Afghan

αÏ?σενοκοιται - Okay, I know that not all first declension nouns are feminine but precisely why do we think this one is masculine?

S.C.Carlson

The suffix -της of á¼€Ï?σενοκοίτης (singular) is a masculine suffix. Its corresponding feminine suffix is -τις, which would yield *á¼€Ï?σενοκοῖτις. Also the masculine article is used with á¼€Ï?σενοκοίτης in the second/third century Clementine Recognitions, the Acts of John, and Origen.

Stephen

Afghan

Okay. So we know that it was interpreted as a masculine noun a century or so after Paul first used it. What would the nominative plural of á¼€Ï?σενοκοῖτις be? And is that construction derived from the assumption that the masculine form is á¼€Ï?σενοκοίτης or does that have some other providence? I realise the -κοίτ- suffix appears in earlier Greek writing but is that also as a first declension masculine noun?

S.C.Carlson

The nominative plural of a *á¼€Ï?σενοκοῖτις should be *á¼€Ï?σενοκοίτιδες.

I put the asterisk on because the feminine is in fact unattested, but that is the corresponding feminine suffix (cf. Smyth's grammar § 843). Other masculine nouns with the same -της suffix include: ναύτης (sailor), τοξότης (bowman), οἰκέτης (butler), δεσμώτης (prisoner), á½?πλίτης (heavy-armed soldier), and στÏ?ατιώτης (soldier). Note that the feminine form of οἰκέτης (butler) is οἰκέτις (house-maid).

The root κοίτ- is found in the feminine noun κοίτη (bed), but the gender of the root does not affect the gender of the compound. For example, the root of στÏ?ατιώτης (soldier) is the feminine noun στÏ?ατιά (army).

Stephen

Stephen

Afghan

Thanks.

There still doesn't seem to be very much evidence that Paul intended the word as a masculine noun. Only that he could have done and that significantly later writers did so. I mean Paul could have used it as the plural of αÏ?σενοκοιτη, right? The αÏ?σενοκοιτιδες construction assumes that Paul's construction was masculine rather than proves it.

S.C.Carlson

I suppose that it is theoretically possible that αÏ?σενοκοιται could be the plural of an otherwise unknown *αÏ?σενοκοιτη, but if such as word ever existed (i.e., without the -της masculine ending), it would have meant "a bed (built) for a male." I don't think that such an object is what Paul intended in 1 Cor. 6:9.

Stephen