medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
George R. Hoelzeman wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Well, if this doesn't add interest and intrigue!
>
> Here's what I've come up with from Raymond Brown's seminal commentary on John's Gospel (Anchor Bible Series, vol 29A). Bearing in mind I am no
> linguist and some of the nuances of grammar are, sadly, lost on me.
>
> Brown page 985-6 notes that there are discrepancies between the Synopitics and John, Luke referecining only the sindon (shroud) while John adds
> reference to a face cloth or soudarion (latin "sudarium"). Brown delves at length into the disputes and questions about what the Greek terms commonly
> translated as "rolled up" or "folded" mean. If I understand him correctly (and this is a cursory reading, not careful) he suggests that the face cloth is a type
> of cloth possibly used to bind the head so the mouth does not drop open. The term in question could simply mean it is still in a "loop" having been just
> removed from the deceased's head. Essentially - as I suspected - it seems that John is making a (typically Johannine) point about the divinity of Jesus, or at
> least the activity of God. In this case, the wrappings appear as if they have just dropped off the body.
>
> Francis J. Moloney, SDB in his volume from the Sacra Pagina series on John (Liturgical Press, 1998) adopts the "neatly folded" translation but also
> references the concept of divine activity in the disappearance of Jesus' body. Essentially, the resurrection of Jesus is contrasted with the recussitation of
> Lazarus who appears at the tomb still bound in his burial wrappings (head and body wrappings are mentioned in both accounts). Jesus appears freed of
> those bindings of death. (q.v. page 520).
>
> The main burial cloth seems to most commonly be referred to in the Gospels with the greek term othonia . . . if that is relevant.
>
>
/Othonia /tends to mean wrappings, linen bandages, or lint, rather
than a large cloth. /Sudarion/ has a primary meaning of a cloth for
wiping off sweat. I don't know if there are other non-Jesus burial
texts against which to compare the use of these terms. I don't find any
"neatly folded" in the Greek. Both John & Peter individually are
reported as seeing the /othonia /lying there -- John sees /keimena ta
othonia/, and Peter sees /ta othonia keimena/. I use the REB for
English & it omits tidyness. How much of this kind of interpretation
comes out of the Latin? The /soudarion/ is /entetuligmenon/ which I
would read as "wadded up" or something similar. The root verb,
/tulissw/, can be twisted, rolled up, unraveled.
I have heard Raymond Brown speak & admire him, but his first commitment
is to the theology rather than the language. I just used his book on
Romans for a group at church in which we read through the letter to the
Romans, & found a number of things that he simply did not look at or
question. If you approach with a set understanding of what it says, you
can miss a lot.
DW
> Long and short, it seems - if these various discussions are correct - that the face cloth being separate from the main wrappings may not mitigate against the
> image on the shroud itself.
>
> Someone more erudite than myself may want to double check some of this.
>
> George (the Much Less)
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|