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Created page with '== Two Greek words for "sickness" or "illness" == As I indicated in my Analysis of Matthew 10:1, the Greeks had two separate words for the concepts "disease" or "illness" that mo...'
== Two Greek words for "sickness" or "illness" ==
As I indicated in my Analysis of Matthew 10:1, the Greeks had two separate words for the concepts "disease" or "illness" that modern English treats as synonymous. They are '''μαλακια''' (''malakia'') and '''νοσος''' (''nosos'').

The word '''νοσος''' is the origin of our modern medical word ''nosocomial'', an adjective that applies to a communicable disease that is transmitted from patient to patient in a hospital. Obviously '''νοσος''' is one of the words that contributes to this modern word; the other appears to be '''κομη''' or ''kome'', which means "village". Thus ''nosocomial'' literally means ''the disease of the village.'' Hence it is likely to be communicable.

Furthermore, the verb '''νοσεω''' or ''noseo'', meaning "I have an unhealthy desire." It must come from the same root. So a '''νοσος''', in ancient Greek, probably meant the sort of disease that you "catch" from doing something you shouldn't have been doing, or especially going to places you shouldn't have been going to. All of the [[sexually transmitted disease]]s would be ''nosoi''.

The word '''μαλακια''' shows up in another Greek word that appears in the [[New Testament]]: '''μαλακος''' or ''malakos'', which means "soft" or "luxurious." That word shows up in Jesus' question to the people about what they expected in [[John the Baptist]]: "Did you expect to see someone dressed in soft clothes? You'll find wearers of soft clothes in kings' houses." So '''μαλακια''' could mean any illness that debilitates someone and almost forces him to live a "soft" life if he wants to live at all. Thus a person afflicted with a '''μαλακια''' would be called an ''invalid'' today.

To be precise in translation, we must keep both words and explain the full implications of their use. Otherwise, something ''will'' be "lost in translation."--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]]<sup>[[User talk:TerryH|Talk]]</sup> 22:40, 9 October 2009 (EDT)
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