Eckhard Schnabel, «The Meaning of Baptizein in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature.» filologia-neotestamentaria, Vol. 24 (2011) 3-40 page 27

Vol 24 (2011)

Eckhard Schnabel, «The Meaning of Baptizein in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature.», Vol. 24 (2011) 3-40

The treatment of the Greek term Baptizein in the standard English lexicons is unsystematic. The use of the English term ‘to baptize’ for the Greek term Baptizein in English versions of the New Testament is predicated on the assumption that the Greek verb has a technical meaning which warrants the use of a transliteration. Since the first fact is deplorable and the second fact is unsatisfactory, an investigation into the meaning of the Greek term in Greek, Jewish, and patristic literary and documentary texts is called for in order to define the meaning of the term in classical and Hellenistic Greek with more precision than usually encountered in New Testament research, with a view to construct a more helpful lexicon entry for Baptizein.

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The Meaning of βαπτίζειν in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature 27 Sense 1a: to cleanse with water; gloss: ‘to wash’ Aristotle, Politica 1336a: συμφέρει δ’ εὐθὺς καὶ πρὸς τὰ ψύχη συνεθίζειν ἐκ μικρῶν παίδων: τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ πρὸς ὑγίειαν καὶ πρὸς πολεμικὰς πράξεις εὐχρηστότατον. διὸ παρὰ πολλοῖς ἐστι τῶν βαρβάρων ἔθος τοῖς μὲν εἰς ποταμὸν ἀποβάπτειν τὰ γιγνόμενα ψυχρόν, τοῖς δὲ σκέπασμα μικρὸν ἀμπίσχειν, οἷον Κελτοῖς (“And it is also advantageous to accustom them at once from early child- hood to cold, for this is most useful both for health and with a view to military service. Hence among many non-Greek races it is customary in the case of some peoples to wash the children at birth by dipping them in a cold river, and with oth- ers, for instance the Celts, to give them scanty covering”; H. Rackham) (IV). Papyrus, P. Cair. Zenon IV 59630: ̣ ο [ - ca. ? - ] σ ἠδίκει πλέονος σ ̣ ι βάπτων τὰς βαφάς. ἐμοῦ δέ σοι [ - ca. ? - ] τὰ αὐτὰ οὗτος ἐπικεχώρηκεν. ∆ίκαιος οὖν σοι ̣ αν πορφύραν τὴν εἰς τὰς ψιλοταπίδας βάψειν [ - ca. ? - ] σ [ - ca. ? - χ] αλκίον καὶ τόπον ων [ - ca. ? - ] μα. εὐτύχει. Fragment of a letter or memorandum, apparently a complaint about a dyer who had been charging too much for his work and a proposal of a new arrangement65 (III). Papyrus, P. Mich. II 121 recto 2, ii lines 7-9 (SB III 6705): καί ἐστιν ἡ δεδομένη φερνή ... ξύλινον καὶ στολὰς γυν(αικείας) β, μιᾶς μὲν βαπτῆς τῆς δὲ δευτέρας λευκῆς, καὶ πά̣λλ ̣ ια δ συμμίκτοις χρώμασι (“And the dowry given is ... women’s utensils of tin of a weight of 5 minai and a wooden chest(?) and 2 women’s robes, one dyed and the other one white, and 4 cloaks of various colors’)66 (i). John Chrysostom, Homiliae 5.3 in 1 Thess. (PG 62.427): Καὶ γὰρ ἰατρὸς βουλόμενος σηπεδόνα ἐκβαλεῖν, πρότερον τοὺς δακτύλους εἰς τὸ τραῦμα καθίησι, κἂν μὴ πρότερον μολύνῃ τὰς ἰωμένας χεῖρας, ἰάσασθαι οὐ δυνήσεται. Οὕτω κἀγὼ, ἂν μὴ πρότερον τὸ στόμα μολύνω τὸ ἰώμενον ὑμῶν τὰ πάθη, οὐ δυνήσομαι ὑμᾶς ἰάσασθαι. Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦτο μολύνεται, οὔτε ἐκεῖναι αἱ 65 Photographic Archive of Papyri in the Cairo Museum; Center for the Study of Ancient Documents (CSAD), Oxford. 66 The text belongs to the archive of Kronion son of Apion, nomographos of the grapheion of Tebtynis, and represents a day by day register of abstracts of the contracts recorded at the record-office (grapheion) of Tebtynis during the four last months of the second year of the Emperor Claudius; the text records a (demotic) alimentary contract, registered on May 11, A.D. 42. Advanced Papyrological Information System University of Michigan (APIS UM), P.Mich.inv. 622; Recto (2720).