Eckhard Schnabel, «The Meaning of Baptizein in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature.» filologia-neotestamentaria, Vol. 24 (2011) 3-40 page 29

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 29 such persons therewith on the third and on the seventh day, and thenceforth they were clean”; H. St. J. Thackeray) (i). Justin Martyr, Dialogus com Tryphone Judaeo 46.2: Κἀκεῖνος: Τὸ σαββατίζειν λέγω καὶ τὸ περιτέμνεσθαι καὶ τὸ τὰ ἔμμηνα φυλάσσειν καὶ τὸ βαπτίζεσθαι ἁψάμενόν τινος ὧν ἀπηγόρευται ὑπὸ Μωυσέως ἢ ἐν συνουσίᾳ γενόμενον (“Then he replied, ‘To keep the Sabbath, to be circumcised, to observe months, and to be washed if you touch anything prohibited by Moses, or after sexual intercourse’”; A. Roberts/J. Donaldson) (ii). Sense 1c: to take water or wine by dipping a drinking vessel (in a stream, a fountain, a well, a bowl). Euripides, Hippolytus 121-124: Ὠκεανοῦ τις ὕδωρ στάζουσα πέτρα λέγεται, βαπτὰν κάλπισι παγὰν ῥυτὰν προιεῖσα κρημνῶν (“There is a cliff dripping water whose source, men say, is the river Oceanus: it pours forth from its overhanging edge a flowing stream in which pitchers are dipped”; D. Kovacs) (V). Sense 1d: to perish by submersion in water; gloss: ‘to drown’ Aesop, Fabulae 223 (The Shepherd and the Sea, version 3, lines 4-6): χειμῶνος δὲ σφοδροῦ γενομένου καὶ τῆς νεὼς κινδυνευούσης βαπτίζεσθαι πάντα τὸν φόρτον ἐκβαλὼν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν μόλις κενῇ τῇ νηὶ διεσώθη (“But a very great tempest came on, and the ship being in danger of sinking, he threw all his merchandise overboard, and barely escaped with his life in the empty ship”; G. F. Townsend) (VI). Polybius, Historiae 1.51.6-7: στρεφομένοις καὶ δυσχρηστοῦσι διὰ τὸ βάρος τῶν πλοίων καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀπειρίαν τῶν πληρωμάτων, ἐμβολάς τε συνεχεῖς ἐδίδοσαν καὶ πολλὰ τῶν σκαφῶν ἐβάπτιζον (“and as the enemy then had to turn round and found themselves in difficulty owing to the weight of the hulls (ships) and the poor oarsmanship of the crews, they rammed them repeatedly and sunk many”; W. R. Paton) (III). Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 16.80.3: πολλοὶ δὲ ἄνευ πολεμίας πληγῆς διεφθείροντο σωρευομένων τῶν σωμάτων διά τε τὸν φόβον καὶ τὸ πλῆθος καὶ διὰ τὰς ἐν τῷ ῥείθρῳ δυσχερείας. τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, λάβρων γεγενημένων τῶν ὄμβρων ὁ ποταμὸς βιαιοτέρῳ τῷ ῥεύματι καταφερόμενος πολλοὺς ἐβάπτιζε καὶ μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων διανηχομένους διέφθειρε (“There was crowding and it was difficult to keep one’s feet in the stream. Worst of all, as the rain came down heavily, the river swept downstream as a raging torrent and carried the men with it, drowning them as they struggled to swim in their heavy armour”; C. H. Oldfather) (I).