Semantic Range of BAPTIZW/BAPTISMA

Brent Hudson brent at riveroflifembchurch.com
Sat Dec 7 15:50:07 EST 2002


Sorry for not making myself more clear.  My point was not that BAPTIZW referred to a "soaking" or had anything to do with squirting.  My point was simply that BAPTIZW, while have its basic sense as "to dip" by extension included a broader sense of getting washed (whether by dipping or not).  My use of the word "soak" in English was only to give an example of how this same kind of semantic movement has happened in English with a similar word.  

What is referred to by BAPTIZW in Acts 1.5 is called EKCEW in Acts 2.17, 18.  I am not suggesting that BAPTIZW and EKCEW are used synonymously; however, what I am suggesting is that the writers of the NT did not mind connecting these terms thematically.  This suggests to me that the basic sense of "to dip" had already been significantly affected by the extended sense of "to wash" or "to make clean".  

Brent Hudson



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On 12/7/2002  Iver Larsen wrote:

>>
>> What is interesting about Mark 7.4 is the bracketed KAI KLINWN.
>> I don't know how big they made couches in Jesus' day, but it
>> seems to me this article would be a bit too big to fit in a
>> basin.  BAPTISMOS is used in this clause; however, it is so close
>> to BAPTIZW (in the first clause) that the parallel is unmistakable.
>>
>> Perhaps the real issue here is how wet the object gets -- like
>> the English "to soak".  "Literally" the idea is dipping but by
>> extension (metaphorically perhaps) it can include getting
>> something really wet (as if it were dipped).  This is not unlike
>> the English word "to soak".  Thus, I can soak a pot in the sink
>> (like dipping) or I can soak a person with a squirt gun.  The
>> point is not how it happened, but that the person is really wet!
>>
>> Brent Hudson
>
>Hefin Jones gave a good summary of the dictionary senses of this verb, and
>from this it appears to me that the basic meaning is "submerge" rather than
>"soak" or "become very wet", and in a metaphorical sense "be overwhelmed"
>or
>"having to go through a very difficult time". It does not seem that the
>real
>issue is how wet the object gets, and there is no hint of squirting in any
>of the contexts as far as I know.
>
>Concerning the KLINH it seems strange that a whole couch should be
>submerged
>in water, and this may be why both Aleph and B deleted the word. But we
>need
>to be careful not to read back into the text our modern understanding of a
>small wash basin and a huge couch. First, there were lots of big Mikvaoth
>(huge baths for ritual cleansing that people submerged themselves in) in
>Jerusalem. Second, the KLINH also refers to what is variably translated as
>"stretcher" or "pallet", something that a single person could easily carry
>around under his arm or on the shoulder. It could be submerged in a mikvah,
>if needed. Some of the most fanatic "baptizers/cleansers" among the
>Pharisees apparently did that.
>
>Iver Larsen
>
>
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