ἔξοδος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ék.so.dos/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈek.so.ðos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈek.so.ðos/^[1]

Forms

ἔξοδος (éxodos) f (genitive ἐξόδου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of the prefix ἐξ- (ex-, “out”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way, road”): “a going out, a way out”.^[1][2][3] The origin of ὁδός is uncertain.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes speaks of the exits of the city gates.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a going out or departure, as opposed to εἴσοδος (eísodos, “entrance”), in Sophocles and Herodotus; a marching out, a military expedition; a procession, especially of women of rank with their attendants; and a way out, an exit.^[4][1] A papyrus of the 1st century BC uses it for a divorce.^[4]

As a euphemism it meant death, the departure from life, in Sophocles and later.^[2][1] Second Peter speaks of “after my departure”.^[2][1] The Septuagint uses it for the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and the second book of the Bible came to be called Ἔξοδος.^[1] Hebrews refers to the exodus.^[5][2][1]

English exodus came from it through Latin in late Old English, as the name of the book.^[3] Modern Greek έξοδος (éxodos) is an exit or a going out, and, after French exode or English exodus, a mass departure.^[6]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the exits of gates.^[4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a military expedition and Sophocles for death.^[4][2]
• 1st century BC – A papyrus uses it for a divorce.^[4]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for the exodus from Egypt.^[5]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for death and for the exodus.^[2]
• Late Old English – English borrows Exodus as the name of the book.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A going out, departure.^[4][1]
2. A marching out; a military expedition.^[4]
3. A procession.^[4]
4. A way out, exit, outlet.^[4][5]
5. A divorce.^[4][1]
6. An end, close.^[1][5]
7. (euphemistic) death.^[2][1]
8. (Septuagint) The exodus from Egypt.^[5][2]

Related words

• ὁδός (hodós)
• εἴσοδος (eísodos)
• English exodus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
6. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki