The conceptualization of colors is heavily influenced by culture, resulting in the fluid semantics of color-related terminology. This necessitates heightened attention towards concepts present in ancient languages, which often receive inadequate scrutiny from lexicographers. Within Greek biblical language, numerous terms are translated as “red” in English, yet the objects described by these terms challenge the validity of this simple identification. This study focuses on the term erythros, which functions in biblical Greek primarily as part of the toponym erythra thalassa, commonly identified with the Red Sea. By analyzing the adjective erythros in non-biblical sources, its Hebrew counterparts, as well as natural phenomena possibly contributing to the chromatism embedded in the toponym erythra thalassa, alongside the verbs (erythriaō, erythainō, and erythrodanoō) and the noun (erythēma) morphologically linked to the adjective erythros, it is demonstrated that these concepts were also employed to describe the pinkish hue of skin, the color of wine (implicitly blood), and the pigment derived from Rytiphloea tinctoria. Concerning the hue of the thalassa, it might have derived from perceptions of water tinted either by reflecting hills or the presence of the algae Trichodesmium erythraeum. Consequently, the adjective erythros more aptly aligns with shades of brown and orange than with the connotations associated with the contemporary understanding of “red.”.
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