"For That Is What His Name Means" (Acts 13:8): Luke's Etymology of Elymas the Magician
The name Elymas in Acts 13 has long perplexed interpreters. Why this name should provide an alternate to Bar-Jesus has found no answer, and the etymology of Elymas as "magician" has been judged senseless. To explain it, commentators frequently appeal to unlikely Semitic precedents for Elym...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
The catholic biblical quarterly
Year: 2022, Volume: 84, Issue: 4, Pages: 609-626 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Apostelgeschichte 13
/ Josephus, Flavius 37-100
/ Etymology
/ Magician
/ Onomastics
/ Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis
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| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
MAGICIAN
B Elymas B Bar-Jesus B Josephus B Onomastics B Etymology B Acts of the Apostles |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The name Elymas in Acts 13 has long perplexed interpreters. Why this name should provide an alternate to Bar-Jesus has found no answer, and the etymology of Elymas as "magician" has been judged senseless. To explain it, commentators frequently appeal to unlikely Semitic precedents for Elymas or follow Codex Bezae in reading Hetoimas ( Ἑτοιμᾶς) and associate this figure with Atomos from Josephus's Antiquities. In contrast, I propose that Josephus's account of Noah's genealogy, which speaks of a certain Elymos, forms the background for Luke's Elymas. This background renders Elymas's name and etymology sensible, providing a solution to a long-standing exegetical conundrum. |
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| ISSN: | 2163-2529 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The catholic biblical quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/cbq.2022.0132 |