Bag

The Bag

The Greek word γλωσσόκομον glossokomon [gloce-sok’-om-on] appears in the gospel of the beloved disciple appears twice and translated "bag":

John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. John 13:29 For some [of them] thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy [those things] that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

If that word was used to describe the bag carried by Judas who was the keeper of the purse it would seem that there must be a deeper meaning to the term.

The tongue of the provider

This word γλωσσόκομον glossokomon [gloce-sok’-om-on] from glossa which means tongue and the base word kosmos translated world but is defined as "an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government". Together they literally mean the "tongue of the world" or "tongue of government". But of course the Greek term κόσμος kosmos which is commonly translated world is from the Greek term κομίζω komizo meaning "to care for, take care of, provide for".

So this could mean that komon could be from komizo which would make glossokomonthe language of the provider.

Many meanings

There were many different dialects in the Greek city-states as there were often different classes.

The practice of “Atticism” was observed and used by Ancient Greek authors living in the early centuries. They were often using different dialects that mimicked the Classical Attic that was associated with Athens instead of the common spoken dialects or “Koine Greek”.

Like many different words in Greek they had different meanings at different times in different cultures and classes. The differences could be slight or multiple and diverse.

In Ancient Greek the term glossocomon was “a kind of case” or even a "winch that could hoist patience" in the care of the ill or injured.

Giovan Battista Aleotti explains the term as follows:

“‘Glossocoma’ is the Greek word ‘glōssokomon,’ and can be entirely expressed with another Latin word, as well as a Tuscan one, in an old Latin translation which came my way without an author’s name. In all these places where the Greek has ‘glossocoma’ it is translated ‘lingusa,’ but properly that means the case where the little tongues are held. It is likewise found used by authors in other meanings quite different from this, applying it sometimes for a vessel, sometimes for a bag, sometimes for a basket:" Giorgi Spiritali 78r

Little tongues

Greeks were philosophers. They looked at nature and saw deeper meaning in its patterns but they were also practical and knew that the strength of society often resulted from the subtleties of their culture.

"A glōssókoma (γλωσσόκοµα) is a small box to hold reeds or tongues of wind instruments."

The "bag" could hold many "little tongues" that allowed people to make music or merely noise. The Heron of Alexandria looks at the vacuum of air over a reed mouthpiece and see the possibility to produce beauty or not:

"Upon relaxation, the air is restored to its original arrangement by the tension of its particles, just as happens to shavings of horn and dried sponges: when compressed and released, they are restored to the same space and return to their same bulk. Similarly, when any force is applied, the bodies oof air stand apart from one another and the void space becomes greater than natural; then they run back toward one another." "Therefore when any force is applied, the air is subject to compression and collapse into the spaces of the voids, against the nature of the particle squeezed against one another." Hero or Heron of Alexandria