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Document Details : Title: How Much did they Know? Subtitle: Neologisms vs. Early Attestations of Two Medical Terms in LvOG Author(s): PAREDES, J. Alberto Journal: Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies Volume: 58 Date: 2025 Pages: 81-95 DOI: 10.2143/JSCS.58.0.3295595 Abstract : This article challenges the prevailing view that σημασία and γονορρυής in Old Greek Leviticus (LvOG 13 and 15) are Septuagintal neologisms or semantically innovative renderings prompted by the Hebrew Vorlage. Through a systematic comparison with Greek medical literature from the late Classical to the Roman period, both terms are shown instead to reflect established technical vocabulary of ancient medicine. Σημασία corresponds closely to the semiological use of √σημ- derivatives (especially σημασία itself) in Hippocratic, Aretaean, and Galenic texts, where the word denotes a physical 'sign' or 'indicator' that permits prognosis. Similarly, γονορρυής and the underlying phrase ῥέων γόνον (LvOG 15:3) anticipate the later medical compound γονόρροια/γονορρυής, which becomes ubiquitous from the 1st century AD onward and likely originated in Hellenistic medical circles that still preferred γόνος over σπέρμα for semen. These findings suggest that the translator of Leviticus possessed familiarity — direct or indirect — with specialized Greek medical terminology current in 3rd century BC Alexandria, reinforcing the integration of Septuagint translators within broader Hellenistic scholarly culture and inviting further exploration of medico-scientific vocabulary in the Greek Pentateuch. |
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