Bible Lexicons

In classical usage λίψ denotes the south-west wind, and hence the quarter from which that wind comes. Consequently in Acts 27:12 the Revisers have translated the words λιμένα τῆς Κρήτης βλέποντα κατὰ λίβα καὶ κατὰ χῶρον, ";a haven of Crete looking north-east and south-east,"; or literally in the margin ";down the south-west wind and down the north-west wind."; In the LXX, on the other hand, the word denotes almost uniformly simply ";south,"; while in the Egyptian papyri it stands for ";west,"; because, as Deissmann (BS p. 141 f.) following Boeckh has pointed out, Libya, with which the word was associated (but cf. Boisacq p. 564), lies directly west from Egypt. One or two exx. of this papyrus usage will suffice. Thus in the will of a Libyan, which was discovered at Gurob in the Fayûm, P Petr III. 1ii. (B.C. 236) we hear of a piece of land bounded—.9 f ἀπηλ [ιώτο ]υ, νότου, [λι ]βός, βορρᾶ, and another—.15 ff. ἀπηλιώ [του ], νότου, λιβός, βορρᾶ, i.e. ";on east, south, west, north."; Similarly in the registration of a mortgage, P Oxy II. 243.21 ff. (A.D. 79), the dimensions of two pieces of land are measured βορρᾶ ἐπὶ νότον, ";from north to south,"; and λιβὸς ἐπ᾽ ἀπηλιότην, ";from west to east."; See also the account of a dream from the Serapeum P Par 51.2 ff. (B.C. 160) (= Selections, p. 19) ὤμ [ην ] βατ (= δ) ίζειν με [ἀπ ]ὸ λειβὸς ἕως ἀ [πηλι ]ώτου, καὶ ἀναπίπτομαι ἐπ᾽ ἄχυρον · καὶ [ἄν ]θρωπ [ος ] ἀπὸ λιβός μου, ἐχόμενός μου, ";I dreamt that I was going from west to east, and sat down upon chaff. And west from me there was someone, who was near to me."; In view of this and the pure Latin character of χῶρος (= lat. caurus, corus), ";north-west wind,"; in the Lukan passage, Goodspeed in an elaborate note in Exp VI. viii. p. 130 ff. thinks that the translation ";looking west and north-west"; is not ";wholly improbable"; : but see Archiv iii. 460 f. For a new adj. λιβικός cf. P Lond 755 verso.86 (iv/A.D.) (= III. p. 223) ἐν ̣ τῷ λιβικῷ μέρι.