Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 6 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
#23479 03/27/01 08:53 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
The poster had bought on e-bay a coin which was said to have been issued by this monarch, who was also alleged to have been one of the three kings who visited the baby Jesus.

Ah, but my suspicions would have been raised by the mention of the three kings. The Bible record calls them magoi, which is nearer "astrologer" than "king", and nowhere in the Bible account does it say there were three of them, or give any number at all. So, if someone tried to sell me something belonging to one of the "three kings", I would ask them if they were also selling Brooklyn Bridge first.


#23480 03/27/01 09:58 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
My fault. The post I was referring to did actually say that he was alleged to be one of the Magi, rather than one of the three kings. So he is alleged to have been a magus and a king. Put it down to the stress of a bad connection: I had to try three or four times to get most AWAD pages at lunch time.

Bingley


Bingley
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
W
wow Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Caspar,Balthazar, and Melchior are names given the Three Kings aka The Magi, in my Catholic School ... although I found no listing for Caspar in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Or for Iz-whatsis for that matter.
http://newadvent.org/cathen/a.htm for anyone interested.
wow


Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Really. In French we are taught Gaspar instead of Caspar.


Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Gaspar instead of Caspar

It's the Gaulloises, cherie...


Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Caspar,Balthazar, and Melchior are names given the Three Kings aka The Magi, in my Catholic School

Does anybody know where these names comes from? Since the Magi in the Gospel are both numberless and nameless, who decided that there were three of them, and that they were called C(G)aspar, Balthazar, and Melchior? Is this just a case of some ancient reading his kid a story , and being pestered,"But Dad, what were their names?"


#23485 03/28/01 01:08 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Tsuwm recommended John McPhee in a post some time ago, and the only book of his my local branch of the library had was something called "The Pine Barrens". Now, if this were the title of a novel, I might have at least picked it up to read the summary, but never in all my born days would I have just wandered by and picked out a book about a tract of land. But it's good! Mr. McPhee has clearly done
firsthand investigation into his subject area, and has a writing style that will keep your interest. Ex.: "In the vernacular of the pines, huckleberries are blueberries, wild or cultivated. Huckleberries are also huckleberries, and this confuses outsiders but not pineys. Fred explained to me, when I pressed him, that "hog huckleberries" are huckleberries and "sugar huckleberries" are blueberries."

There are some words in here that I'd never heard of, too,
such as 'fykes' that are used to trap snapping turtles. I learned that relatives of one of our members live there, a rare tree frog, Hyla andersoni.

I wrote to tsuwm that I'd finished this book, and he informed that his favorite is "Coming out of the Country", a story of Alaska and Alaskans. Sounds intriguing.


#23486 03/28/01 05:36 PM
A
Anonymous
Unregistered
Anonymous
Unregistered
A
if my amazon order ever shows up (supposedly it has already shipped), it will include McPhee's "Annals of a Former World", which is a compendium of four of his previously published works: Basin and Range, a study of the mountainous lands between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas; In Suspect Terrain, a grand overview of the Appalachian mountain system; Rising from the Plains, a history of the Rocky Mountains set largely in Wyoming; and Assembling California, a survey of the ongoing volcanic and tectonic processes; plus a fifth unpublished book, Crossing the Craton, which introduces the continent's ancient core, underlying what is now Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Reader reviews indicate that there is a bit of repetition, and a lack of clear diagrams to explain some of the more technically challenging processes, but overall it has received stellar feedback.


#23487 03/28/01 06:02 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
F
addict
Offline
addict
F
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
Sounds like the case of the supposedly priceless coin bearing the date "252 B.C."...

Flatlander


Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
B
veteran
Offline
veteran
B
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
The 3 Kings
It's verifiable by checking the N.T. text that they were called "wise men", not kings, and no number is specified. Apparently there was, early on in the history of Christianity, the assumption that there were three of them because three gifts are mentioned. Also, there seems to have been the assumption that they were kings because the gifts were extraordinarly costly (and the journey would have been a huge expense). I'm not sure when/where the names were made up; Google might help.


Page 6 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 444 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5