ἑπτὰ σπυρίδας. See note ch. Matthew 14:20, and Acts 9:25, where St Paul is said to have been let down from the wall of Damascus in a σπυρίς, probably a large basket made of rope-net, possibly a fisherman’s basket; in 2 Corinthians 11:33, where the same incident is related, the word σαργάνη is used. Why the people brought different kinds of baskets on the two occasions we cannot determine. The facts seem to point to a difference in nationality or in occupation. σπυρὶς connected with σπείρω, ‘to twist,’ is the Lat. sporta, or sportula. σαργάνη in Æsch. Suppl. 769 = ‘the mesh of a net’.

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Old Testament