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orion Masboetheans
> ***Eusebius also mentions the *christian* sect
> of the Masboethaens a few verses earlier (22:5). So
> I wondered: could the jewish Masboethaeans of verse 7 be
> a mistake under the influence of that earlier verse,
> that is: a corruption of Boethusians (after Boethus, a priest
> from Egypt assigned by Herod; the sect is also mentionend
> in the Talmud AFAIK) ??
>
> Could the Galileans be Zelotes, Josephus' 'fourth sect...
> founded by Judas the Galilean' ?
>
> kind regards,
> Aayko Eyma
I cited Marcel Simon in an earlier message, who seemed to be claiming
that
the name Masbothei "is almost certainly the Greek rendering of an Aramaic
doublet for the Baptists." He provides no discussion here (Jewish Sects,
88), and I'm wondering how such a derivation would be construed. I would
have thought it more likely that MShBT would reflect some form of
"Sabbath
Keepers" (ShBT participle), or possibly even something like "Oath Takers"
(some form of ShBUa). Etymological conjectures are such fun, especially
if
one has minimal knowledge of the languages in question! Does anyone with
better semitic language skills than I, have suggestions for the possible
derivation of Masbothei? (Note that both occurrences in Eusebius are in
citations from Hegesippus.)
On "Galileans" = the fourth philosophy (Zealots), that is a standard
identification (see Simon 87). Alternately, since Julian "the Apostate"
later uses "Galilean" as a general term for Christians, it may also
reflect that sort of usage in an earlier period in Jewish circles. Simon
also notes that one of the Bar Kochba letters mentions "the Galileans."
Then Simon shrugs his shoulders and moves on to the next subject.
Me too.
Bob
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html