The verb μασσω (masso) (or ματτω, matto) means to knead: to violently squeeze, slap, swing and twist a helping of various components until they are in homogenous unison, so as to be pressed into a mold and baked in fire. It's been proposed that this word derives from a Proto-Indo-European root "mehk-", meaning to knead, which also yielded the Latin verb macero, to make soft (of materials, by soaking, of the mind, by fretting), obviously the English noun "mass" and even the English verb "to make" (whose modern broad pallet of applications apparently derived from an initial production of mud brick houses).

Here at Abarim Publications we're rather struck by the obvious similarity to the Hebrew verb מסס (masas), to melt or dissolve. The Greek alphabet is an adaptation of the Hebrew one, and our verb μασσω (masso) may very well have been among the few terms that were imported along with it.

But whatever the pedigree, and as could be expected, in the Greek classics our verb applies mostly to φυραμα (phurama), a lump of dough that's thoroughly mixed and kneaded and pressed either flat into a pancake or into a mold to become αρτος (artos), bread. This latter noun looks rather similar to the adjective αρτιος (artios), meaning precisely right, which through the ages has enticed the poets into kneading their fair share of metaphors: "But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make" (Jeremiah 18:4).

Our verb μασσω (masso), to vigorously knead, isn't used independently in the New Testament, but from it derive:

The noun μαστιξ (mastix) describes a whip or scourge, mostly for driving horses and soldiers. Above we discuss the verb μασσαομαι (massaomai), which applies to people's unruly tongues, and in James 1:26 and 3:2 these same tongues are compared to unbridled horses. Hence our noun μαστιξ (mastix) describes a tool for beating horses (or human personnel) into submission and make them all trot in unison, or at least according to their master's bidding. In the classics, our noun was also often deployed in the metaphorical sense of a scourge or plague that forced people into submission. In the New Testament, this noun is used solely in that way.

Note that Hebrew maintains a close correlation between reason, דבר (dabar), and pestilence as a corrective agent sent by God, דבר (deber). The Latin-derived synonym of our word μαστιξ (mastix), namely the noun φραγελλιον (phragellion), also meaning whip or scourge, relates to the Latin verb flagitare, meaning to demand. Curiously, the Hebrew word for the grave or the underworld, namely Sheol, derives from the verb שאל (sha'al), to demand or ask for, whence too the name Saul, of Israel's first and signaturely oppressive king.

Our noun μαστιξ (mastix), whip or scourge, is used 6 times, see full concordance, and from it come:

The noun μαστος (mastos) means breast, or rather nipple. Its commonly proposed to stem from a relatively rare verb μαδαω (madao), which is listed to mean to be moist, but which in the Greek classics rather describes a kind of soppy fig-tree disease, and came thus to be used to describe the falling out of human hair. And besides, the nipple as milk dispenser is mostly described by the noun θηλη (thele), from the verb θηλαζω (thelazo), to suckle.

Our noun μαστος (mastos) also covers the male nipple, and a more likely derivation is from our verb μασσω (masso), to knead, also because despite modern objections, in antiquity, the female breast was predominantly thought of as recipient of the husband's gropes. In Hebrew, the verb ידד (yadad) means to love, and דדה (dada) means to move slowly and caress. Noun דד (dad) denotes a women's nipple or breast, specifically as object of the husband's ever corrigible attentions (Proverbs 5:19, Ezekiel 23:3).

In the classics, our word would on occasion denote a male nipple (mostly in order to pinpoint the precise location of an arrow wound: Od.22.82), but most often described the female breast, which, likewise, could be pierced by an arrow, even if she was the supreme goddess (Il.5.593), but which ever more often was offered in the hope to change and appease the hearts of men (Il.22.80).

Our English words mammal and mammary don't relate to our word, but rather stem from μαμμα (mamma), mamma, or μαμμη (mamme), grandmamma. In English, several masto- words that have to do with the female breast do come from our word, including the noun "mastodon", which was designed to mean nipple-tooth, on account of nipple-like structures on the molars of unearthed fossils.

In the New Testament, our noun μαστος (mastos), nipple, occurs in Luke 11:27, 23:29 and Revelation 1:13 only. In Luke, it clearly describes a lactating human female nipple, but in Revelation 1:13, it describes the location at where the foot-fitting robe of he who "resembled one of the humans" was girded with a golden belt. According to Josephus (Ant.3.154-155), the high priest would indeed wear around his chest a gold-embroidered belt, whose texture resembled that of a snakeskin. A similar description happens in Revelation 15:6, but no nipples are mentioned.

Here at Abarim Publications, we surmise that to the ancients the male nipple was as much associated with the underlying pectoral muscles, as the female nipple was with milk-producing mammary glands. Milk (γαλα, gala) is food for young babies, and so came to symbolize the first lessons taught to brand new disciples (1 Corinthians 3:2). With the pectoral muscles, however, the males deployed their arms, and whatever tool or weapon extended their arm. In the classical mind, an arrow in or near the female nipple would compromise the victim's ability to teach her children. An arrow in or near the male nipple would compromise the victim's ability to defend his children.

Hence Moses spoke of God's mighty and everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27, Exodus 6:6, 15:16, also see Luke 1:51) and the Psalmist sang of the deployment of God's powerful right arm (Psalm 44:3, 89:10). The prophet Isaiah declared: "Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him" (Isaiah 40:10), and "Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1), which later John the evangelist applied to the mature Word (John 12:38).