[B-Greek] LOUW, NIPTW, BAPTIZW

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Sat Nov 8 13:27:55 EST 2003


> On Tue  4 Nov 2003 (09:05:35 +0300), iver_larsen at sil.org wrote:
> > Whereas BAPTIZW/BAPTW was occasionally, but rarely, used in classical
> > Greek, the word is only used in a ritual, ecclesiastical sense in the
> > NT. It is therefore a technical term that refers to religiously
> > significant cleansing (Jewish or Christian). It never refers to
> > ordinary washing.
>
>[Ben:]  In Mark 7:3-4  hOI GAR FARISAIOI KAI PANTES hOI IOUDAIOI EAN MH
PUGMHi
>  *VIYWNTAI* TAS CEIRAS OUK ESQIOUSIN, KRATOUNTES THN PARADOSIN
> TWN PRESBUTERWN,
>  KAI AP' AGORAS EAN MH *BAPTISWNTAI* OUK ESQIOUSIN, KAI ALLA
> POLLA ESTIN hA
>  PARELABON KRATEIN, *BAPTISMOUS* POTHRIWN KAI XESTWN KAI CALKIWN KAI
>  KLINWN...
>
>  So the Parisees and all the Jews wash NIPTW their hands before eating.
>  But then they BAPTIZW their hands, and BAPTIZW all their utensils,
crockery,
>  pots, pans and dishes before using them.
>
>  Do we take it then that all these food-related items are already quite
>  clean, but need a *ritual lustration* before eating with or from them?
>
>  Maybe the distinction between NIPTW and BAPTIZW is not so tight here.
>
I have been out of town for a few days, so please excuse the late response.
It seems to me that the distinction is quite clear and consistent in the
Greek text. NIPTW (which also occurs in v. 2) simply means washing with
water. The context may narrow the sense to ceremonial washing as do the
words KOINAIS CERSIN in v. 2 and KRATOUNTES THN PARADOSIN TWN PRESBUTERWN in
v. 3. The following two BAPT- words refer to such ceremonial cleansing, but
still water is used in some way, and indeed in a very particular way
according to religious tradition.
To maintain that distinction in English, I would therefore use "wash" for
NIPTW and "cleanse" for BAPTIZW. The religiously pious who return from the
market place in a potentially contaminated state need to cleanse themselves
(probably in a mikvah). Utensils which in some way have become unclean, need
to be cleansed. How dirty they appear to be is irrelevant, as long as they
are religiously contaminated. Maybe these utensils or the couch were just
bought at the market place and might have been touched by Gentile hands? Or
they may have become unclean in another way. In any case, it is implied by
BAPTIZW that they are unclean and need to be cleansed. The text is not
talking about ordinary dish washing - or couch washing, if KLINWN was
originally in the text.

Iver Larsen




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