05_Biblica_1_A_Ferda_Layout 1 30/01/13 13:17 Pagina 569 05_B “SEALED” WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT (EPH 1,13-14) AND CIRCUMCISION 569 because it was common in some Jewish circles to call circumcision a “seal”. It is quite unlikely that, beginning in the second century, Chris- tians and Jews would independently coin the same term for their defin- ing initiatory rite. Jewish ideas were often fodder for Christian beliefs and traditions, and this is likely another example in that long list. Second, there could be pre-Christian attestation as evidenced in the Aramaic version of the Testament of Levi in the Cairo Geniza. To my knowledge this text has not been brought into consideration in the exegesis of Eph 1,13-14. The text is fragmentary, but some of the key details can be made out clearly: one of the sons of Jacob says to some unidentified persons, “Circumcise the foreskin of your flesh and you shall look li[k]e [us], and you shall be sealed (‫)ותהון חתימין‬ like us with the circumcision of […] and we shall be to y[ou] …” 40. The text not only uses “seal” in reference to circumcision, it also ap- pears that the seal is offered to uncircumcised “others” who would incur a bond (e.g. “like us …”) with the twelve brothers should they accept. The “seal” thus functions as an identity marker possessed by the twelve. The date of the tradition is of course uncertain, but it is noteworthy that (i) the Aramaic has ancient Palestinian features 41, and (ii) the resemblance of other portions of Aramaic Levi from the Geniza to fragments found in Cave 1 at Qumran have suggested to some that all are witnesses of a common source 42. One cannot ex- clude the possibility that “seal” here is a later rewriting of Levi, but the text certainly deserves more attention than it has received to date. Paul would corroborate Aramaic Levi. While discussing whether or not “Abraham is our forefather according to the flesh” (Rom circumcision-as-seal with baptism and confirmation. Lambert considers Paul’s thought as a whole and esp. Col 2,11-12; Dix examines early church liturgy (not Eph 1,13-14). Cf. The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (eds. F. GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ – E.J.C. 40 TIGCHELAAR) (Leiden 1997) I, 51. For discussion see J.C. GREENFIELD, “Re- marks on the Aramaic Testament of Levi from the Geniza”, Selected Studies in the Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha with Special Reference to the Armenian Tradition (ed. M.E. STONE) (SVTP 9; Leiden – New York 1991) 228-246. So J.C. GREENFIELD, “Remarks on the Aramaic Testament of Levi from the 41 Geniza”, 242: “the morphology of the Aramaic of the Geniza Testament of Levi is similar to that of Qumran Aramaic and is on the whole free of later forms”. Cf. R.A. KUGLER, From Patriarch to Priest. The Levi-Priestly Tradition 42 from Aramaic Levi to Testament of Levi (Atlanta, GA 1996) 39-41; IDEM, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (Sheffield 2001) 48. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati