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Headword:
*)/abusson
Adler number: alpha,104
Translated headword: abyss
Vetting Status: high
Translation: [Meaning] that which not even a deep [
buqo/s] can contain; but Ionians pronounce
buqo/s as
busso/s.[1]
From which also
bussodomeu/ein ["to build in the deep"] appears to be said,[2] from the verb
du/nw ["I sink"] [meaning] I enter upon secretly, with a change [of initial consonant] [giving]
bu/w,
bu/sw,
be/busmai,
be/busai, [and the nouns]
buso/s and
a)bu/ssos [meaning] where no-one enters because of its depth.[3]
Aristophanes in
Frogs [writes]: "for immediately you will come to a huge lake, an absolute abyss."[4] And he also uses the word in the neuter: "they shall not make peace while the measureless [
a)/busson] silver is with the goddess on the Acropolis." For 1,000 talents were stored on the Acropolis.[5]
"Abyss" is what the Holy Scripture calls the watery substance. So since the land is surrounded on all sides by waters [and] by great and small seas,
David naturally called this [i.e., abyss] the earth's surrounding garment.[6] Also, "abyss calls to abyss", the same prophet says,[7] meaning figuratively military divisions and the excessive size of the multitude.[8]
"I was under water as [if] in a kind of abyss."[9]
So an abyss [is] a great amount of water.
*)/abusson: h(\n ou)de\ buqo\s xwrh=sai du/natai: *)/iwnes de\ to\n buqo\n busso/n fasin. o(/qen dokei= le/gesqai kai\ bussodomeu/ein, para\ to\ du/nw, to\ u(peise/rxomai, kata\ troph\n bu/w, bu/sw, be/busmai, be/busai, buso\s kai\ a)bu/ssos, ou(= ou)dei\s ei)se/rxetai dia\ to\ ba/qos. *)aristofa/nhs *batra/xois: eu)qu\s ga\r e)pi\ li/mnhn mega/lhn h(/ceis pa/nu a)/busson. kai\ ou)dete/rws fhsi\n o( au)to/s: e(/ws a)\n h)=| to\ a)rgu/rion to\ a)/busson para\ th=| qew=|, ou)k ei)rhneu/sousin. e)n ga\r th=| a)kropo/lei xi/lia ta/lanta a)pe/keito. *)/abusson kalei= th\n u(gra\n ou)si/an h( qei/a grafh/. e)pei\ ou)=n h( gh= pantaxo/qen u(/dasi perie/xetai mega/lois kai\ mikroi=s pela/gesin, ei)ko/tws peribo/laion au)th=s ei)/rhken o( *dabi/d. kai\, a)/bussos a)/busson e)pikalei=tai, o( au)to\s profh/ths fhsi/n: ta\ stratiwtika\ le/gwn ta/gmata kai\ th\n tou= plh/qous u(perbolh\n tropikw=s. w(s e)n a)bu/ssw| tini\ u(pobru/xios e)geno/mhn. *)/abussos ou)=n u(da/twn plh=qos polu/.
Notes:
See also
alpha 105.
[1] This comment on Ionian pronunciation comes from the scholiast on
Aristophanes,
Frogs 138, quoted later in the entry.
[2] In
Homer,
Odyssey, where
bussodomeu/w occurs most frequently, it has the sense "brood over."
[3] cf.
Etymologicum Magnum 4.44. These are principal parts of the verb
bu/w, which means "to stuff," followed by
buso/s, which does not exist according to LSJ. Probably this is a mistake for
busso/s, "depth of the sea" (cf.
beta 598,
busso/n). The Suda generally has little concern for the distinction between single and double consonants. The author thus seems to propose a very dubious etymology: that
a)-bussos literally means "unstuffable" -- i.e., unable to be entered. [Ms M (=
Marcianus 448) omits this sentence.]
[4]
Aristophanes,
Frogs 137-8 (web address 1).
[5] "Silver" [
a)rgu/rion] is a neuter noun in Greek, while lake [
li/mnh] in the previous sentence is feminine; the point is that the same form
a)/busson is used with both. The sentence quoted here is actually part of a scholion to
Aristophanes,
Lysistrata 173 (web address 2);
Aristophanes uses the phrase
to\ a)rgu/rion to\ a)/busson in that line itself.
[6]
Psalm 103:6
LXX. See again under
pi 1083.
[7]
Psalm 41:8
LXX.
[8] Referring to the continuation of
Psalm 41:8
LXX, "all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (KJV).
[9] From Theodoret's commentary (PG 80.1173) on
Psalm 41:8
LXX.
Web address 1,
Web address 2
Keywords: Christianity; comedy; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; economics; epic; geography; history; imagery; military affairs; proverbs; religion
Translated by: Elizabeth Vandiver on 21 November 1998@17:02:02.
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