Κνηστιῶντες τὰς ἀκοάς
wanting to scratch their hearing, having itchy ears
Translated by Nick Nicholas16 Dec 2008Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
Meaning [they] being desirous of hearing.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κνηστιῶντες τὰς ἀκοάς· ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐπιθυμητικῶς ἔχοντες ἀκούειν.
Betacode
*knhstiw=ntes ta\s a)koa/s: a)nti\ tou= e)piqumhtikw=s e)/xontes a)kou/ein.
Notes
- The verb
knhstia/w is a variant of the desiderativeknhsia/w (cf. kappa 1868), "I want to scratch". The metaphorical use given here, as "having itchy ears", must come (as Adler's note implies) from Julian, Letter 111.67, though he uses a different form of the present participle: "There are at any rate many of his [Athanasius'] disciples who can adequately comfort your itchy and needy ears (ta\s a)koa\s u(mw=n knhstiw/sas kai\ deome/nas ) with impious words".
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 9 Mar 2013
- tweaked note — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- cosmetics, keywords, status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — Nick Nicholas