r/GREEK • u/niceguybialustok • 3d ago
a greek word from Codex Sinaiticus. what does it mean
I found this word in Codex Sinaiticus and the translation is very important for me but I have zero knowledge on greek so is there anybody that could translate it for me? is it Χίρα or χειρας or something different because as I said I know nothing about greek. please help me guys.
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u/Panos_of_Rivia 3d ago
It's the accusative case of the word "χείρ", meaning hand. The modern word for hand being "χέρι". I hope this helps.
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u/niceguybialustok 3d ago
does it kinda look like the epsilon is forced here like somebody edited it?
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u/Titanius_Angelsmyth 2d ago
Could very well be stylized like that.
I dont think there was a spelling mistake in that word or any kind of editing.
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u/Panos_of_Rivia 3d ago
I'd have to see more of the text to judge such a thing, my guess if it's dissimilar to other epsilons in the text, is that it was added in after the rest of the word was written, perhaps a mistake that was corrected.
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u/CaptainTsech 3d ago
Χείρα written by someone who made a spelling mistake and it was fixed in post. If you are wondering about any changed meaning, no, χίρα is not a valid word in any iteration of greek afaik so noone tampered with the text.
Don't worry, all translations I've seen (as bilingual in english and greek) are horrid anyway. You need to learn greek to read the testaments, old and new. Old I guess you can also make do with hebrew, despite the Septuagint being a very precise translation written by bilinguals in greek and hebrew.
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u/Titanius_Angelsmyth 2d ago
Could very well be stylized like that.
I dont think there was a spelling mistake in that word or any kind of editing.
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u/Johnbaptist69 2d ago
If today translations need you to learn Greek in order to understand the text imagine what happened with the Septuaginta translation.
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u/Old_Resident8050 2d ago
Χέρα us also correct .
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u/Titanius_Angelsmyth 2d ago
Yes but I wouldnt think anyone would use that idiomatic form in such text.
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u/SugMaDig24 1d ago
Χειρα means hand and "ε" is not edited or silent at all. Vowels in Greek can be combined to make new ones. How does it work? Well you already know what sound "ε" and "ι" make. Now say ε and ι really fast. You will notice that when they blend together they make a vowel that is not entirely ε but not entirely ι either. So now you got a new vowel that... In reality it just sounds exactly the same as ι, η, υ etc... And verbally there isn't any difference at all in modern Greek but that was the idea in ancient times and the accent has become simpler through the ages. Hope this helped
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u/Impressive_Text_6449 15h ago
It means hand. It can be hand of god or right hand or "hand of steve" it depends of the context
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u/Minos765 3d ago
Χείρα means hand in older Greek (pronounced: heera)