The Meaning of βαπτίζειν in Greek, Jewish, and Patristic Literature 37 Marcus Aurelius, τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν (Meditations) 3.4: ὁ γάρ τοι ἀνὴρ ὁ τοιοῦτος, οὐκ ἔτι ὑπερτιθέμενος τὸ ὡς ἐν ἀρίστοις ἤδη εἶναι, ἱερεύς τίς ἐστι καὶ ὑπουργὸς θεῶν, χρώμενος καὶ τῷ ἔνδον ἱδρυμένῳ αὐτοῦ, ὃ παρέχεται τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄχραντον ἡδονῶν, ἄτρωτον ὑπὸ παντὸς πόνου, πάσης ὕβρεως ἀνέπαφον, πάσης ἀναίσθητον πονηρίας, ἀθλητὴν ἄθλου τοῦ μεγίστου, τοῦ ὑπὸ μηδενὸς πάθους καταβληθῆναι, δικαιοσύνῃ βεβαμμένον εἰς βάθος, ἀσπαζόμενον μὲν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς τὰ συμβαίνοντα καὶ ἀπονεμόμενα πάντα, μὴ πολλάκις δὲ μηδὲ χωρὶς μεγάλης καὶ κοινωφελοῦς ἀνάγκης φανταζόμενον τί ποτε ἄλλος λέγει ἢ πράσσει ἢ διανοεῖται (“For the man who is such and no longer delays being among the num- ber of the best, is like a priest and minister of the gods, using too the deity which is planted within him, which makes the man uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any pain, untouched by any insult, feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest fight, one who cannot be overpowered by any passion, dyed deep with justice, accepting with all his soul everything which happens and is assigned to him as his portion; and not often, nor yet without great necessity and for the general interest, imagining what another says, or does, or thinks”; G. Long)82 (ii). Marcus Aurelius, τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν (Meditations) 5.16: Οἷα ἂν πολλάκις φαντασθῇς, τοιαύτη σοι ἔσται ἡ διάνοια: βάπτεται γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν φαντασιῶν ἡ ψυχή. βάπτε οὖν αὐτὴν τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῶν τοιούτων φαντασιῶν: οἷον, ὅτι ὅπου ζῆν ἐστιν, ἐκεῖ καὶ εὖ ζῆν (“Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a continuous series of such thoughts as these: for instance, that where a man can live, there he can also live well”; G. Long)83 (ii). Justin Martyr, Dialogus com Tryphone Judaeo 86.6: ξύλον Ἐλισσαῖος βαλὼν εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ποταμὸν ἀνήνεγκε τὸν σίδηρον τῆς ἀξίνης, ἐν ᾗ πεπορευμένοι ἦσαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν προφητῶν κόψαι ξύλα εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ οἴκου, ἐν ᾧ τὸν νόμον καὶ τὰ προστάγματα τοῦ θεοῦ λέγειν καὶ μελετᾶν ἐβούλοντο: ὡς καὶ ἡμᾶς βεβαπτισμένους ταῖς βαρυτάταις ἁμαρτίαις, ἃς ἐπράξαμεν, διὰ τοῦ σταυρωθῆναι ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου καὶ δι’ ὕδατος ἁγνίσαι ὁ Χριστὸς ἡμῶν ἐλυτρώσατο καὶ οἶκον εὐχῆς καὶ προσκυνήσεως ἐποίησε (“Elisha, by throwing a piece of wood into the River Jordan, brought up to the surface the iron head of the axe with which the sons of the prophets had begun to cut wood for the construction of a building in which they proposed to read the precepts of God and study them; just as our Christ, by being crucified on the wood of the cross and by sanctifying us by water, raised up us who had been immersed in the mire of our mortal sins and made us a house of prayer and worship”; T. B. Falls) (ii). 82 Note the contrast between being ‘overpowered’ (καταβληθῆναι) by passion and being ‘immersed’ (βεβαμμένον) with or ‘imbued’ by justice (or righteousness). 83 Instead of ‘dye’ (G. Long), one can also translate with ‘tinge’ (J. Collier).