The noun πηρα (pera) describes a bag or leather pouch, anything from a wallet to a provision sack. Perhaps its most notable use in the Greek classics is in the Odyssey, in the scene where Athena turns Odysseus into an old man and gives him tattered clothes and a worn out pera (Od.13.437). Adding to this word's significance is as possible source of the name Paris (Παρις), of the prince of Troy who seduced Helen and thus triggered the Trojan War.

The origin of our noun πηρα (pera) is unknown, although it appears to have morphed into the Latin noun pero, which described a kind of boot worn by soldiers and wagoners. The pero was thus not unlike the caliga, from which came the name Caligula, of the third Roman Emperor, who reigned from 37 to 41 AD.

Here at Abarim Publications we suspect that our nouns πηρα (pera) and pero may have a Semitic origin, specifically the verb פרר (parar), to split and make more, expand or multiply, or the related verb פרה (para), to bear fruit or be fruitful.

Our noun πηρα (pera) is relatively rare in the classics, which makes it all the more remarkable (and possibly portentous) that it occurs 6 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.