[B-Greek] Hades in Descent

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Feb 5 16:23:10 EST 2007


On Feb 5, 2007, at 3:31 PM, Bart Ehrman wrote:

>             In the Tischendorf B text of the Acts of Pilate (Gospel of
> Nicodemus) is the account of Jesus' Descent into Hades.  Early on  
> in the
> narrative Hades is pleading with the Devil not to allow Jesus to  
> come down,
> as he will certainly raise the dead up from Hades's snare.  And so  
> Hades,
> personified, adjures the devil (Acts of Pilate 20; Descent 4):
>
>
>
>             DIO KAI ORKIZW KAI SE EIS TAS SAS CHARITAS KAI EIS TAS  
> EMAS, MH
> AGAGHiS AUTON (i.e. Christ) ENTAUQA.
>
>
>
>            Any ideas about how to deal with the CHARITAS?

I'm assuming you mean CARITAS. Interesting that it's plural (never in  
the GNT), but LSJ indicates usage in the plural with EKTINEIN,  
APODIDONAI and ANTIDIDONAI in the sense of "repay" favors performed.  
It would appear then that the idea here is "mutual services performed  
on each other's behalf" -- a sort of "one hand washes the other" or  
"you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" notion that is inherent  
in the concept of CARIS from the outset as reciprocal service and  
gratitude earned: "And so I adjure you both by yours and my own  
mutual good will not to bring him here."


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/





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