04 Jan 2023, 2:34 pm
naturalplastic wrote:
On the other hand the word 'ark' is puzzling in the Bible. There is..."Noah's Ark", and then there is "there Ark of the Covenant". In one instance ark means a big boat, in the other it means a portable container. Well...there IS a word in Anglo Saxon English that can have that range of meanings. Its the word "vessel". A "vessel" can be either a milk pitcher, or a navy cruiser. So why didnt they translate the word "ark" as "vessel"? Wondered that since I was a kid.
This is where it helps to go look up what the English word meant at the time of that famous King James translation in the 1600s.
There have been some significant migrations of word meaning, and pronunciation shifts, since then.
Online Etymology is a good and easily accessible reference.
For instance: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=ark
Quote:
ark (n.)
Middle English arke, from Old English earc, Old Northumbrian arc, mainly meaning Noah's, but also the Ark of the Covenant (the coffer holding the tables of the law in the sanctum sanctorum), from Latin arca "large box, chest" (see arcane), the word used in the Vulgate. It also was borrowed in Old High German (arahha, Modern German Arche).
In general as "a coffer, a box" by late 12c. Also sometimes in Middle English "the breast or chest as the seat of emotions." From the Noachian sense comes the extended meaning "place of refuge" (17c.). As the name of a type of ship or boat, from late 15c. In 19c. U.S., especially a large, flat-bottomed river boat to move produce, livestock, etc. to market.
Middle English arke, from Old English earc, Old Northumbrian arc, mainly meaning Noah's, but also the Ark of the Covenant (the coffer holding the tables of the law in the sanctum sanctorum), from Latin arca "large box, chest" (see arcane), the word used in the Vulgate. It also was borrowed in Old High German (arahha, Modern German Arche).
In general as "a coffer, a box" by late 12c. Also sometimes in Middle English "the breast or chest as the seat of emotions." From the Noachian sense comes the extended meaning "place of refuge" (17c.). As the name of a type of ship or boat, from late 15c. In 19c. U.S., especially a large, flat-bottomed river boat to move produce, livestock, etc. to market.
For a secular book which by happenstance sheds light within its content on some Biblical usage of English words and how their usage has changed between the 1600s and 2000s look up, Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally) by John McWhorter, September 2016
| Similar Topics | |
|---|---|
| MT Greene: Rapper Wannabe on American Idol in '02? |
10 Feb 2024, 11:21 am |
| American Musicians: Tiny Desk Contest is OPEN!!! |
23 Jan 2024, 11:05 am |
| Uranus & Neptune Aren't Made of What We Thought |
Yesterday, 5:53 pm |
| Documentary ‘Understanding Autism’ made by Autistic |
09 Mar 2024, 4:13 pm |
