Շքակոխեմ զմեր զփրկութիւնն, hapax nella traduzione armena dell’Epideixis di Sant’Ireneo di Lione: ‘gettare sopra come ombra la nostra salvezza’

Abstract

In the Epideixis by St Irenaeus of Lyons, a work originally written in Greek but only transmitted in an Armenian translation, the otherwise unattested compound verb շքակոխեմ occurs twice, with զմեր զփրկութիւնն (or զփրկութիւնս), ‘our salvation’, as its object. To fully understand its meaning, one must account for both elements, namely շուք and կոխեմ. Since no Greek verb exists that is composed of Greek terms equivalent to both, շքակոխեմ is likely not an exact calque but rather a semicalque on a Greek transitive verb. In this investigation three Greek verbs are identified which շքակոխեմ could have translated. On the basis of a detailed study of the usage of each one in the Greek Scripture, the Author argues that շքակոխեմ was used to render ἐπισκιάζω. This hypothesis is substantiated with the help of similar texts by Irenaeus and other Christian authors.