The noun κορος (koros) occurs in the Bible only as the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew כר (kor), which is a unit of volume (Luke 16:7 only).

The noun κοραξ (korax) means raven. It occurs in Luke 12:24 only, in a play on words that associates ravens to reaping and storing harvests in barns at the completion of the agricultural year (or rather proverbially not doing that).

From this noun comes the adjective κορος (koros), raven-black, which looks obviously similar to the previous. Still, these words are not directly etymologically related to the above, but stems rather from the PIE root "(s)ker-", which means to cut off or harvest (hence also καρπος, karpos, fruit, and κειρω, keiro, to shave, see below). Still, this root "(s)ker-" is obviously not without overlap with the previous words, from PIE root "ker-".

The Hebrew word for raven, namely ערב ('oreb), stems from a verb ערב ('arab) that means to criss-cross or be a nomad, hence the name Arabia (i.e. Nomadia). This suggests that Paul's lengthy stay in Arabia (Galatians 1:17) may actually have denoted a proverbial stay among the ravens — seeing what flies in, so as to thoroughly learn before one commences to preach (hence also the story of Elijah, who was likewise sustained at the brook Cherith by whatever the "ravens" brought in: 1 Kings 17:4).

A Greek word that derives from this Hebrew verb ערב ('arab) is αρραβων (arrabon), meaning pledge or a collateral, which implies a commercial component to Paul's proverbial "stay in Arabia," meaning that he hung around the markets to see what came in on the caravans.

A presumed second adjective κορος (koros) means pure, although here at Abarim Publications we suspect it's the same one. Plato deemed Zeus the son (κορος, koros) of Cronus, not because he was his "child" but because of the purity (καθαρος, katharos) of his mind (Pl.Crat.396). A similar connection between brilliance of mind and obscurity exists in the adjective βαθυς (bathus), meaning deep. A link between darkness and purity of mind exists in the Hebrew word שחר (shahar), meaning eclipse.

The sound a raven makes is called κραζω (krazo). Certain Greeks poets made word jokes by confusing our noun κοραξ (korax) with κολαξ (kolax), which described someone engaged in flattery and feigned affection (1 Thessalonians 2:5 only).

The verb κειρω (keiro) means to shear or shave off and stems from the same PIE root "(s)ker-" as the noun κοραξ (korax), raven (see previous). A similar association between hair (i.e. memory), deep darkness and divine supremacy exists in the noun κοσμος (kosmos), meaning human world-order (from which English gets its noun cosmos). Whether by proper etymology or not, this verb and its applications are clearly associated with the noun καιρος (kairos), meaning the right time; the proverbial proper time for something to occur (specifically of sowing in the spring and harvesting in the fall). Our verb κειρω (keiro), to shear, occurs 4 times in three verses, see full concordance, and from it comes:

The verb σκιρταω (skirtao) means to leap or gambol and although it's not used often in the classics, it appears to be generically applied to young animals like foals and goat kids. But it's also used of the Bacchae, the wind, and even the "beastly" desires of man which endeavor to party through the night while the normally dominant rationale slumbers with the rest of the soul (or so muses Plato in his Republic, Rep.571). In the New Testament, our verb occurs in Luke 1:41, 1:44 and 6:23 only, twice of the unborn John the Baptist and once of reviled believers who can look forward to being rewarded.

It's not clear where our verb comes from, but it appears to have evolved from an alternate form, namely σκαιρω (skairo), which describes the leaping and frisking of calves and occasionally dancers. Greek has the curious tendency to stick a sigma in front of words — see a small list of examples of this in our article on σειρα (seira), rope — which leads us to the Proto-Indo-European roots "(s)ker-", of which there are two:

• Root "(s)ker-" (1) has to do with separation and cutting off, hence the Latin words scrotum and cortex and the Greek verb κειρω (keiro), to shear, we discuss above.
• Root "(s)ker-" (2) has to do with turning and being round, hence ultimately the Latin word circus and the Greek κυκλος (kuklos), circle.

As noted above, root "(s)ker-" (2) is rather strikingly similar to the Hebrew verb כרר (karar), to be round. From that verb come the words כר (kar), meaning lamb, and the identical כר (kar), meaning pasture, presumably originally a round cordoned off pen. Closely fitting the latter is the verb כרת (karat), to cut off, which in turn brings us in close proximity to root "(s)ker-" (1), to cut off. This appears to suggest that perhaps these two identical PIE "roots" are not originally Indo-European but were imported as one single Semitic concept (along with several others: see our article on the many Hebrew roots of Greek).

Another verb that has to do with going around in circles is עגל ('agal), from which derives noun עגל ('egel), meaning calf. After this word was nicknamed the עגלא עין ('egla' 'ayin), literally "calf's eye", the word for the gem the Greeks called αμεθυστος (amethustos), or amethyst, from the proper Hebrew word אחלמה ('ahlama), or dream-stone, from חלם (halam), to dream, from חול (hul), to cycle. That seems to agree with Plato's observations regarding the gamboling beastly desires, we mentioned earlier. These refer to what we moderns call the subconscious, whereas the conscious relates to the rational or the Logos. However, the exact reverse of what Plato imagined occurred to the evangelists, who depicted the Logos in full control of the subdued foal: the word οναριον (onarion) means donkey foal (John 12:14), whereas the noun οναρ (onar) means dream.

Contrary to Plato (and Balaam, for that matter), the evangelists saw the donkey-riding Logos as the loving shepherd over the sorts of animals that were willing to be domesticated, respectfully indifferent to animals that weren't, and violently eradicative of predatorial creatures. The mental equivalent of these various kinds of animals are: familiar and opinion-building data (herds under rational directorate), irrelevant data that nevertheless goes around and helps sustain one's environment (wild deer and moose and such), and emotions such as fear, anger and shame (predators).

These patterns are not isolated curiosities but show up in confirmation at various other places. For instance, the Hebrew root שנן (shanan) speaks of repetition or the creation of distance between elements, often preceded by a breaking apart, and followed by a removal or even storage. Verb שנה (shana) means to change or create a difference, whereas verb שנן (shanan) means to sharpen (of the mind, by learning), and noun שנה (shena) means sleep. Verb אלף ('alep) means to learn, or to socially synchronize and hence produce thousands of kids and calves in flocks and herds. Noun אלף ('elep) means cattle. Another word for cattle is בקר (baqar), which closely relates to the word for morning, בקר (boqer), the time of day when the great light dawns upon those walking in darkness. These words derive from the verb בקר (baqar), to split or investigate by making a difference, which in Greek is σχιζω (schizo), from which English gets the word "science".

For an example of these animal patterns woven into a larger narrative, see our article on the name Job.