Sal (1)

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Sal vocatur arabice melech grece alas.


Apparatus:

{grece} uero (u'o ms. e) add. B ef


Translation:

Sal is called in Arabic melech and in Greek alas.


Commentary:

Wehr (1976): ﻣﻠﺢ /milḥ/ "salt, gunpowder"; Siggel (1950: 88): ﻣﻠﺢ /milḥ/ Salz; jedoch begrifflich nicht im Sinne der heutigen Chemie zu fassen; oft Kochsalz. {i.e. "salt, but not to be understood in the modern chemical sense; frequently: table salt"}.

The Greek word ἅλς /háls/ "salt" is quoted by Simon in the acc. pl. ἅλας /hálas/, or more likely it is a collateral form common in late Antiquity: ἅλας /hálas/, which Simon as a man of the clergy would have been well acquainted with. Apart from some medical writers like Oribaseios this word is common in the Lxx and the gospels, cf. Matt. v. 13: Ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς /Hymeîs estè tò hálas tês gês/ - "you are the salt of the earth". Cf. Sophocles (1887: 112)[[1]].

WilfGunther 26/05/2014

See also: Alas, Melech

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