‘What is this? This is a Celtic Cross.’ in Latin:

Video 1: In this video, I ask: ‘What is this? This is a Celtic Cross.’ in Latin.

Figure 1: A wooden Celtic Cross that my father made.

In Latin:

‘Quid est hoc?’

Rhythmically:

‘Quíd ést hóc?’

In English:

‘What is this?’

In Latin:

‘Hoc est Crux Celtica.’

Rhythmically:

‘Hóc ést Crúx Céltica.’

In English:

‘This is a Celtic Cross.’

In Latin:

‘Quō est haec crux facta?’

Rhythmically:

‘Quóó ést há͡éá͡éc crúx fácta?’

In English:

‘What is this cross made with?’

‘With what is this cross made?’

In Latin:

‘Haec crux est lignō facta.’

Rhythmically:

‘Há͡éá͡éc crúx ést lígnoo fácta.’

In English:

‘This cross is made with wood.’

In Latin:

‘Quis fēcit hanc crucem?’

Rhythmically:

‘Q͡uís féécit hánc crúcem.’

In English:

‘Who made this cross?’

In Latin:

‘Pater meus hanc crucem fēcit.’

Rhythmically:

‘Páter méus hánc crúcem féécit.’

In English:

‘My father made this cross.’

In Latin:

‘Pater meus est hanc crucis factor.’

Rhythmically:

‘Páter méus ést hánc crúcis fáctor.’

In English:

‘My father is the maker of this cross.’

‘My father is this cross’s maker.’

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Google Doc version:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XTIN4QHcKL-1EMkXCJ6Lp90YB3-JQrVeNCM1qIm15Ek/edit?usp=sharing

Death Shall Find a Way!

I am just doing some Wheelock’s Latin (6^th Edition 2005).

Figure 1: My trusty copy of Wheelock’s Latin. Depicted in the Mosaic is Virgil Among the Muses.

Dr Ian Malcom played by Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park (2003) famously said:

‘Life finds a way.’

Video 1: An iconic scene from Jurassic Park (2003)

Our phrase from Virgil (70 BCE- 19 BCE):

‘Fāta viam invenient.’

or, rhythmically:

‘Fááta víam invénient.’

can be loosely translated as:

‘Death shall find a way.’

However, literally, our phrase from Virgil means:

‘The fates shall find a way.’

From the Latin, ‘fāta’, we derive the English adjective: ‘fatal’.

Gnosis Falsely So Called:

mathsandcomedy.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/gnosis_falsely_so_called.pdf

Introduction:

I could listen to Dr. Robert McNair Price (1954-) all day. The MythVision YouTube channel, seems to be where this great sage hangs out, these days. I can listen to 30-minute talk after 30-minute talk of his for ages.

The poor man seems failed, though, and not long for this world. Saturn mows down all living things beneath his scythe to make way for a newer, fitter, generation, and, alas, Price will one day—like us all—be harvested by the Grim Reaper, Saturn. I hope and pray, though, that he might live for another decade or more.

At present I am reading his Jesus is Dead (2007), which is a critical examination of arguments made by Christian apologists in favour of the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ. What I love about this book, is that Price ridicules and mocks the apologists’ rogues gallery when such scorn be necessary. In this article, I shall examine what Price said concerning 1^st Timothy 6:20 in a recent MythVision video.

Body:

The Independent Fundamentalist Anabaptist, Matt Powell, recently came out with a YouTube “movie” promoting creationism entitled: Science Falsely So Called (2018).

This film derives its title from the King James Version: Blayney Edition (1769) rendering of 1^st Timothy 6:20:

‘O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:’

.

Let us examine 1^st Timothy 6:20 as it appears in the Clementine Vulgate:

‘Ō Tīmothee, dēpositum cū̆stōdī, dēvītāns profānās vōcum novitātēs, et oppositiōnēs falsī nōminis scientiae,’

‘ÓÓ Tiimóthee, deepósitum cuustóódii/custóódii, deevíítaans profáánaas vóócum novitáátees, ét oppositióónees fálsii nóóminis sciéntiææ,’

‘ÓÓ Tiimóthee, deepósitum custóódii, deevíítaans profáánaas vóócum novitáátees, ét oppositióónees fálsii nóóminis sciéntiææ,’

. My translation of the Clementine Vulgate is as follows:

‘O Timothy! Keep that which was placed down, avoiding the novelties of profane voices, and [the] oppositions of science falsely so named.’

Note how similar my translation of the Vulgate is to the KJV’s translation. In the KJV:

‘… the oppositions of science falsely so called.’

is basically a transliteration of the Vulgate’s:

‘…oppositiōnēs falsī nōminis scientiae.’

Thus, the KJV is not the literary bastion of anti-catholicism that the likes of the New-Independent-Fundamentalist-Anabaptist Pastor, Steven Anderson, would like you to think that it was. The Catholic Vulgate was a major influence on the KJV translators.

According to Price, the verse delineated suprā is a nod and a wink, by the author of 1st Timothy, to the Antitheses of Marcion of Pontus (circā 85 C.E.- circā 160 C.E.)

Marcionism, in a nutshell, was the rejection of the Old Testament, and its God, as evil.

Marcion wrote a book, in which he contrasted the Old-Testament God with the New-Testament God, and this—now lost—book was entitled: Antitheses.

Let us now examine 1^st Timothy 6:20 in the Koine Greek of Scrivener’s (1894) Textus Receptus:

Ὦ Τῑμόθεε, τὴν παρακαταθήκην φύλαξον, ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως·

‘Ō̂ Tīmót͡hee, tē̂n parakatat͡hḗkēn phúlaxon, ektrepómenos tā̀s bebḗlous kenop͡hōníās kaì antit͡héseis tē̂s p͡seudōnúmou gnṓseōs.’

Let us examine the Greek verse, suprā, in Young’s Literal Translation (1862) of the Textus Receptus:

‘O Timotheus, the thing entrusted guard thou, avoiding the profane vain-words and opposition of the falsely-named knowledge,’

.

According to Dr. Bob, the Greek verse, suprā, is a warning by Saint Paul, against Marcion’s book: The Antitheses and against the gnosticism of the Marcionite sect. According to the author of 1st Timothy, the Marcionite sect has a false Gnosis, whereas the more orthodox Pauline sect, represented in the Book of 1st Timothy, has the true Gnosis; the true salvific knowledge.

Summary:

Doctor Robert McNair Price’s scholarly ouevre is fascinating. Price’s humorous demeanour, in both his speeches and his writings, rivets the hearer/reader to material that is at times difficult. We are discussing the turgid fields of Ancient History and Textual Criticism, after all. In Jesus is Dead (2007) Price argues that the Bible becomes much more interesting, and much more fun to study, once one jettisons the notion that this Bible constitutes an inerrant revelation from a God… and I strongly agree with him concerning this point.

Duolingo Lesson: Wednesday 22nd July: Hebrew Determiners:

zeh_determiner_demonstrative_colon_this-copy-1.docx

zeh_determiner_demonstrative_colon_this-copy.pdf

Introduction:

At present, that I may one day be able to read the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, or “Old Testament” in its original Hebrew, I am studying Modern Hebrew, for free, via the Duolingo App. I employ this gamified app so as to learn a form of Hebrew that is more similar to Classical/Biblical Hebrew than it is dissimilar. I can, therefore, through the employment of Brown, Driver Briggs and wiktionary, leverage this addictive, and free gamified app so as to learn some Classical/Biblical Hebrew. According to Hector Avalos in The End of Biblical Studies (2007), even though biblical studies is both a dying and oversubscribed [1] profession, nevertheless there is a shortage of talent and competency for the few lecturing positions available. At PhD level, Avalos recommends that those wishing to lecture, should know at least four languages among the following:

 Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, Aramaic and Syriac,

to some degree of fluency, and that, ideally, one would also be able to decipher some French, Coptic, and Akkadian, as well.

Therefore, wishing eventually to lecture Philosophy of Religion[2] at a PhD level, some day, I am actively trying to learn Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German and Aramaic and Syriac. Aramaic and Syriac are dialects of the same language. The gamified nature of Duolingo is enabling me to build up competency in a lot of the above-mentioned languages.

In this article, I examine some instances of Hebrew determiners.

Body:

 

Masculine Singular Form:

The Hebrew word, infrā:

 

זֶה

is a ‘determiner,’ which means:

‘this (masculine, singular)’

. The Hebrew word, suprā, when transliterated into the alphabet used by English speakers, appears thus:

‘zēh.’

The word, suprā, when its phonemes be transcribed phonetically into the International Phonetic Alphabet appears thus:

/zeː/

The word, suprā, whenspelled with Hebrew letters, appears thus:

‘zayin, segol; hey.’

In Biblical Hebrew, we employ the phrase:

הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה

or, when transliterated into the alphabet that English speakers use:

‘had͡ħd͡ħāb͡hā́r hazzḗh;’

‘had͡ħ-d͡ħāb͡hā́r haz-zḗh;’

to mean:

‘this thing.’

The phrase suprā—when its phonemes be transcribed, employing, in so doing, the International Phonetic Alphabet—appear thus:

/had.daː.ˈvaːr haz.ˈzeː/

The phrase, suprā, when spelled using Hebrew letters appears thus:

‘hey, pathach; daleth, dagesh forte, qamats; veith, qamats; reish. hey, pathach; zayin, segol; hey.’

Feminine Singular Form:

The Hebrew word, infrā:

זֺאת

is a determiner which means:

 ‘this (feminine, singular).’

The Hebrew word, suprā, when transliterated into the letters of the alphabet used by English speakers, appears thus:

‘zōʔt͡h.’

. The Hebrew word, suprā, when the phonemes, which comprise it, are transcribed into the International Phonetic alphabet, appears thus:

/zoˑʔθ/

/ˈzoˑʔ.θə/

. The word, suprā, when spelled using Hebrew letters, appears thus:

‘zayin, defective cholam; aleph; tau.’

.

Conclusion:

Having examined these Modern-Hebrew determiners—encountered by means of the Duolingo app—and thereupon examining the Classical-Hebrew equivalents of these two determiners, we can now confidently proceed in our studies of Modern Hebrew, employing Duolingo as an instrument in this endeavor.

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[1] That is to say that there are many more post-graduates who wish to lecture biblical studies than there exist accredited universities, colleges, and seminaries with lecturing positions available.

[2] I prefer to call this field: “Philosophy of Religion” rather than to call it: “Theology.” Philosophy of Religion does not assume the existence of God, whereas Theology does. ‘Philosophy of Religion’ is a more neutral term for this field that both theists and atheists can accept.

The Classical Latin Alphabet:

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You may view the SVG vector code for the Latin portico image at my Codepen account

Here is a Microsoft Word version of this blogpost:

the_latin_alphabet_my

Here is a pdf version of this blogpost:

the_latin_alphabet_my

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Figure 1: The Latin Alphabet. The word ‘abecedarium,’ in English, can mean ‘an alphabet inscribed into stone.’ Hence, this portico, with the Latin alphabet inscribed onto its frieze, is a diagram of an ‘abecedarium,’ in the English sense of the word, as well.

Introduction:

In beginning our study of the Classical Latin language, we shall begin with its alphabet. We shall learn the Latin name of its letters, and how these letters ought to be pronounced.

The Latin word for ‘alphabet’ is ‘abecedārium.’^[i]

Body:

Classical Latin possesses an alphabet that contains twenty-three letters. These letters are as follows:

Table 1: The Classical Latin Alphabet. The diligent student will pronounce the letters of this alphabet, aloud, over and over again; and shall write them out, over and over again; until he/she will have committed this alphabet, and the names of its letters, to memory.

The Classical Latin Alphabet:
Latin Lowercase Letter:	Latin Uppercase Letter:	Letter Name in Latin:	How to Pronounce the Letter’s Name in Phonemic Transcription:
a	A	ā	/aː/
b	B	bē	/beː/
c	C	cē	/keː/
d	D	dē	/deː/
f	F	ef	/ɛf/
g	G	gē	/geː/
h	H	hā	/haː/
i[ii]	I	ī	/iː/
k	K	kā	/kaː/
l	L	el	/ɛl/
m	M	em	/ɛm/
n	N	en	/ɛn/
o	O	ō	/oː/
p	P	pē	/peː/
q	Q	qū	/kuː/
r	R	er	/ɛr/
s	S	es	/ɛs/
t	T	tē	/teː/
u[iii]	V	ū	/uː/
x	X	ix	/ɪx/ /ix/
y[iiii]	Y	ī Graeca	/iː ˈgra͡ɪ.ka/, /iː ˈgra͡ɪ.kɑ/
z	Z	zēta	/ˈsdeː.ta/, /ˈzdeː.ta/, /ˈsdeː.tɑ/, /ˈzdeː.tɑ/

Conclusion:

In this chapter have examined the alphabet of the classical Latin language. We have committed the knowledge:

• that the Latin word for ‘alphabet’ is ‘abecedārium;’
• that the Latin Alphabet comprises twenty-three letters;
• which letters comprise the Latin Alphabet;
• the names of the Latin letters;
• how the names of the Latin Letters are pronounced in Latin.

to memory. Our now having acquired the above-listed knowledge, we can now move forth to following chapters that will treat of the pronunciation of Latin in greater detail.

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[1] ‘The Classical Latin Alphabet’ can also be referred to as ‘the Classical Roman Alphabet.’

Endnotes for the Chapter, ‘The Classical Latin Alphabet:’

^[i] The Latin, ‘abecedārium,’ genitive singular: ‘abecedāriī,’ is a 2^nd-declension neuter noun. The first four letters of the Latin alphabet are:

‘ā,’ ‘bē,’ ‘cē,’ ‘dē

.

Hence from the first four letters of the Latin alphabet we derive the word:

‘“ā,”-“bē,”-“cē,”-“d’”-“-ārium.”’

The 2^nd-declension neuter nominal suffix: ‘-ārium,’ genitive singular: ‘-āriī,’ denotes ‘a place where things are kept.’ Where do we keep our letters? We keep our letters in an ‘alphabet,’ or, in Latin, in an ‘abecedārium.’

Hence, etymologically, in Latin, an ‘abecedārium,’ can be defined as: ‘a place where we keep the Latin letters, “ā,” “bē,” “cē,” “dē,” etc.’

^[ii]Properly speaking, there is no ‘j’ or ‘J’ in Latin. However, one will often see this character’s being employed—usually in Church texts and other works composed later than the Classical epoch—to denote a consonantal ‘i,’ or ‘I.’ In Latin, ‘i,’ as a vowel, is pronounced, when short, as /ɪ/ or /i/; and when long as /iː/.

In Latin, consonantal ‘i’ can be represented by the IPA symbol, /j/. The consonantal ‘i,’—or ‘j,’ as one sometimes sees (in Church texts)—represents this very /j/ sound. The consonantal ‘i’ in the Latin word, ‘iugum,’ or ‘jugum,’ /ˈjʊ.ɡʊm/ that means ‘yoke,’ is pronounced as the ‘y’ in the English word, ‘yurt,’ i.e. as: /jεːt/.

^[iii]In Classical Latin, properly, ‘u,’ and ‘v’ are the same letter. Properly, a ‘V’ is nothing more than the capital form of the lowercase ‘u.’ Therefore, strictly speaking, the presence of a lowercase ‘v,’ in a classical Latin text, is an aberration. Oxford University Press wishes, eventually, to strike this aberration from all of its Latin publications, and I wish them well with this endeavour. Hence, the word ‘verbum,’ that one may observe in present O.U.P. Latin texts will eventually become ‘uerbum.’ However, this practice, today, is far from standard. I prefer this practice, and this is the practice that is employed by Peter V. Jones and Keith C. Sidwell’s Reading Latin: Text Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986. However, these texts—although I deem them more correct—are still in the minority. At present, in most Latin texts, a ‘u,’ or a ‘U,’ is employed to represent the letter ‘u,’ as a vowel; and a ‘v’ or a ‘V’ is employed to represent the letter ‘u,’ as a consonant. Hence, the letter ‘u,’ or ‘U,’ when short, can be said to represent the phonemes: /ʊ/ or /u/ and, when long it can be said to represent the phoneme /uː/. The letter ‘v’ or ‘V’ can be said to represent the phoneme /w/. This will be the practice employed in this present work. Although not our focus, in Church texts, the letter ‘v,’ or ‘V’ can be said to represent the phoneme /v/.

The technical name for the phoneme, /v/, is ‘voiced labiodental fricative.’

The Phonetics term, ‘voiced,’ informs us that vibrating air from the vocal chords is involved in the pronunciation of /v/.

The Phonetics term, ‘labiodental,’ informs us that both the lips and the teeth are involved in the pronunciation of /v/.

The English adjective, ‘labiodental’ is derived from the New Latin 3^rd-declension adjective, ‘labiōdentālis, labiōdentāle,’ genitive singular: ‘labiōdentālis,’ genitive plural: ‘labiōdentālium,’ base: ‘labiōdentāl-.’ This New Latin word is derived from the Classical Latin 2^nd-declension neuter noun, ‘labium,’ genitive singular: ‘labiī,’ which means ‘lip;’ and from the Classical Latin 3^rd-declension masculine noun, ‘dēns,’ genitive singular: ‘dentis,’ genitive plural: ‘dentium,’ which means ‘tooth;’ and from the 3^rd-declension adjectival suffix, ‘-ālis, -āle.’

Hence, etymologically, in this instance, the English adjective, ‘labiodental’ denotes ‘the use of the lips and the teeth in the articulation of a phoneme.’

The Phonetics term, ‘fricative,’ informs us that turbulence, caused by the air escaping from a narrow channel—in this instance, the mouth and lips—is involved in the pronunciation of /v/.

^[iiii]As with ‘i,’ the Latin letter, ‘y,’ can function as a vowel or as a consonant. Its name in Latin is ‘ī Graeca’ which means ‘Greek “i.”’ When the character, ‘y,’ functions as a consonant, it is said to represent the phoneme, /j/, and on the occasions that ‘y’ functions as a vowel, when short it can be said to represent the phonemes: /ɪ/ or /i/ and when long—i.e. when a macron should appear above it, as: ‘ȳ’—it can be said to represent the phoneme: /iː/.

The Elements of Euclid in Greek and Latin

I was trying to parse my way through an edition of The Elements in Greek and Latin:

https://archive.org/details/euclidisoperaomn01eucluoft/page/x

The name of The Elements in Ancient Greek is:

Στοιχει̃a

or, when transliterated:

Stoicheĩa

.

The Ancient-Greek word, τὰ στοιχει̃α or, when transliterated ‘tà stoicheĩa,’ is a plural form of the 2nd-declension neuter verb, τὸ στοιχει̃ον genitive: του̃ στοιχείου or, when transliterated: ‘tò stoicheĩon,’ genitive: ‘toũ stoicheíou.’

The Ancient-Greek word, ‘tò stoicheĩon,’ can mean ‘an element in a set.’

Figure 1: The elements of this set are alpha, beta, gamma and delta.

The Ancient-Greek word, ‘tò stoicheĩon,’ is formed from the Ancient-Greek masculine noun, ὁ στοι̃χος genitive: του̃ στοίχου or, when transliterated, ‘ho stoĩchos,’ genitive: ‘toũ stoíchou,’ which means ‘steps,’ or ‘a flight of stairs;’ and the Ancient-Greek 2nd-declension neuter nominal suffix, ‘-eĩon,’ genitive: ‘-eíou’ which denotes ‘a means (of),’ ‘an instrument of;’ etc.

Figure 2: a ‘stoĩchos’ or ‘series of steps.’

The term, ‘stoĩchos,’ according to Wiktionary, may be traced back to the indo-european word:

*steigʰ

, which means:

‘climb.’

Hence, etymologically, the Ancient-Greek term, ‘stoicheĩa,’ can be said to mean: ‘the means of climbing up;’ ‘the means of stepping up;’ ‘the means of ascent;’ etc.

This is highly instructive, as, in truth, Elements is a book that is a Jacob’s ladder, of sorts, by which one can ascend, element by element, into the heavens of mathematical knowledge.

Figure 3: With The Elements of Euclid, we advance in our mathematical knowledge element by element. Each element is, conceptually, like a rung, heaving us upwards to Mathematical prowess; to an implicit knowledge of Euclidean Geometry.

The Israeli Supreme Court:

​The Israeli Supreme Court is called the:

בֵּית הַמִּשְׁפָּט הַעֶלְיוֹן

, or the ‘beith ham-mish(e)pāth hang-ngelyôn;’ or the ‘beith ham-mish(e)pāth ha’elyôn.’
This, translated most literally is “The Highest House of Law.”
It can be also translated as ‘The Supreme House of Law,’ or ‘The Supreme Court.’
The word:

בַּיִת

or ‘bayith’ is in the construct state, i.e. which indicates that the words that follow are in the Genitive Case. The Definite prefixes ‘ha-‘ prefixed to ‘mish(e)path’ and ‘ngelyôn’ or ”elyôn’ is further indication that these two words are in the Genitive.
The word ‘Ngelyôn’ or ”elyôn’ which means ‘highest’ or ‘supreme’ is used as an a determiner and an epithet for the deity of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. The Original Canophoenecian religion whence Old Testament Judaism sprung was Polytheistic. El, had a wife:

אֲשֵׁרָה

or ‘Ăshe(i)râh,’ and ruled over a council of gods, much like Zeus on Mount Olympus. El’s Mount Olympus, though, was Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb.

 

Figure 1: This is “Asheirah” or El’s wife in Phoenician, the language that the Canophoenicians would have spoken. You are meant to read the symbols from right to left, and try to divine some sort of meaning. “Nōmen ōmen.” as the Romans used to say. “A Person’s Name is Ominous.” So we have an Ox head; a pair of incisors, or cutting teeth; a head; and a man praising, or saying “look over here!” From this I get “The strength of passionate [erotic/romantic love] and the first to be praised.” What any man would say of his wife, god or not.
Old Testament Judaism, springing from Canophoenecianism, was originally “Henotheistic.” ‘Henotheism’ is ‘the worship of One Supreme Deity as the deity particular to the religion, but without denying the existence of the deities of other religions.’
Etymologically ‘henotheism’ is derived from εἵς or ‘eís’ which means ‘one;’ and ὁ θεός or ‘ho theós,’ which means ‘god.’

אֵל עֶליוֹן

or ‘E(i)l Elyôn’ or ‘God of the Highest’ or ‘Supreme God,’ is a title of the deity of the Hebrew Bible.
The English adjective ‘supreme’ comes from a superlative of the Latin ‘super’ which means ‘above.’ A ‘Supreme Court’ is ‘the above-est court,’ ‘a court that is above all others in the land.’
‘Beith ham-mish(e)path hang-ngelyôn’ seems to be a ‘calque’ or an ‘etymological translation’ or ‘etymological tracing’ of the English term, ‘Supreme Court.’
The grammatical term, ‘calque,’ is etymologically related to ‘chalk.’ We use chalk to trace things. As Coolio put it in Gangsta’s Paradise you better not disrespect him or ‘you and your homies gonna be lined in chalk’!

 

Figure 2: “…or you and your homies gonna be lined in chalk.” Gangsta’s Paradise (1995). Coolio. I drew this graphic in Inkscape.

I am a Wise Architect

Figure 1: I drew this compass in Inkscape.

Ἐγώ εἰμί σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων

Egṓ eimí sophòs architéktōn

Well, not quite! However, I am getting there!

I never had any interest in Mathematics, or Architecture, or Technical drawing at school… however, I believe that Latin and Greek confers an architectural frame of mind upon one. This mindset is sometimes termed ‘Rōmānitās,’ or ‘Roman-mess.’

As Plato is said, by legend, to have inscribed upon the Portico of the Academy:^[1]

ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω

‘ageōmétrētos mēseàs eisístō’

which means ‘let nobody ignorant of geometry enter.’

To the Greeks, therefore, Mathematics and Geometry was seen as a prerequisite to philosophy.

I began to read an English translation of ‘the Euclid,’ I think in 2014, and was amazed that I could understand it. I was in a private chapel, ironically, when this occurred. My interest in Ecclesiastical Latin led me to become interested in Geometry.

Figure 2:In the first Book of Corinthians chapter 3, verse 10 saint Paul calls himself a “wise masterbuilder” or “sophòs architéktōn”

In the King James Bible, Saint Paul calls himself a “wise masterbuilder”:

‘According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. …’

^[2]

In the Textus Receptus, the Erasmian Koine Greek New Testament from Which the Authorised Version was translated, the Greek phrase employed for “wise masterbuilder” is is … σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων … or, when transliterated ‘sophòs architéktōn.’

I will write a bit more concerning Technical drawing, as there is a company in Monaghan called Entekra who 3d prints timberframe houses, and one day I would like to be good enough at technical drawing so as to work for them.

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^[1] ἡ Ἀκαδημίᾱ Genitive: τῆς Ἀκαδημίᾱς ‘hē akadēmía,’ Genitive: ‘tē̃ s akadēmías;’ 1^st-declension feminine noun. ‘the Academy, an Athenian Gymnasium where Plato taught.’ wiktionary

^[2]Authorised Version. 1 Corinthians 3:10.

Seneca’s Prophecy and its Fulfillment by Christopher Columbus:

Figure 1: ‘columbus,’ Genitive: ‘columbī,’ is a Latin 2^nd-declension masculine noun that means ‘(male) dove’ or ‘cock-pigeon.’ Above is a dove-tail joint that I drew in Inkscape. You can view the vector file of the above image at my codepen account.

 

Seneca’s prophecy, and its Fulfilment  by Christopher Columbus:

Introduction:

“Seneca’s” Prophecy concerns an exerpt from Mēdīa where Seneca seems to foretell the discovery of “the New World.”

Body:

In Mēdīa, Seneca writes:

‘Venient annīs sēcula sērīs

Quibus Ōceanus vincula rērum

Laxet, et ingēns pateat tellūs,

Tēthȳsque novōs dētegat orbēs,

Nec sit terrīs ultimā Thūlē.’

‘There shall come ages, in later times,

in which [times], the Ocean the chains of things

would loosen and the immense planet would be accessible

and, also, fertile waters would reveal new worlds

and neither would [any more] lands be uncharted.’
^[1]

Christopher Columbus’ illegitimate son, Ferdinand, owned a copy of Seneca’s Mēdīa and annotated the above verse, thus:

‘haec prophētīa^[2] explēta est per patrem meum Christoforum Colōn almīrantem annō 1492’.

‘This prophecy has been fulfilled by my father, Christopher Columbus, in the year 1492’^[3].

Conclusion:

One of the reasons why I so earnestly wish to become fluent in Latin, this year, is because it would open up to me about two thousand three hundred years of literature; two thousand three hundred years of primary sources.

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^[1]My translation.

^[2] From the 1^st-declension feminine Ancient-Greek noun, ἡ προφητεία or ‘hē prophēteía,’ which means ‘foretelling.’ From the Ancient-Greek preposition, πρός or ‘prós,’ which, in this instance means ‘fore;’ and the Ancient-Greek verb φημί or ‘phēmí,’ which in this instance means ‘I speak’ or ‘I say.’

^[3]My translation.

Oxford

Figure 1:  Oxford University Press.  I drew this logo in inkscape.  You may view the Vector file of the above-depicted image at my at my Codepen Account.

Figure 2:   I drew this book cover in Scripted SVG. Currently, I am learning the Oxford Style. As it is, I have an extremely high daily word-count. Were I to translate what I write already into professional academic papers, then I would be able to obtain a degree without too much effort. I also wish to very shortly begin to publish Epubs on Amazon Kindle. You may view the Vector file of the above-depicted image at my Codepen Account.

Oxford’s motto is

‘Dominus Illuminatio Mea’

. This is Latin for:

‘The Lord is my enlightenment.’

This motto comes from Psalm 26/27^[1]:

‘
1. Psalmus Dāvīd priusquam linīrētur.

Dominus illūminātiō mea et salūs mea, quem timēbō?
Dominus prōtector vītae meae, ā quō trepidābō?’

^[2]

Clementine Vulgate. (1861)

‘{a Pſalme of David.} The Lord is my light, and my ſaluation, whome ſal I feare? the Lord is the ſtrength of my life, of whō^[3] ſall I be afraid?’

King James Version. (1611)

‘{A Psalm of David.} The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD isthe strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’

King James Version. (1769)

Graduates of Oxford may place the post-nominal suffix, ‘oxon.’ after their names. This is short for ‘Ūniversitās Oxoniēnsis’ or ‘the University of Oxford.’

Figure 3: The 1769 Oxford Standard Text is one of the variations of the KJV in use today.

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^[1] The 1610 Dovvay Rheims numbers this psalm as Psalme 26:

‘Ovr Lord is my illumination, and my ſalvation, whom shall I feare?
Our Lord is the protec͡tour of my life, of whom shal I be afrayd?’

The KJV translation committee criticised the Dovvay Rheims fathers for transliterating too many Latin words, like ‘illuminatio’ into ‘illumination,’ instead of properly translating them into ‘enlightenment’ or ‘light,’ as the King-James translation committee did. Protestants often criticise the use of ‘Our’ as well in this edition of the Bible. In the Hebrew, the Tetragrammaton has no possessive. The KJV translators speak thus of the (1610 and earlier) Dovvay Rheims.:

“…as also on the other side we have shunned the obscurity of the Papists, in their Azimes, Tunike, Rational, Holocausts, Praepuce, Pasche, and a number of such like, whereof their late Translation is full, and that of purpose to darken the sense, that since they must needs translate the Bible, yet by the language thereof, it may be kept from being understood. But we desire that the Scripture may speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar.”

My own view, for what it is worth is that the KJV and the 1610 Dovvay Rheims are both equally charming, but for different reasons. The 1610 Dovvay Rheims, its being a more-or-less formal equivalence translation of the Latin Vulgate, is a great tool for learning Latin.

^[2]Scanned reprint of the Carolus Vercellone edition. BIBLIA SACRA VVLGATAE EDITIONIS SIXTI V. ET CLEMENTIS VIII. PONTT. MAXX. IVSSV RECOGNITA ATQVE EDITA ROMAE TYPIS S. CONGREGATIONIS DE PROPAGANDA FIDE ANNO MDCCCLXI. Psalm 26. p.347

^[3] This scribal abbreviation, a macron placed over the ‘o’ represents an ‘m.’