Sandak and Godparent in Midrash and Medieval Practice
"The guest who holds the baby at a Jewish circumcision ceremony is popularly known as a sandak, commonly translated as "godfather." Both the word and the custom are seen by some to reflect the influence of Christian baptism on Jewish practice. The term was common among Jews of medieva...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
2007
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 2007, Volume: 97, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-32 |
| Further subjects: | B
Shoher Tov
B godparent B godmother B sandak B godfather B Midrash Tehillim B Circumcision |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | "The guest who holds the baby at a Jewish circumcision ceremony is popularly known as a sandak, commonly translated as "godfather." Both the word and the custom are seen by some to reflect the influence of Christian baptism on Jewish practice. The term was common among Jews of medieval Europe, especially in Ashkenaz, but its earliest appearance seems to be in Midrash tehillim (Shoher tov). The word is allegedly found in a Palestinian targum, but this targumic tradition can be shown to be a medieval invention. The same is true of other quasi-midrashic traditions found in medieval Pentateuch commentaries. It also appears in some versions of a legend concerning the birth of R. Ishmael son of Elisha the High Priest, where it may be a secondary gloss. Lexicographers have generally suggested that the word derives either from Greek syndikos (meaning advocate) or synteknos (a godfather or co-father). The former is, however, semantically inappropriate, and while the second is to be preferred, a close reading of Midrash tehillim in light of all textual evidence shows that it too is problematic. Analysis of all witnesses shows that in its most original form, the passage in Midrash tehillim referred not to the title of a functionary at the circumcision ceremony, but to the manner in which the baby was cradled on his or her lap. The word appears originally to have represented Greek sandux (as found in the lexicon of Hesychius), meaning a chest or box." |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/jqr.2007.0004 |