afeld: LXX Gen18.2iooutpcvopcciotqkciouvcauveuuto.POxy6.903.20 (IV AD)kuicaoiqocv,tuce0upuuutocvkio0qvuicauveou, 'he had the outer doors oI it (the church) closed in my Iace.26 There is more to fnd out about the history oI this interesting word, now standard Mod. (c)auve.ko()qiov,aLatinword(collegium,'college;'guild,etc.) borrowedintoGreek.LSJcitetwoolderexamples;Lampehasothers contemporary. The meaning 'gang, not in Latin covered by the OLD (to end II AD), is clearly attested here.27 cvepic.Themodernmeaning'recognise(uvu-)ftsbest; similarlyKronios5:P60,M249C.NoinstancesarerecordedinLSJ, Lampe, BDAG.0cepev. The standard Koine use continues.uao. A special use oI the preposition: 'just arrived Irom; similarly qv up uao kuutou aoo (Makarios 4: P65, M264C). This is the same as in Mark 7:4 ua` uop 'when they come in Irom the agora, on which there has been (unnecessary) debate: see BDAG s.v. uopu.25W. Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon oftheNewTestamentandOtherEarlvChristianLiterature(Chicago:Univ. Chicago Press, 2000). Nothing is added by Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon (no entry), or H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (rev. and augm. H. Stuart Jones; OxIord: OUP, 1940).26I was led to this last example by LSJ (s.v. cauve I.3), though their meaning in the presence of is not right.27Oxford Latin Dictionarv, ed. P. G. W. Glare (OxIord: Clarendon Press, 1982).Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201533ccioc.StandardKoineuseoItheverbappliedtofllingany-thing, not just ships, as originally.ovcue.PresentwithIuturemeaning:'Ikillyou'Iwillkill you. (CI. below.)0cci.'Wanted,wisheddoesnotft.Rather,thesenseis:'was abouttodo/wouldbedoing.ItisaninstanceoI0cebeginningto Iunction as a Iuture auxiliary. (CI. below on the Iuture tense.)ouocvo. At an earlier time (e.g., in the NT) this was the more Iormal or stylish equivalent oI 0ce in the meaning 'wish, want.28 While ououi is not uncommon in the Savings (c.18 times), 0ce remains Iar commoner (200). A Iuller study oI the two in this period would be inter-esting. Perhaps ououi had made a comeback under learned infuence.kcpouive (twice). What meaning is intended? Originally the verb means 'gain (money), proft, get Ior oneselI; hence 'gain (Ior God) ~ 'win over, convert (as 1 Cor 9:19, 20, 22); or 'win over could be taken simply to mean 'win the Iavour oI, avert the hostility oI. The meaning 'convert is perhaps more likely. A study oI the semantic history oI the word, with its modern descendant kcpoie, would shed more light.29ctcvoqocv.Not'expressedrepentancetohim,butaphysical action, 'made a metania to him. CI. the Irequent expression cuc/ cuov ctuvoiuv (Kronios 5: P60, M249B ). Similarly Lampe, s.v. ctuvoce C.ouepe, 'Iorgive is post-NT usage, but becomes signifcant in liturgical and patristic language (see Lampe, s.v. 5; Sophocles, s.v.).0ie. Here it shows a weakened meaning, like 'trouble, bother, not 'aIfict etc., as earlier. Ward`s 'made you unhappy is on the right track. Modern 0ie may have a similarly mild sense.aoic. Another example oI present in Iuture sense.aoicctuoocco.AnOldTestamentGreekexpression derivedIromHebrew.'Domercywith'showmercyto.Thisand 28SeeG.P.Shipp,ModernGreekEvidencefortheAncientGreekJocabularv (Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1979) 166-67.29Ward (Savings 202) translates the frst occurrence oI kcpouive in our text as 'to wintheconfdenceoIandthesecondas'converted:butthemeaningought to be the same in both. I do not think the meaning 'avoid, spare oneselI, that is Iound in BDAG (s.v. 2) Ior Acts 27:21, and in LSJ (s.v. III), and might ft here, is soundly established.34The Savings of the Desert FatherstheIollowingkuicvt(vvkuicvt(covtiuieviarebiblicaland liturgicalinoriginandfavour.uaotovvisalsoabiblicalphrase: intheLXXc.20times,notablyinthePsalms,andintheNT8times includingtheextremelyIamiliaruaotovvukupiooicaouiui cvcui (Luke 1:48).ou q Iut., aor. subj. This construction was originally Classical, but is Iound only sporadically in Koine Greek. Its adoption Ior use in the LXX, however, where it is very Irequent as a solemn-sounding negative, ensured its entry into the NT and liturgical Greek.30 It probably continues to have a 'biblical favour in the Savings, though it is not a 'Hebraism. There are many examples.oiutovKupiov.Hereoiu'IorthesakeoI,agoodexample oIextensioninthemeaningoIoiu,leadingtoMod.iu,witharange aswideasEngl.'Ior.CI.alreadyinMark2.27toouutovoiutov v0peaov ccvcto.Signicant features elsewhere in the Morphologvuvuue, 'bring up uvuiue, cI. Mod. uvcue 'bring up (Makarios 30: P69, M273C).31uie(oruie),oioe(-e),ti0e(-e)areIrequent,providing Iurther evidence oI the new thematic Iorms that appeared early in Koine Greek.32coo'be(imper.):utiocqptucvocoocvKupi,'be seasonedwithsaltintheLord(Or13:P127,M440C;alsoAntonios 6: P2, M77A). This echoes Col 4:6 o oo uev... uti qptucvo.33 30See John A. L. Lee, Some Features oI the Speech oI Jesus in Mark`s Gospel` NovT 27 (1985) 1-26, at 18-23.31OnlossoIreduplicationcI.F.T.Gignac,AGrammaroftheGreekPapvriof theRomanandBv:antinePeriods(2vols.;Milano:Cisalpino-LaGoliardica, |1976|, 1981) 2:242-3.32Gignac, Grammar 2:380-3.33Ward has gone quite wrong: 'Let your salvation be Iounded in the Lord. This seems to be a fawed version oI the Latin transl. in Migne: Sale autem conditus sis in Domino.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201535Only rare glimpses oI this replacement Ior o0i are available. Some Iew examples occur in literature, starting with Plutarch.34 PMert 1.45r.6 (V-VI AD) coo oc kui uuto cpo tq ku0|- - -| is a possible instance.qkuv0iov, 'fask, Ior qku0iov: not recorded in LSJ or Lampe, but in Sophocles (Makarios 3: P64, M261A). There is no reason to doubt it is a real Iorm, infuenced by other words ending in -iv0iov.35cuvo,'black,Ioroldercu,continuedinModernGreek (Moyses 4, 8: P72, M284B, 285A). See LSJ, Lampe, Sophocles.pitc,'shiver,originallypice,-oe(Makarios2:P64, M260D).36Jocabularv. common Koineupe, 'take: ocpo ou upov c apo tov uoicu (Poimen 109: P95, M349A ).ukqv, 'still (Sisoes 7: P110, M393B; Arsenios 24: P7, M93C ).uuvie, 'ruin, spoil (Karion 2: P61, M252C).ocpe, 'hit (Zacharias 4: P36, M180B).oiucpe, 'belong to (Karion 2: P60, M252A).cupioke, 'be able (Poimen 111: P95, M349C ).37oio as simple possessive (e.g., Karion 2: P60, 61, M249D, 252A).kuipo, 'period oI time (Karion 2: P60, M249D).aupuue, 'come to, visit (Antonios 12: P2, M77C many).aqv, 'but (Matoes 7: P75, M292B ).aqpoope, 'inIorm (Eucharistos: P32, M169A).tpee, 'eat (Sisoes 31: P113, M401C ).38cue,'goaway(Sisoes27:P113,M401A;Kopris3:P61, M252D).34LSJ,s.v.cii,introd.InH.StJ. Thackeray,AGrammaroftheOldTestament in Greek (Cambridge: CUP, 1909) 257 n. 1, it is noted in Symmachus (without reI.).35See C. D. Buck and W. Petersen, A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Adfectives (Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1945) 73.36See Gignac, Grammar 2:363-5 on the merging oI infectional types in contract verbs.37CI. John A. L. Lee, A Non-Aramaism in Luke 6.7` NovT 33 (1991) 28-34.38CI. Shipp, Modern Greek Evidence 540-41.36The Savings of the Desert Fathers0uve, 'reach, arrive at (Agathon 13: P13, M113A )Jocabularv. new examples of uncommon or unknown words and usesupupio, 'novice, beginner (Esaias 1: P36, M181A).pue / puooe, 'boil (Iood) (Esaias 5/6: P37, M181C).coo, 'landowner (Esaias 4/5, P36, M181B).pu, 'old woman (Sarra 4: P119, M420C ).opu, 'handIul (Esaias 5/6: P37, M181C).cuutov as 1st pers. sing. refexive, 'myselI (Simon 2: P117, M412D).cauipe,'takeaway(Antonios5:P1,M77A).AIurther contributiontotheevidenceIorthederivationoIMod.auipveIrom cauipe (not uauipe).390cepiu, 'vision (Zacharias 4: P36, M180B).ku0uau/kutuau,'eachtime(Kronios5:P60,M249B; Poimen 93: P93, M344D).kpoue, 'run, 'spring up: ooutc kui to epiov to ocvo aou o aotuo kpouci; (Makarios 30: P69, M273C). There is no record oI this use elsewhere. CI. kpouvo, 'spring.uuviov, 'fagon (Moyses 13: P73, M288A).io0oopiu, 'rent; payment, here a special payment in return Ior Ireedom(Mios2:P78,M301C).Lampe(serviceforwages)andWard ('his wages) are on the wrong track. The evidence in late documentary texts(BGU12.2139.12,13|432AD|,17.2696.27|616AD|)helps abetterunderstandingoIthisoldbutrareword.CI.LSJ,Supplement, s.v. (rent, Ior BGU 2139),40 Sophocles ('pavment by a Ireedman to his Iormer master, Ior Mios 2).vcpov, 'water (Ioannes o Kolobos 7: P45, M205B). The standard Mod. word vcpo already in place. II Ioannes` own words are preserved, we could date this example to early V AD (he died in 409, according to Guy). Other evidence around this time is secure but meagre.4139See Shipp, Modern Greek Evidence 243. Exx. Irom other sources in Lampe, s.v. cauipe B, and Sophocles, s.v. cauipe.40P. G. W. Glare, ed., H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, Greek-English Lexicon. Revised Supplement (OxIord: Clarendon, 1996).41See note on POxy 56.3865.35 (late V AD) by M. G. Sirivianou, with reIs. there. Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201537acpve(-ue),'crossover;'passthrough:uociouacpvtqv upuu tuutqv, kui caci c (Or 6: P126, M440A). Here we have a rare early attestation oI what would become a common Modern verb.aoov;'which?what?(olderti;):cvcotiovovcvvik c. Acci...aoovtoto;'Thereisonlyonethinginwhichyoubeat me.` He said, What`s that?` (Makarios 11: P66, M268C ). Evidence oI progress towards the standard modern use. The beginnings are much earlier: cI. LSJ, s.v. aoo IV; BDAG, s.v. aoo 2.ouo, 'halI-witted (Moyses 8: P72, M285A).42oauvioui, 'have pity (Moyses 18: P74, M289A).oue (-ue), 'steal; rob (someone) (Saio: P119, M420B).tce pass., 'become ripe (Arsenios 19: P6, M92C).tiaotc, 'something, anything (Sisoes 7: P110, M393B). Mod. tiaotu.uiov, to, 'Iood (Sisoes 52: P115, M408B).iiov, to, 'crumb (Phokas 2: P124, M433C). Found in the NT (Matt 15:27; Mark 7:28), but not well attested (cI. BDAG, Lampe).SvntaxThe Iuture tense. New ways oI expressing Iuturity are appearing:(a)Thepresentindicative,whichisIrequent(e.g.,Paphnoutios 1/2 quoted above).(b)0ceasIutureauxiliary:aeouv0cciotovucv,q 0cpiou;'howthenwillyoureceivegrainiIyouhavenotharvested? (Esaias 4/5: P36, M181B); q0cc oioui 'he was about to tear it in two (Arsenios 29: P8 M97C; simil. Makarios 1: P64, M260B; Silouanos 1: P115, M408C ).43(c) ce aor. infn. (Sisoes 15: P111, M397A; Arsenios 24: P7, M96A ).44Other auxiliary uses:45(a) ciov infn. 'would have (Makarios 21: P67, M272A).For the date oI Ioannes: Guy, Les Apophtegmes. Collection svstematique 67.42CI. POxy 56.3865.57 with Sirivianou`s note.43CI. Lee, Auxiliary 0ce.`44CI. Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek 33; Horrocks, Greek 130.45CI. Browning, ibid.38The Savings of the Desert Fathers(b) ce pres. part.: cci aoqv epuv kpouev; 'have you been knocking Ior a long time? (Arsenios 27: P7, M96C).(c) cii part.: qqv uvuuivev, 'I used to go up (Poimen 110: P95, M349C).Use oI tenses. Aoristic perIect: ccov acpi to A Mukupiou to cuou, ti covc ku0e coti cpucvov 0co caicio, '|t|hey saidabout AbbaMakariostheGreatthathewas(orbecame),asitis written,Godonearth(Makarios32:P69,M273D;Arsenios32:P9, M100C; Karion 2: P61, M249D ).toasrelative:ckcvotocuocvtquuaqqv,'that(Iood) which we ate was Ior love (Silouanos 1: P115, M408C).ci 'a: kui ioou iu qpu kuuecvq qv oaioe qev, 'and therewasawidowgatheringreedsbehindus(Makarios6/7:P65, M265A; simil. Sisoes 47: P115, M405C ).cauve gen. as prep.: Irequent.oaioe gen. as prep.: Irequent.uuto as demonstr.: uaq0cv ci upov kui ckpuq... oi autcpc... 0uouvtcciuutovtovupov...,'hewentintoafeldandhid...The Iathers, arriving at that feld... (Isaak 1: P51, M224B ).46vutemporal:cpctuikuipo,vuoiv0peaoiuveoi,'atime iscomingwhenmengomad(Antonios24/25:P4,M84C).CI.NT examples noted in BDAG (s.v. vu 2.d.).vuimperativalorjussive:ciocctievtu,vuctuuetq uiukoiveviu,'butiI(youfndme)stillalive,letmereceiveHoly Communion (Phokas 2: P124, M433A ). This phenomenon has a long history,reachingbacktoNTtimesandevenearlierandresultingin imperatival uses oI vu subj. in the modern language.47Idioms and colloquial expressionspouiinfn.,e.g.,eocqputoioiucivuutov,'whenhe cametobe/wasalonewithhim(Makarios3:P65,M264A). Thisis 46On the development oI uuto cI. Horrocks, Greek 128-29.47See, e.g., BDAG, s.v. vu 2.g; Basil G. Mandilaras, The Jerb in the Greek Non-LiterarvPapvri(Athens:HellenicMinistryoICultureandSciences,1973) 585-9.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201539relevanttothedebateabout'pleonasticpouiintheNT,allegedly due to Semitic infuence. A proper study oI the evidence outside the NT has not been done.48ueinfn.'begin(to):cuckpuciv'hebegantoshout (Philagrios: P124, M436A ). CI. Lampe, s.v. C.5.ci tu oiu 'to one`s home: uaq0c ctu up ci tu oiu, 'she went home with joy (Arsenios 28: P8, M97B). CI., e.g., John 16:32.ccto/cactoadv.,'thisyear:cuupiotocvt(Oc(,ti cpccvca`cto|sicM|aou(IoannisoKolobos10:P45,M208A; Or 4: P126, M437C). This is the Mod. (c)cto, 'this year making its appearance. Other evidence around this time can be seen in Sophocles, s.v.cacto,andearlierinLSJ,Supplement,s.v.ccto,improvingthe LSJ entry.qviocvuutovecov'hewaslikeanangeltolookat (Kronios 5: P60, M249B).ioou is Irequent, and not only in the sense oI 'behold, look but also 'here is/was, there is/was (Arsenios 36: P10, M101C; Ammonas 6: P15, M120D ).kccuoov, 'give the word, in eIIect 'please allow: kccuoov vu kue pce cuut(, 'please let me also soak (some palms) Ior myselI (Makarios 4: P65, M264C).oiaov, 'then, thereIore (Sisoes 3: P110, M392D).q ou...; strengthened Iorm oI ou introducing a question expecting theanswer'no:qoukciiqtqpuev;'amInotyourmother? (Poimen 76: P92, M341A). NT instances like 1 Cor 9:4 are clearly similar: q ouk cocv couoiuv ucv kui acv; (cI. BDAG, s.v. q 3.a.).einseveralidiomaticsenses:'atall(Agathon14:P13, M113A;IsidorosthePriest1:P55,M236A);'just(Esaias5/6:P37, M181C; Poimen 154: P99, M360C); 'really, actually (Poimen 76: P92, M341B). The interpretation oI the NT examples at 1 Cor 5:1 and 15:29 might be aided by this evidence (cI. BDAG, s.v. e). oto ouk cci apu, 'he has nothing to do with it (Makarios 1: P64, M260A).48There are numerous examples in the popular I AD text Jita Aesopi (G).40The Savings of the Desert Fathersao cvi oi...; 'how can I...? (Makarios 3: P64, M261B).ae o kooo; 'how`s the world? (Makarios 2: P64, M260D).49aetukutuoc;'howarethingswithyou?(Makarios3:P65, M264A).oe0ciq, 'good health! (Makarios 3: P64, M261B; ).ti cci, autcp; 'what`s up, Iather? (Sisoes 47: P115, M405C).toaov ck toaou, 'to one place aIter another (Synklitiki 6: P120, M424A). The remarkable longevity oI this expression is demonstrated. It is frst attested in a III BC papyrus (PLond 7.2049.8), and sporadically thereaIter. The same syntactic pattern is seen in qcpuv c qcpu (LXX etc.) and other phrases.uoci as an interjection or particle (cI. Engl. 'naturally), with a range oI uses hard to defne precisely: 'in Iact, e.g., kui aooov povov cci eoc; o oc cq 4uoci, A, ce cvocku qvu cv t( pci tout, '... Actually, Abba, I`ve been on this mountain eleven months (Sisoes 7: P110, M393B); 'really, 'truly, e.g., qpetqouv uutov oi uocoi He q aoi; o oc ciac 4uoci, uocoi, ce apooeaov uv0peaou ouk cioov, ciqovovtoupicaiokoaou,'...Truly,brothers,Ididnotseethe Iace oI any man except the Archbishop (Isidoros 8: P50, M221B; simil. Arsenios25:P7,M96A).CI.Lampe,s.v.uoiII.D.2.;Sophocles, s.v.uoi5. ThisidiomaticuociseemstohaveariseninLateKoine, not beIore. There does not appear to be any direct modern descendant oI uoci; but there is uoiku.50 A Iull study would be useIul.Theancient'onomaruleisstillbeingIollowed,i.e.,vou withoutarticleandthepossessoroIthenameindat.,innaming-constructions oI the type 'the name oI x is N: vou oc uutp Huqoiu (Ioannis o Kolobos 40: P49, M217B).51

ThelinguisticvalueoItheSavingsmaterialisestablishedwithlittle 49Thisexpression(intheIormaecivuiokooo;)hascontinuedinuseright uptotoday.IamgrateIultoFrMiltiadesChryssavgisIorconfrmingthisand demonstrating it in conversation with others (on 11th April, 2004).50I thank Emmanuel Roumanis Ior drawing my attention to this.51See John A. L. Lee, The Onoma Rule` NovT 56 (2014) 411-21.Phronema Jolume 30(1), 201541diIfculty.WehavebeenabletoobserveawiderangeoIIeatures, Irom basic Koine Greek continuing in use, to striking instances oI new developments. All oI these help to fll out the record oI the language in this period, a record that is limited Ior this level oI Greek. Besides completing the record Ior possible inclusion in lexicons and other reIerence books, valuewillbeIoundinthisevidenceIorstudiesoIparticularIeatures, such as the development oI the Iuture tense. The study oI the history oI the Greek language is not yet complete by any means.TwoIurtherobservationsmaybemade.Thisstudyshowsthat there are untapped sources oI evidence still available. Periods Ior which we thought we had little inIormation turn out to be witnessed to by texts into which little or no enquiry has been made. Work needs to continue on these less obvious sources. Essential to Iurther progress is the combining oIevidenceIromallavailablesourcesanderas,eventhosedistantin time. Electronic databases and searching tools have changed the nature oI such work and made it immensely Iaster and easier than ever beIore.The second point concerns the recording oI the results. How will it happen? Printed lexicons (and grammars) take many years to be updated and even then cannot include all the material available. Recording oI data is haphazard and slow. New observations are scattered through multiple publications and easily missed. Moreover, there is as yet no lexicon that is devoted to the Koine Greek period: Lampe is Iocused on theological vocabularyandleavestheresttobetakencareoIbyLSJ;LSJitselI isIocusedontheClassicalperiod,withhaphazardcoverageoIlater Greek;52 the Mega Lexikon covers everything Irom Classical to Modern, but has many gaps (and is unlikely to be updated); the excellent lexicon oI Kriaras begins its coverage later;53 and the specialist lexicons oI the NT 52TheDiccionarioGriego-Espaol,ed.F.R.Adrados,etal.,(7vols.todate; Madrid: SCIC, 1980-2009) provides better coverage oI the post-Classical period than LSJ but still does not cover Koine Greek in depth, and has a long way to go to reach completion.53E.Kriaras,Aciko:pncooicvikpTpvikpopncoocyoonno:cio1100-1669(14vols.todate;Thessaloniki:RoyalHellenicResearchFoundation, 1968-1997). For the Mega Lexikon see n. 20.42The Savings of the Desert Fathersand LXX are Iocused on what concerns them. But the era oI these works is coming to an end. Electronic databases will serve the same purpose in a Iar more eIfcient way. This is not to say that printed lexicons will cease to exist, only that the major storehouse oI lexicographical data will be an electronic database. This is a development not yet achieved, but one to be sought and welcomed.5454CI.JohnA.L.Lee,ALexicographicalDatabaseIorGreek:CanitbeFar OII? The Case oI amphodon` in M. Karrer, W. Kraus, and M. Meiser, eds., Die Septuaginta-Texte,Kontexte,Lebenswelten(Tbingen:MohrSiebeck,2008) 214-20.