The noun πηρα (pera) describes a bag or leather pouch, anything from a wallet to a provision sack. Perhaps its most notable use in the Greek classics is in the Odyssey, in the scene where Athena turns Odysseus into an old man and gives him tattered clothes and a worn out pera (Od.13.437). Adding to this word's significance is as possible source of the name Paris (Παρις), of the prince of Troy who seduced Helen and thus triggered the Trojan War.

The origin of our noun πηρα (pera) is unknown, although it appears to have morphed into the Latin noun pero, which described a kind of boot worn by soldiers and wagoners. The pero was thus not unlike the caliga, from which came the name Caligula, of the third Roman Emperor, who reigned from 37 to 41 AD.

Here at Abarim Publications we suspect that our nouns πηρα (pera) and pero may have a Semitic origin, specifically the verb פרר (parar), to split and make more, expand or multiply (see the discussion under πηρος, peros, below), or the related verb פרה (para), to bear fruit or be fruitful.

Our noun πηρα (pera) is relatively rare in the classics, which makes it all the more remarkable (and possibly portentous) that it occurs 6 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.

The adjective πηρος (peros) means disabled or maimed in a limb (or in one's mind, but this usage is rare and obviously facetious). From its Latin equivalent, mancus, comes our English word "mangled", which indicates that our word predominantly points to the effect of injuries sustained from accidents at work or in battle, rather than lameness due to some illness or congenital affliction. The latter category would mostly be described by words like μαλακια (malakia), soft or weak, χωλος (cholos), severed or loosened, ασθενης (asthenes), strengthless, or in Hebrew: פסח (piseah), lame or cripple (hence, perhaps surprisingly, the name of the feast of Pesah).

In the old world people were farmers, fishers or soldiers, and limbs were not rarely crushed. A hand or foot whose bones had been shattered could not be repaired, and the owner would have to live with such a mangled member. Although a formal relationship is not commonly proposed, to any poetic eye, our adjective πηρος (peros), mangled, seems obviously adjacent to πηρα (pera), bag or pouch. How that association would have been popularly explained is not immediately clear, but perhaps a mangled hand or foot was kept bagged, bandaged or covered, or grew deformed and balled up.

As said above, here at Abarim Publications we suspect relations with the Hebrew verb פרר (parar), to split and multiply. From this verb comes the familiar term פור (pur), lot as in casting lots: small pebbles or tokens. From this latter noun comes, perhaps surprisingly, the name of the feast of Purim.

These words correspond to the Greek verb κλαω (klao), to break into constituents, and its noun κληρος (kleros), lot — hence the English term cleromancy, which describes the art of divination by means of casting lots or chicken bones or something like that. Such tokens would most practically be kept in some pouch, which might help to explain the link to our noun πηρα (pera).

Our verb κλαω (klao), to break into bits, could also describe a weakening or weakness of something broken, which ties it into the verb κλαιω (klaio), to wail. A comparable duality exists with the verbs θρηνεω (threneo), to loudly bewail, and the verb θραυω (thrauo), to break into pieces. In Attic Greek the verbs κλαω (klao), to break, and κλαιω (klaio), to wail, were spelled identical, and wailing was commonly done together in groups. This turns our attention to the Proto-Indo-European root "peh-", to hurt, from which comes the noun πημα (pema), misery, and the Latin verb patior, to suffer. Experts, however, point out that in certain dialects our adjective is spelled παρος (paros), which they take as evidence that our words could not have naturally descended from this PIE root. The Semitic root פרר (parar), then, remains the better bet.

Our adjective πηρος (peros), disabled, maimed or mangled, does not occur independently in the New Testament, but from it comes:

The noun φαραγξ (pharagx) describes a cleft or chasm, primarily in mountains, so as to describe anything from a ravine to a gully down below (or even a cave). But our word could also refer to a cleft in, say, a bun. And on occasion it aided descriptions of human buttocks and their noted divide.

It's formally unclear where our word comes from, but its termination reminds of words like φαλαγξ (phalags), phalanx, which describes any formation of things in a row, which is not very far removed from the shape of a lengthy cleft or chasm. But otherwise, our word reminds clearly of the Hebrew verb פרר (parar), to split, mentioned above.

Our noun φαραγξ (pharagx) occurs in the New Testament in Luke 3:5 only, where it translates the word גיא (gai') used in Isaiah 40:4, which in turn is suspiciously similar to the familiar noun γη (ge), earth or land (hence the geo- in English words such as geology and geography).

The noun χασμα (chasma) means a yawn or a wide open mouth, and figuratively any hollow or gaping space: hence indeed the English words "chasm" and "yawn". Our noun derives from any of the verbs χασμω (chasmo), χασμαω (chasmao), or χασκω (chasko), all meaning to yawn or gape, which are reported to derive from the PIE root "geh-", to yawn or gape, which in turn looks suspiciously similar to the Hebrew noun גיא (gai'), valley, which we mention under φαραγξ (pharagx), directly above.

Our noun occurs in the New Testament in Luke 16:26 only, in the rather striking observation that between the unfortunate rich man and the fortunate Lazarus, there is a gaping, yawning chasm. In the classics, our noun χασμα (chasma) mostly describes the yawning mouth of someone who is drowsy, bored or otherwise inattentive. If Luke had wanted to emphasize that Lazarus and the rich man were separated by a physical ravine, he might have chosen any of a slew of available terms that would have specified that. Instead, he chose for a word that is mostly associated with sleepiness (and see texts like Proverbs 6:9, Matthew 26:40 and Colossians 4:2; but also compare Psalm 121:4 to Matthew 8:24 and see οναρ, onar, dream).

The verb διαπιρω (diapiro) means to saw through or wholly split to bits. In the New Testament, this verb occurs only figuratively, as an expression of inner division (Acts 5:33 and 7:54 only). Notably, in On Calumny (i.e. slander), a comedy by the 2nd century satirist Lucian, our word's subject are the teeth of a mean and ignoble man who "splits in bits" his teeth in covert rage (Cal.24).

Our verb consists of the preposition δια (dia), meaning through or throughout, and an otherwise unused verb πιρω (piro), to saw, cut or grind. In the classics, this verb by itself was most frequently used to describe the gnashing of teeth of angry, frustrated or diseased people. Our verb also used frequently to describe being gripped or bit (i.e. irritated, seized or arrested) by something as if by teeth.

The origin of our verb πιρω (piro) is unclear, but here at Abarim Publications we suspect it ultimately derives from the aforementioned verb פרר (parar), to split.

Clearly related to the above, the verb πριω (prio), also known as πριζω (prizo), means to saw in two or asunder (Hebrews 11:37 only). In the classics this verb is occasionally used to describe a surgical or penal rending asunder (see 2 Samuel 12:31, 1 Chronicles 20:3), which was the fate of Isaiah by order of king Manasseh, according to a tradition recorded in an ancient book called Ascension of Isaiah.

More commonly, our verb πριω (prio) was used in a similar way as the previous, namely descriptive of the gnashing of teeth, or the grabbing of something with one's teeth. That suggests that our verb reminded mostly of a saw's teeth rather than the act of cutting, which would make our verb akin to verbs that would describe a being rent apart by wild animals. It would also imply that a saw reminded of a wild animal's jaw, and that our verb most fundamentally meant to be mauled by a machine (see Daniel 7:7).