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Acts 9:30

Footnote:

40

Ταρσεύς literally derives from ταρσός, a neuter noun meaning “frame of wicker, crate, or flat basket”, originally used for:

  1. Practical applications – drying cheese (Od. 9.219, Theoc. 11.37) or as mats of reeds in brickwork (Hdt. 1.179; Thuc. 2.76).

  2. Extended meanings – any flat, supportive, or layered structure, including the flat of the foot, rows of feathers, eyelid edges, or rows of oars.

As a proper name (Ταρσεύς) or ethnonym, the term likely reflects a toponymic or descriptive origin:

  • Literal sense: “place of mats or flat frames” (i.e., a site characterized by reed mats, flatlands, or basketry).

  • Metaphorical sense: may convey a structured or layered space, or by extension, a person or people associated with such a place.

Thus, Ταρσεύς could be understood as “one from the place of flat frames/mats”, linking the material/structural sense of ταρσός to a toponymic or tribal identity.

(cf. LSJ ταρσός)