The Meaning of βαπτίζειν in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature 31 ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων βαπτίζονται: οὕτω καὶ οἱ τοῖς οἰκείοις χρώμενοι λογισμοῖς, πρὶν ἤ τι μαθεῖν, ναυάγιον ὑπομένουσιν (“Everywhere, beloved, we have need of faith, faith the mother of blessings, the medicine of salvation; and without this it is impossible to possess any one of the great doctrines. Without this, men are like to those who attempt to cross the open sea without a ship, who for a little way hold out by swimming, using both hands and feet, but when they have advanced farther, are quickly swamped by the waves: in like manner they who use their own reasonings, before they have learnt anything, suffer shipwreck”; P. Schaff) (iv/v). Sense 1e: to put to death a living being; gloss: ‘to slaughter’ or ‘to kill’ Euripides, Phoenissae 1577-1578: χαλκόκροτον δὲ λαβοῦσα νεκρῶν πάρα φάσγανον εἴσω σαρκὸς ἔβαψεν, ἄχει δὲ τέκνων ἔπεσ’ ἀμφὶ νεκροῖσιν (“Then, tak- ing from the dead a sword of hammered bronze, she plunged it in her flesh, and in sorrow for her sons fell with her arms around them”; O’Neill) (V). Josephus, De bello Judaico 2.476: ὁ δὲ διελθὼν πᾶσαν τὴν γενεὰν καὶ περίοπτος ἐπιστὰς τοῖς σώμασιν τήν τε δεξιὰν ἀνατείνας, ὡς μηδένα λαθεῖν, ὅλον εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σφαγὴν ἐβάπτισεν τὸ ξίφος (“After slaying every member of his family, he [i.e. Simon] stood conspicuous on the corpses, and with right hand uplifted to attract all eyes, plunged the sword up to the hilt into his own throat;”; H. St. J. Thackeray) (i). John Chrysostom, Homiliae 1.3 in Eph. (PG 62.20): Οὐ φονεύσεις, φησί. Ποία τοῦτο ἀνάγκη, ποία βία; Βία μὲν οὖν ἐστι τὸ φονεύειν. Τίς γὰρ ἂν ἡμῶν ἕλοιτο βαπτίσαι ξίφος εἰς τὸν λαιμὸν τοῦ πλησίον, καὶ αἱμάξαι τὴν δεξιάν; Οὐδὲ εἷς (“The law says, “Thou shalt not kill”. What sort of force, what sort of violence, is there here? Violence indeed must one use to force himself to kill, for who amongst us would as a matter of choice plunge his sword into the throat of his neighbor, and stain his hand with blood? Not one. Thou seest then that, on the contrary, sin is more properly matter of violence and constraint”; P. Schaff) (iv/v). Sense 1f: to tinge fabric with a color; gloss: ‘to dye’ Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 216-219: πρῶτα μὲν γὰρ τἄρια βάπτουσι θερμῷ κατὰ τὸν ἀρχαῖον νόμον ἁπαξάπασαι, κοὐχὶ μεταπειρωμένας ἴδοις ἂν αὐτάς (“First, they dye their wools with boiling tinctures, in the ancient style”; B. B. Rog- ers) (V).71 71 Note that there are many other Greek verbs that denote ‘to color, dye, stain’—ἀνθίζω (‘color, dye, stain’), γλαυκόω (‘dye blue-grey’), δευσοποιέω (‘dye, stain’), ἐρυθαίνω (‘dye red’), ἐρυθροδανόω (‘dye with madder’), θαλασσοβαφέω (‘dye purple’), καταφοινισσω