Anna Rambiert-Kwasniewska

The textiles in the Old Testament do not belong to the subjects authors often mention willingly. The only storyline in which play an important role, are the descriptions of tabernacle in the desert, which was to be built according to the model provided to the Hebrew by JHWH himself. The Book of Exodus, however is an exception, because the frequency of textile terminology in other books of the Old Testament is small, but still of didactic nature. Despite its subplot, textile vocabulary is a source of extremely valuable information on the evolution of the language and the environment of the Bible, which tells us a lot about the times in which the author/editor/translator of the Bible text lived. The overriding aim of the dissertation submitted was to extract on the basis of the vocabulary describing the textile (fabric and fiber) information on the dependence of two versions of the Bible, which up till the 1st century A.D. enjoyed equally great authority - Hebrew and Septuagint (LXX). In case of the former one in the analyses the Masoretic Text was taken, the wording of which was established around 10th century A.D.  and which has the opinion of the oldest, not to say the only correct version of the Hebrew Bible.
The research proceeded at many stages. First, in order to gain the most appropriate reference point, an outline of the history of fabrics in the ancient Middle East and Egypt has been created. Each of them was discussed separately: wool, linen, byssus, silk, cotton and multicolor fabric. It became possible not only to note the fact that not all fabrics and fibers enjoyed as great popularity in each of the areas called: the situation was quite different in Egypt, where until Hellenistic times flax was the most popular raw material and different in Mesopotamia where wool was the most popular. Also, the fabric called "byssus" was identified, which in reality has nothing to do with the marine byssus, and is only a high quality linen. It was proved that the Chinese silk in times of the formation of the Bible was not known in Palestine, and cotton, although present from the 8th century B.C. in Mesopotamia existed only in the language and came into existence in Palestine in fact only in the Christian era. A few comments were made on multicolor fibers and their sources of procurement, which in the biblical text are distinguished by the largest frequency among the whole collection of biblical textiles.
At the next stage of research the whole terminology found in biblical texts have been collected, both in Hebrew Bible and Septuagint. A whole series of lists have been created, in which Hebrew terms were presented with their Greek equivalents and a reference to a specific location in the books of the Bible. On the occasion of creating the lists the etymology of each term individually was described, and then each of them was discussed in the literary context. The research of etymology made it possible, firstly, to pick the origin of words, and in some cases, reconstruct the road each of the terms travelled before it finally came into existence in Hebrew and Greek; secondly, differences between individual collections of books, in which the naming of the same fabric or fiber was sometimes subject to substantial modifications or complete changes. The list of both versions of the text revealed a great number of discrepancies between Masoretic Text and Septuagint which were a source of questions about the nature of Septuagint and translation strategies peeled by Greek translators.
At the following stage a statistical list of each of fabric and fiber terms has been created - first the Hebrew and then the Greek one. Lists the terminology derived from the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint let us perceive significant disparities - above all differences in the number of equivalents for each of the fabrics and fibers. In the Hebrew Bible 20 different words have been found, and in the Septuagint – about 35 terms. These observations have led to the unavoidable confrontation with the question about the source of differences in textile terminology  between the two versions of the Old Testament. That is why the research was based on the methodology of Eugene Nida, who  is the creator of the theory of formal and dynamic equivalence. Nida`s valuable comments allowed divide the terms and their contexts according to the kind of equivalence between the original text (which in this case was the Hebrew text) and translation (i.e. Septuagint). For these concepts and texts, which have not been possible to explain with translator`s strategy, we argued for a Hebrew text version different from the Masoretic Text version, which a translator made use of - called in the literature the subject Vorlage.
The analysis of the language of textiles - more specifically etymological approach – and tracing the road concepts were passing to the Hebrew language with a simultaneous confrontation of vocabulary with the history of the Jews and the development of textile market - has allowed to draw several conclusions as to the dating of biblical books. The point in question is Book of Exodus, Book of Ezekiel, Esther and Chronicles. For the first of the books terminus post quem in times of Babylonian captivity has been set; Ezekiel was considered to be the work in the times after exile, shortly after the edict of Cyrus; Book of Esther and Chronicles has been dated in the 5th century A.D at earliest
Thanks to research carried out in the thesis it was possible to extract all the terms, which can be referred to fabrics and fibers, test them etymologically and statistically; observe changes between Masoretic Test and Septuagint to finally indicate the texts, which changed because of the translator and those which differed significantly from the Masoretic Text. Some hints for dating the books have also been formulated. That is why all the objectives set at the beginning of research have been achieved.

Color descriptions depend on both culture and era. An explicit example consists in the Greek term melas which was used at the earliest stage of developing the Greek literature to describe various dark colors, as well as difficult mental states and negative emotions, whereas in the Hellenistic papyrus texts it was used in noun form to describe the writing material and pigment in painting. Analyzing the Hebrew equivalent of šāḥōr has revealed a similarity in terms of perceiving and the nomenclature concerning dark colors also in Jewish environments. The conducted study constitutes an attempt to solve methodological difficulties as well as an attempt to capture the elusive semantics and symbolism of the Greek chromatic system in biblical terms.

While Pope Francis has granted lay women and men the license to perform biblical readings during Liturgy (can. 230 §1), the question remains open on who should be interpreting the Bible in public – apart of course from homily. Since the respective capabilities and competences of women remain the most controversial issue, they make for a worthy point of consideration. In order to demonstrate that the practice of interpreting Holy Books is as old as the Church itself, one must reach back to the split that already appeared in this matter in ancient Judaism in Hellenistic and Roman times, both in theory and in practice; one must briefly reinterpret and properly contextualize St.  Paul of Tarsus’ prohibitions against the public speaking and teaching by women (1 Cor 14, 34-35; 1 Tim 2, 11-12); one must then recall the examples of those women of the laity who, apart from pursuing ascetic forms of life, dedicated their lives to preaching and expounding of the Word (like the apocryphal Thecla), and with their exegetical skills made an impression on the Fathers of the Church (for instance the women gathered around St. Jerome). Following these considerations comes the conclusion that the practice of explaining the words of Scripture by members of the laity not only seems historically established, but even desirable and essential to the Church. Such practice must however be supported by an exemplary life – otherwise it will in its character be indistinguishable from academic linguistic or literary studies

The expression "the fullness of time/times" is problematic because it was used for the first time in all of Greek literature by Paul, the Apostle to the Nations. A similar expression can be found only in certain papyri, where "the completion of times" was the expression used to call, among others, the end of a loan period. The only key to understanding the connotation of "the fullness of time/times" is an in-depth analysis of the immediate textual contexts of both Galatians 4:4 and Ephesians 1:10, the two places where this novelty is found. This article is an attempt to interpret the "fullness of time/times" in Galatians 4:4 and Ephesians 1:10 (with the addition of Mark 1:15). Our conclusion is that in Galatians 4:4 "the fullness of time" should be considered as "the end of the domination of Law." As for Ephesians 1:10, there are multiple valid proposals for explaining "the fullness of times," and we have not limited ourselves to any one in particular.

In  antiquity,  wool  was  traded  between  the  Levant  countries  and  the
rest of the known world. Clean, soft wool was especially desirable because it absorbed dyes perfectly, including the purple for which the Phoenician Tyre was famous. In his “Lamentation over Tyre” (Ez 27:1-36) the Hebrew author, followed by a Greek translator, lists a number of cities and regions with which Tyre traded. Ezekiel’s material is there-fore an excellent basis for research into translation techniques used in the translation of toponyms. Their analysis and comparison indicates the existence of several types of translation, among them the technique based on association, which will explain the introduction of Miletus to LXX Ez 27:18 in place of the Hebrew Sahar/Zahar. Evidence will be provided by Greek literary texts and papyrus documents from Ptolemaic Egypt.K ey wor ds:  Septuagint,  Book  of  Ezekiel,  toponyms,  wool,
Sahar/Zahar,  Miletus,  Lamentation over Tyre

The Torah text does not avoid terms related to the production and consumption of textiles. Among the luxury textiles and fabrics, the Pentateuch mentions also those that were used in everyday life, fitting the category of utility textiles. The subject of interest of the presented research are goat hair and a collection of the most popular products made from it - sacks, bags and pouches. Three Hebrew terms were analyzed: ʻēz, śaq and ’amtaḥat, and their Greek equivalents - both in linguistic and contextual terms. The purpose of this article is primarily to investigate the use of goat hair in the Torah, identify objects hidden under the terms śaq and ’amtaḥat, and to discover relationships between the terminology and the provenance of individual nouns or the traditions of the Pentateuch. The Septuagint's conceptual apparatus comes to aid, which narrows the possibilities of interpretation, allowing for the formulation of more precise conclusions.

„Psy i okaleczeńcy”. Translating Paul’s Invectives against Judaizers (Gal. 3:3; Phil. 3:2)
Insults (contumelia) and invectives (invectiva oratio) were known to inspired authors, but their overtones in modern translations usually lose their strength. Should the translator avoid the harsh words contained in the original invectives, or should he remain faithful to it? It is shown by analyzing Paul's invectives in Phil. 3:2 and in Gal. 3:1.3. The author aims to convince, that: 1) Avoiding invective in translation weakens the message of the original (Gal. 3:1.3); 2) The translational consistency ("źli pracownicy"; Phil. 3:2) favors understanding of invective; 3) The invectives that exist in Polish, when their scope deviates from the Greek original, require clarification in the footnote ("psy"; Phil. 3:2); 4) The multitude of hapax legomena in the Bible justifies the use of neologisms, as long as they accurately reflect the content of the original ("przerzezanie"; Phil. 3:2).

Human dominance over the Earth is a topic lively, yet not especially profoundly discussed among exegetes. Numerous attempts have been made to soften the meaning of the verb כּבשׁ, which stands behind controversy of the passus and which quite clearly evokes brutality. Therefore, it is often translated as "step on" or "take possession" – i.a. in regard to territory. Presented study is based on the question: how the translators of LXX managed to translate כּבשׁ  and was this term considered by them as problematic in any way? It turns out, that the Greek equivalent was most probably concocted by the translators, because it cannot be found in any previous literary or documentary texts. Comparative analysis together with defining semantical range of the verb κατακυριεύω shows, that this word is much more nuanced than Hebrew כּבשׁ : it's meaning covers not only dominance by brutal force, but also a dominance which is proper and responsible. This indeed softens the meaning of Hebrew blessing from Gen 1:28, however, it still does not transform it to something entirely different.

Human communication, though based mainly on nouns, verbs, and adjectives, would not be precise without minor parts of speech such as adverbs, conjunctions, and particles. In the presented article, the author considered the adverb nyni strengthened by the particle de. Based on five fragments from the epistles to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:18; 13:13; 15:20; 2 Cor 8:11.22), the meanings of the nyni de were shown. First, assisted by the Greek dictionaries and lexicons, the author examined the proposals of the interpretation of the expression. On the basis of extra-biblical and biblical literature as well as Hellenistic papyri, lexicographers made a clear distinction between its temporal and logical meaning. According to the author, the mentioned distinction is far too radical because, in Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthians, both temporal and logical meanings are present, even in the passages where the notion of time is weaker (1 Cor 13:13; 15:20).

Passus from Iz 3,16-24 describing splendor of Zion’s daughters is without a doubt a perfect base to perform a comparison between the Hebrew Bible and Septuagint. It is hard to identify many of the Hebrew hapax legomena used by Isaiah, however, this is not this particular difficulty that can be seen as a cause of differences in translation of LXX. Thorough analysis shows, that Greek translator made an acculturation of the text to Egyptian conditions, as the list of goods he compiles has its representation in papyrus texts, in particular in these listing items in bride’s dowry. Explanation based on the culture is, however, not sufficient, since Greek version of the fragment can be also interpreted by using specifically “vailed” theology. This is because the translator adds to his version of text the same precious items, which has been used, according to LXX Ex to build the tabernacle at the desert. It is well seen in analogies between LXXIsa3,20 and LXXEx 35,22, and also LXXIsa 3,23 and LXXEx 25,4. In this context explaining the difference between LXX and Hebrew Bible by referring to different Vorlage cannot be justified and proved.

summAry: Fabrics such as byssus and crimson wool can provide us with a surprisingly large amount of information about the circumstances of Biblical books origin. Analysis of lexis related to mentioned textiles, present in Exodus and in Chronicles, allows to notice a meaningful change, occurring in technical biblical terminology. In Exodus, byssus is represented by ‫ׁש‬ ֵ ‫ׁש‬ and crimson – by ‫ִי‬ ‫נ‬ ָ ‫ׁש‬ ‫ַת‬ ‫ַע‬ ‫,ּתֹול‬ whilst in Chronicles naming is changed respectively to ‫ּבּוץ‬ and ‫יל‬ ִ ‫מ‬ ְ‫ַר‬ ‫.ּכ‬ Analysis of etymology leads to the conclusion, that textiles mentioned in Torah belong to an early vocabulary, created in the times before the exile, in Chronicles, on the other hand, encountered terms belong to period of Babylonian captivity or after the exile. Confrontation of these textiles with the other, non-biblical sources, provides a confirmation of proposed dating and facilitates identification of mysterious biblical byssus, which turns out to be a very thin linen and not – as sometimes confused – sea silk. Juxtaposition of the Greek equivalents allows to draw a conclusion, that terminology of both Torah and Chronicles was known to the LXX translators, who – despite a clear caesura – translate terms consequently: ‫ׁש‬ ֵ ‫ׁש‬ and ‫ּבּוץ‬ to βύσσος/βύσσινος, and ‫ִי‬ ‫נ‬ ָ ‫ׁש‬ ‫ַת‬ ‫ַע‬ ‫ּתֹול‬ and ‫יל‬ ִ ‫מ‬ ְ‫ַר‬ ‫ּכ‬ to κόκκινος. T he research on the Biblical material culture constitutes mainly the archeological domain. The Biblicists reach for it readily in order to come to conclusions as regards the text. What is of a popular interest here is mainly sculpture, glyptic, writing culture and architecture. It is rare for the research to focus on the more prosaic elements of everyday life, such as wine, food or textile production. As far as the last case goes, the most numerous are the studies regarding purple. It is one of many fabrics (we are considering here not the color but the wool dyed

In the Scriptures jealousy is the subject, that is very often discussed, starting with zeal of God, ending with jealousy of human being. One needs to be aware, that biblical texts mention two kinds of this feeling, expressed with terms: ζῆλος and φθόνος. While the first is an ambivalent concept - it may indeed express not only envy but also zeal - the second is deeply evil. Already the Book of Wisdom indicates the demonic character of φθόνος (Wis 2,24; 6,23). Paul of Tarsus does not mention φθόνος often – just four times (Rom 1,29; Gal 5,21.26; Phil 1,15). He locates this type of jealousy/envy in two catalogs of vices, in one of them he points out that envy may be the source of very serious sins, including murder (Rom 1,29). Referring implicitly to the events of our salvation, which were partly initiated by the human φθόνος (Mt 27,18; Mk 15,10), Paulbelieves that out of envy - even a thorough and fundamentally evil - goodness may arise, thanks to the power of Christ,. He expresses this in Phil 1,15-18.

Św. Paweł był człowiekiem swoich czasów. Nieobca mu była myśl filozoficzna, zwłaszcza stoicka, wszak dorastał w mieście na wskroś wielokulturowym, w którym idee wschodnie przenikały się z fi-lozofią grecką, judaizm współistniał z religiami pogańskimi, zaś synagogi działały w bliskości gimna-zjonów. Młodemu Pawłowi bliskie zatem były idee świata greckiego oraz związane z nimi pojęcia. Jednym z nich jest pomniejsza cnota, którą bez trudu odnaleźć można w tekstach filozoficznych, mia-nowicie ἐγκράτεια. Ten grecki termin tłumaczy się zazwyczaj poprzez „samodyscyplinę” bądź „wstrzemięźliwość”. W Listach Pawła odnaleźć go można w trzech miejscach bezpośrednio (1 Kor 7, 9; 9, 25; Ga 5, 23), choć i pośrednie realizacje tej idei są możliwe do uchwycenia. Okazuje się, że o ἐγκράτεια wspomina Paweł w tych samych kontekstach, co współcześni mu filozofowie, zwłaszcza Muzoniusz Rufus i Epiktet. Analiza tekstów starożytnych dowodzi, że idea samokontroli obecna jest w epistolografii Pawłowej, gdy mowa o pożywieniu, seksualności oraz cnocie in genere, którą według Apostoła Narodów powinien cechować się apostolat.

The article examines the notion of “mercy” in the triple context of: laic Hellenistic literature, Greek Old Testament (LXX) and Paul’s Epistles. The reason of using these three different “scales” is to elucidate the unclear and inadequately specified semantic field of οἰκτιρμός – which is the synonymous of more popular word ἔλεος. First recognition shows that the notion of οἰκτιρμός has two different meanings depending in which – laic or biblical – context it is used. Laic context refers mostly to what we call today “pity”, whilst biblical understanding of the word is deeper and is often being translated as “mercy”. Going further, examining of the Paul’s Epistles clearly shows that the Apostle of the Nations prefers the second meaning of the οἰκτιρμός and that with this word he covers a complex theological concept of the relation between God and man.

Among the biblical passages concerning women, 1Tim 2:11-15 is one of the most controversial. This can be clearly seen when we take into account that it’s often considered as one of the key arguments against women’s ordination. The common opinion about this passage, as being somehow misogynistic, is mostly caused by the interpretational habit of universalizing its meaning. In that situation, in order to understand 1Tim 2:11-15 properly, an exegete needs to follow two procedures. The first consists of showing occasional aspects of the Pastoral Epistles. It also includes presenting the false teaching performed in Ephesus by numerous deceivers – the presence of whom could have been a possible impetus for the prohibitions from 1Tim 2:11-15. The second procedure should focus on describing the situation of women in Ephesus – the real recipients of those prohibitions. My article is an attempt to introduce both steps, arguing that the reason behind the “prohibition of teaching” that is present in the passage is the author’s concern for the rich and powerful, yet sometimes naïve, Ephesian women.

The aim of the presented text is to question the feminist re-interpretation of Ef 5,21-33, the so-called Christian Haustafeln („household codes”). It is one of the texts by St Paul, on the basis of which the Apostle is being accused of misogynism. In particular parts of the article, we have tried to rebut these accusations, and at the same time highlight pro-female aspects of his activity. The Apostle was presented as a modern leader of his times who fights with the low status of the women, and even appoints women as his collaborators during his missionary journeys. The aims were reached on the basis of examining the structure of the fragment and analysing the meaning of two Greek words: agapaō and hypotassō. Furthermore, the pericope was interpreted in its social and cultural context of late-Hellenic and early-Roman era, depicted by epigraphic, papyrologic and literary examples of strong women emancipation, reflected in greater freedom in the eyes of the law, getting married for love and weakening the patriarchal family model.

When St. Paul fi rst set foot on the European continent, he travelled along the routes of the ancient province of Macedonia. The cities which he chose as his missionary destinations were not accidental. In fact, almost all of them were located along the Roman military route called Via Egnatia, which was laid down to allow for the smooth redeployment of troops through the harsh mountainous stretches of Macedonia. Although the Apostle’s journey along Via Egnatia was passed over in silence by the author of the Acts, it does not mean that the said road did not play an important role during Paul’s missionary journeys. Thanks to historical, archaeological and literary reconstruction, we can now prove that, although Via Egnatia was not of great importance for Paul’s missionary strategy, it signifi cantly contributed to the expansion of Christianity and the development of the Early Church.

Presented article attempts to read the Pauline metaphors in a semantically new way. Author by using so called „interaction view” of Max Black tries to understand three metaphors from 2 Tim 2:4-6 in their cultural and literal context and interprets them in the nearest to Paul’s view and intention. That is way author presents ancient texts referring to soldiers in the Roman Army, wrestlers in the Greek Games and farmers. All three metaphors mentioned in a title are used to transfer a few important truths about leaders of the Church, which are called to sacrifice their daily pleasures and relations. They are called to fight with their own weaknesses, fears and Gospel’s opponents, they are finally called to preach the Gospel not only by words but by their own lives. If they do so they will receive heavenly price, which is eternity in the presence of Christ.

The textiles in the Old Testament do not belong to the subjects authors often mention willingly. The only storyline in which play an important role, are the descriptions of tabernacle in the desert, which was to be built according to the model provided to the Hebrew by JHWH himself. The Book of Exodus, however is an exception, because the frequency of textile terminology in other books of the Old Testament is small, but still of didactic nature. Despite its subplot, textile vocabulary is a source of extremely valuable information on the evolution of the language and the environment of the Bible, which tells us a lot about the times in which the author/editor/translator of the Bible text lived. The overriding aim of the dissertation submitted was to extract on the basis of the vocabulary describing the fabric information on the dependence of two versions of the Bible, which up till the 1st century A.D. enjoyed equally great authority - Hebrew and Septuagint (LXX). In case of the former one in the analyses we took the Masoretic Text the wording of which was established around 10th century A.D.  and which has the opinion of the oldest, not to say the only correct version of the Hebrew Bible.
Our research proceeded at many stages. First, in order to gain the most appropriate reference point, we have created an outline of the history of fabric in the ancient Middle East and Egypt. We discussed each of them separately: wool, linen, byssus, silk, cotton and multicolor fabric. We have managed not only to note the fact that not all fabrics enjoyed as great popularity in each of the areas called: the situation was quite different in Egypt, where until Hellenistic times flax was the most popular raw material and different in Mesopotamia where wool was the most popular. We have also managed to identify the fabric called "byssus", which in reality has nothing to do with the marine byssus, and is only a high quality linen. We have proved that the Chinese silk in times of the formation of the Bible was not known in Palestine, and cotton, although present from the 8th century B.C. in Mesopotamia existed only in the language and came into existence in Palestine in fact only in the Christian era. We have also made a few comments on multicolor fabrics and their sources of procurement, which in the biblical text are distinguished by the largest frequency among the whole collection of biblical fabrics.
At the next stage of research we have collected the whole terminology found in biblical texts, both in Hebrew Bible and Septuagint. We have created a whole series of lists, in which we presented Hebrew terms with their Greek equivalents and a reference to a specific location in the books of the Bible. On the occasion of creating the lists we described the etymology of each term individually, and then we discussed each of them in the literary context. The research of etymology made it possible, firstly, to pick the origin of words, and in some cases, reconstruct the road each of the terms travelled before it finally came into existence in Hebrew and Greek; secondly, differences between individual collections of books, in which the naming of the same fabric was sometimes subject to substantial modifications or complete changes. The list of both versions of the text revealed a great number of discrepancies between Masoretic Text and Septuagint which were a source of questions about the nature of Septuagint and translation strategies peeled by Greek translators.
At the following stage we have created a statistical list of each of textile terms - first the Hebrew and then the Greek one. Lists the terminology derived from the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint let us perceive significant disparities - above all differences in the number of equivalents for each of the fabrics. In the Hebrew Bible we counted 20 different words, and in the Septuagint  we found about 35 terms. These observations have led us to the unavoidable confrontation with the question about the source of differences in textile terminology  between the two versions of the Old Testament. That is why we have based on the methodology of Eugene Nida, who  is the creator of the theory of formal and dynamic equivalence. Nida`s valuable comments allowed divide the terms and their contexts according to the kind of equivalence between the original text (which in this case was the Hebrew text) and translation (i.e. Septuagint). For these concepts and texts, which we have not been able to explain with translator`s strategy, we argued for a Hebrew text version different from the Masoretic Text version, which a translator made use of - called in the literature the subject Vorlage.
The analysis of the language of fabrics - more specifically etymological approach, and tracing the road concepts were passing to the Hebrew language with a simultaneous confrontation of vocabulary with the history of the Jews and the development of textile market - has allowed us to draw several conclusions as to the dating of biblical books. The point in question is Book of Exodus, Book of Ezekiel, Esther and Chronicles. For the first of the books we have set terminus post quem in times of Babylonian captivity; we considered Ezekiel to be the work in the times after exile, shortly after the edict of Cyrus; we dated Book of Esther and Chronicles in the 5th century A.D at earliest
Thanks to research carried out in the thesis we have managed  to extract all the terms, which we can refer to fabrics, test them etymologically and statistically; observe changes between Masoretic Test and Septuagint to finally indicate the texts, which changed because of the translator and those which differed significantly from the Masoretic Text. We have formulated some hints for dating the books. That is why we have achieved all the objectives set at the beginning of research.