{"id":6474,"date":"2024-07-01T05:46:21","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T09:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mudbloodcatholic\/?p=6474"},"modified":"2024-07-01T07:39:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T11:39:37","slug":"daughters-gospel-for-30-june-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mudbloodcatholic\/2024\/07\/daughters-gospel-for-30-june-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Daughters (Gospel for 30 June, 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cSkip a Bit, Brother\u201d<\/h4>\n <\/p>\n Brother Maynard (right), accompanied by his<\/small> \nbrother, Brother Maynard\u2019s Brother. Image<\/small> \nfrom the Monty Python Wiki, used under a<\/small> \nCC BY-SA license (edition unspecified\u2014source<\/a>).<\/small><\/p>\n I was honestly quite miffed to discover that the Gospel for this Sunday was not<\/em> Mark 5.1-20<\/a>, the next pericope1<\/sup> in sequence. That passage (especially in combination with this week\u2019s actual text!) builds beautifully on the question last week\u2019s Gospel<\/a> concluded with: \u201cWhat kind of man is this, then, that even the wind and the sea listen to him?\u201d There were details I decided to leave out of that post because<\/em> I thought I\u2019d be covering them this week. Harrumph. Since we won\u2019t be covering it, at least not now, I offer a summary.<\/p>\n

Content warning: demonic possession, self-harm<\/h5>\n Jesus travels to the Decapolis (a mostly-Gentile region). He there meets a man who had been living in a necropolis2<\/sup> and cutting himself, who is possessed by the now-notorious devil, or group of devils, Legion. Like many demons in Mark, it identifies Jesus as the \u201cSon of the Most High God.\u201d3<\/sup> Jesus promptly moves to exorcize the man. Legion begs to be allowed to go possess a nearby herd of a couple thousand pigs, rather than be sent \u201cout of the country\u201d (I\u2019m not clear whether this fear is literal or a euphemism; in the parallel passage in Luke<\/a>, the devil begs not to be cast into \u201cthe deep\u201d). Jesus allows this; the pigs rush off a cliff and drown; and the locals are extremely freaked out and ask him to leave, probably thinking he was a powerful Jewish sorcerer. The ex-demoniac asks to be allowed to come with Jesus as he and the apostles are leaving, but Jesus tells him to go home to his family instead.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A medieval illumination of the exorcism of<\/small>* \nLegion (and also a terrific example of<\/small> \nmedieval illuminators just really liking to<\/small> *\nhave a little dude, a li\u2019l guy).<\/small><\/p>\n We pick up in verse 21. Jesus returns to the side of the Sea of Galilee that he just left, and thus to Jewish turf. (His landing place goes unspecified, and may have been in a number of places, but the likeliest candidate is probably Capernaum: it\u2019s the place he just left and his informal Galilean HQ.)<\/p>\n Daughters<\/h4>\n*** ** Okay, but what\u2019s with the \u201cdaughters\u201d stuff, in the title and in this section title? (you ask, not having caught on yet that I have a habit of putting shamelessly convenient questions in your mouth in these posts. Maybe work on your situational awareness.)<\/p>\n ** I feel<\/em> like there\u2019s something going on in this passage that I\u2019m not quite catching; it\u2019s got several quirks and atypical details I don\u2019t fully understand. It\u2019s the only instance I can think of in which Jesus performs a miracle \u201cincidentally,\u201d while on his way to perform another; and these two miracles are linked in a few other small ways. Both are performed for women, though neither woman directly requests them. The one miracle cures a \u201cflow of blood\u201d (perhaps menorrhagia, i.e. excessive menstrual bleeding, a symptom of a few different ailments) which has lasted twelve years, while the other resurrects a twelve-year-old girl. Both miracles also show a great sensitivity on Jesus\u2019 part to the multivalent nature of publicity: i.e., not only how unpleasant and unwelcome it can be, which fits in very comfortably with Mark\u2019s accent on secrecy, but also how good and necessary publicity can be under the right circumstances.<\/p>\n ** ***<\/p>\n Mark 5.21-43, RSV-CE<\/h4>\n***** ** And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him; and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue,a<\/sup> Jairusb<\/sup> by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet, and besought him, saying, \u201cMy little daughterc<\/sup> is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.\u201d And he went with him.<\/p>\n ** *****<\/p>\n A set of tzitziyot<\/em>, the tassels that adorn<\/small>***** \na Jewish prayer shawl. Note the rich blue, *****\nmandated by Numbers 15<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a flow of bloodd<\/sup> for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.e<\/sup> For she said, \u201cIf I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.\u201d And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she feltf<\/sup> in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, \u201cWho touched my garments?\u201d And his disciples said to him, \u201cYou see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, \u2018Who touched me?\u2019\u201d And he looked around to see whog<\/sup> had done it. But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, \u201cDaughter, your faith has made you wellh<\/sup>; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.\u201d<\/p>\n While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler\u2019s house some who said, \u201cYour daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?\u201d But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, \u201cDo not fear, only believe.\u201d And he allowed no one to follow himi<\/sup> except Peter and James and John the brother of James. When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he sawj<\/sup> a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly.k<\/sup> And when he had entered, he said to them, \u201cWhy do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.\u201d And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child\u2019s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, \u201cTalitha cumi\u201dl<\/sup>; which means, \u201cLittle girl,m<\/sup> I say to you, arise.\u201d And immediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.<\/p>\n Mark 5.21-43, my translation<\/h4>\n******* ** *******<\/p>\n Ruins of an ancient synagogue in the north of<\/small>******* \nmodern Israel (used under a CC BY-SA<\/small> *******\n3.0 license\u2014source<\/a>).<\/small><\/p>\n And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the far side, a large crowd gathered before him, and he was beside the sea. And one of the synagogue headsa<\/sup> came, Yairb<\/sup> by name, and on seeing him falls at his feet and appeals to him at length, saying that \u201cMy little girlc<\/sup> is at her last hour, so come and lay hands on her, so that she may be saved and live.\u201d And he went with him. But the large crowd followed with him, and pressed him.<\/p>\n And a woman who had had a hemorrhaged<\/sup> twelve years, and suffered many things from many doctors and had spent everything she had (and none of it had been any use\u2014rather, she had gotten worse), hearing about Jesus, came in the crowd behind him and laid hold of his cloake<\/sup>; for she said that \u201cIf I can just lay hold of his cloak, I will be saved.\u201d And right away the spring of her blood was dried up, and she knewf<\/sup> in her body that she was healed of her affliction.<\/p>\n And right away, Jesus perceived within himself that power had gone out of him; turning around in the crowd, he began saying: \u201cWho laid ahold of my clothes?\u201d But his students said to him: \u201cYou look at the crowd pressing you, and you say \u2018Who laid hold of me\u2019?\u201d But he looked around to see whog<\/sup> had done this. So the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and placed herself before him and told him the whole truth. So he told her: \u201cDaughter, your faith has saved youh<\/sup>; go in peace, and in good health without your affliction.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Detail of an Egyptian relief depicting four<\/small>******* \nmourners (date unspecified). Note that<\/small> \none of the four women is stooping, to<\/small> *******\ngather dust to throw on her head.<\/small><\/p>\n While he was speaking, people came from the synagogue head\u2019s, saying that \u201cYour daughter has died; why bother the teacher anymore?\u201d Jesus overheard what they were saying, and told the synagogue-ruler: \u201cDo not be afraid, only believe.\u201d And he did not permit no one to follow with him,i<\/sup> except Rocky and Jacob and John, Jacob\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n And they came into the house of the synagogue-ruler, and he beheldj<\/sup> a commotion and much crying and keeningk<\/sup>; coming up to them, he said to them: \u201cWhy are you making a commotion and crying? The child has not died, but lain down.\u201d But they laughed at him. He cast them all out, taking with him only the father of the child and her mother and those with him, and proceeded to where the child was; and taking hold of the child\u2019s hand, he told her, \u201cTalitha koum<\/em>\u201cl<\/sup> (which, interpreted, is \u201cYoung lady,m<\/sup> I tell you, get up\u201d). And right away the young lady stood up and walked around, for she was twelve years old. And they were astonished, right away greatly beside themselves. And he charged them emphatically that no one should know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t say he didn\u2019t<\/em> suggest stuffed<\/small>******* \ngrape leaves (photo by Andy H. M., used<\/small> *******\nunder a CC BY-SA 4.0 license\u2014source<\/a>).<\/small><\/p>\n Textual Notes<\/h4>\n a. rulers of the synagogue\/synagogue heads:<\/strong> These are translations of a Greek term, \u1f00\u03c1\u03c7\u03b9\u03c3\u03c5\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 [archis\u00fcnag\u014dgos<\/em>], which is itself a translation of the Hebrew \u05e8\u05b9\u05d0\u05e9\u05c1 \u05d4\u05b7\u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b6\u05e1\u05b6\u05ea [ro\u2019sh ha-k\u2019neseth], \u201chead of the congregation.\u201d I gather<\/em> that this office is roughly continuous with that of a gabbai<\/em><\/a> (also known as a shamash<\/em>), which I again gather is roughly equivalent to the office of a verger or sexton.4<\/sup> However, the small amount of research I was able to do suggested that the office of gabbai<\/em> can vary a good deal from one Jewish community to another, and often embraces liturgical functions as well, at least as a sort of back-up lector.<\/p>\n b. Jairus\/Yair:<\/strong> Yair<\/em> is the original Hebrew form of the name. I\u2019ve taken a guess that it was the man\u2019s own name, but it bears remembering that this is a guess: there were Jews whose native language and\/or personal names were Greek in the first century, even in the Levant\u2014the Hebrew-Aramaic idiom is a much safer<\/em> bet, but it is a bet. If Yair were a native Greek-speaker, then his name might<\/em> more properly be \u201cJairus\u201d (well, \u201cIairos,\u201d but you get the point).<\/p>\n c. My little daughter\/My little girl:<\/strong> The Greek here does not ultra-literally say \u201clittle girl\u201d or \u201clittle daughter\u201d; I went with \u201clittle girl\u201d as the more idiomatic expression in English (which was maybe bending my own rules\u2014anybody would think I can\u2019t make up my mind or something). What the text actually uses is a diminutive form of \u03b8\u03c5\u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1 [th\u00fcgat\u0113r<\/em>] (the normal word for \u201cdaughter\u201d), \u03b8\u03c5\u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd [th\u00fcgatrion<\/em>]. An ultra-literal equivalent would be something like \u201cdaughtlerling\u201d or \u201cdaughterlet.\u201d (A little amusingly, diminutives in Greek, including this one, are typically neuter<\/em>, regardless of sex.) This intrigues me, because when Jesus identifies the woman he heals of a hemorrhage on the way, he addresses her as \u03b8\u03c5\u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1. It\u2019s hard to avoid the impression that these two words were chosen to get us to compare the recipients of these two miracles, and also thus distinguished so we wouldn\u2019t mix them up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n d. flow of blood\/hemorrhage:<\/strong> \u201cFlow of blood\u201d is the more literal translation here. I decided to go for a slightly more idiomatic translation because, as I touched on above, this text sounds to me like this woman had a persistent, excessive loss of blood, possibly due to something like adenomyosis (caution: pictures)<\/a> or endometrial cancer (caution: also pictures)<\/a>. The phrase \u201cflow of blood,\u201d on the other hand, in isolation, just kind of sounds like she was having her period. Of course, the RSV then immediately goes ahead and uses \u201chemorrhage\u201d when the literal translation is<\/em> simply \u201cblood,\u201d and frankly, I give up.<\/p>\n e. garment\/cloak:<\/strong> You may have heard that the Greek here indicates that the young woman here was specifically reaching for the tallith<\/em>, the blue tassels on Jesus\u2019 prayer shawl! Well, first of all, that\u2019s not what tallith<\/em> means: tallith<\/em> is the word for the prayer shawl\u2014the tassels are called tzitziyoth<\/em>\u00a0(tzitzit<\/em> for a single one). And as Tobias F\u00fcnke put it, \u201csecond\u2019vely,\u201d this also isn\u2019t what the Greek word, \u1f31\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd [himation<\/em>], meant. A \u1f31\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd was just a cloak or outer garment; to my knowledge had absolutely nothing to do with the tallith<\/em>. It is perfectly possible that the part of Jesus\u2019 clothes the woman brushed against was a tzitzit<\/em>, and in fact the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke make it more likely,5<\/sup> but Mark has nothing to say about it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A photo of some tzitziyoth<\/em> is shown above,<\/small>********* \nbelow the first paragraph of the RSV<\/small> *********\ntranslation. This is a photo of a tallith<\/em>.<\/small><\/p>\n f. felt\/knew:<\/strong> From an etymological point of view, the distinction here is fine to the point of negligibility. I went with \u201cknew\u201d for reasons of tone. (If you\u2019d like to read more about the meanings hovering in this general range, I suggest reading C. S. Lewis\u2019 Studies in Words<\/em>, ch. 6: \u201cSense.\u201d)<\/p>\n g. to see who:<\/strong> This may merely be the author\u2019s word choice with benefit of hindsight, and thus, insignificant; nevertheless, I\u2019m struck by the word we here translate as \u201cwho\u201d (in Greek it\u2019s a form of the definite article, which is a much more \u201cload-bearing\u201d word in Greek in general). The reason I\u2019m struck is not that the word is unusual\u2014on the contrary, it\u2019s as common as dirt\u2014but that, rather than the default masculine form, which in Greek (and in English until recently) did double-duty for what\u2019s called the common gender,6<\/sup> it is specifically feminine. This may<\/em> mean that even before he knew who it was specifically, Jesus was looking for a woman.<\/p>\n Either way, this seeking out of the person he had unwittingly healed is also part of<\/em> this healing. (I\u2019d be happy to credit the source I first found this point in, but unfortunately I have entirely forgotten it.) The following notes are tentative\u2014they\u2019re implications that I think<\/em> I\u2019m correctly drawing out, but they are not directly present in the text, so please take them with that grain of salt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nJesus addresses her with \u03b8\u03c5\u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1, rather than \u03b3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 [g\u00fcnai<\/em>] as we might expect (which equates to \u201cma\u2019am\u201d7<\/sup>). This may indicate that, while an adult, she was a relatively young woman; if her issue began at or near puberty (as a menstrual disorder might), she\u2019d be in her early twenties.<\/li>\nShe \u201chad spent everything she had\u201d; this may suggest she was a woman of independent means. This was not common in the ancient world, but there were businesswomen back then as well as businessmen: e.g. St. Lydia in Acts 16, the \u201cseller of purple\u201d (which might mean she sold purple cloth or that she sold the dye itself).<\/li>\nThat phrase also may indicate that she was an adult orphan, probably without siblings, and almost certainly unmarried.\n\nWomen normally could not own substantial amounts of property or money and had to operate under their father\u2019s or husband\u2019s oversight. If her father were alive, one would expect him to be footing the bill for an unmarried daughters\u2019 medical needs; if she were married, her husband would be doing the same thing.<\/li>\nHowever, if she was an orphaned only child, her parents might have left her a complete inheritance; this too would be unusual but by no means unheard of. But why specifically an only child?<\/li>\nIf she had any brothers, they would normally receive the entirety of any inheritance, to the exclusion of all daughters (except for any dowry settled on them). If she had only<\/em> sisters, they might have the inheritance divided between them, if it wasn\u2019t assigned instead to more distantly related males of the family. But she\u2019d be hard pressed to live off an inheritance and<\/em> spend twelve years unsuccessfully seeking help for her chronic medical condition, even if she didn\u2019t<\/em> have to divide the inheritance with any siblings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\nRemember that under the guidelines of the Torah, a person of either sex who experienced any<\/em> kind of discharge was normally \u201cunclean till evening.\u201d And blood was particularly impure. The \u201cflow of blood\u201d could have been a lot of things that cause abnormally long menstruation; some of the conditions which include such bleeding as a symptom can easily go on for half a month\u2014or, since \u201cspotting\u201d is absolutely going to count as a discharge of blood, almost continuously.<\/li>\nThink for a moment about the centrality of the Temple (which you need to be ritually clean to enter). Now think about the gossipy nature of small working-class towns. Now recall the importance of family connections in a world where most marriages are arranged, and how practically and religiously important fertility is in this culture. We\u2019ve already established that this woman probably wouldn\u2019t have been married, despite being of marriageable age; what do you think her odds are of ever getting<\/em> married, with this complex of problems? And if she is an orphaned only child\u2014even if the businesswoman possibility above is correct and she\u2019s the girlbossingest first-century Jewish woman who ever girlbossed\u2014what do you think her future looks like, as what I\u2019m totally super sure no one would rudely call \u201cnot even real a widow\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n********* ** <\/p>\n ** This healing is only half-complete until it is a publicly established<\/em> fact. Jesus therefore makes a point of seeking her out, both to reassure her that he isn\u2019t angry with her, and to establish her reintegration into the normal life of her community, possibly even to reopen her marriage prospects.<\/p>\n ** h. made you well\/saved you:<\/strong> I believe I\u2019ve complained before that the Greek verb \u03c3\u1ff4\u03b6\u03c9 [s\u014dz\u014d<\/em>] means both \u201cto heal\u201d and \u201cto save\u201d and therefore has no really satisfying translation in English. Of the two, I think \u201csave\u201d is marginally less unsatisfying, but (since it\u2019s been a bit since the matter came up) I wanted to make a note of it.<\/p>\n ** i. he allowed no one to follow him\/he did not permit no one to follow with him:<\/strong> The sound of this is that at this point, he actively dismissed the crowd. Note the contrast with the previous miracle, and the tender courtesy with which Jesus sees to it that this girl\u2019s parents, whose nerves are doubtless completely fried already, and are about to get an even bigger shock\u2014a happy<\/em> shock, yes, but a shock!\u2014will get some quiet time alone with her, before they need to deal with any gawkers.<\/p>\n ** j. saw\/beheld:<\/strong> The verb used here, \u03b8\u03b5\u03c9\u03c1\u03ad\u03c9 [the\u014dre\u014d<\/em>], is slightly uncommon; it can have philosophical implications (it is in fact related to the word \u201ctheory\u201d). \u201cTo contemplate\u201d would have been an ideal rendering, but I couldn\u2019t think how to fit that into this context in a way that wasn\u2019t horribly awkward.<\/p>\n ** k. wailing loudly\/keening:<\/strong> Here, I\u2019ve taken a pronounced liberty in translation. To explain why, we should first note another thing too commonplace to even mention in the ancient world, but has vanished so completely from much of the modern world that the very idea often baffles people. The weeping and wailing seem to contrast pretty sharply with the statement that \u201cthey laughed at him\u201d (unless a sort of incredulous scoff is meant)\u2014that is, unless these people were hired mourners<\/em>. This was a standard element of ancient funereal practices; being a hired mourner was literally a career.<\/p>\n ** <\/p>\n ** Now. The cry they were making is described with the verb \u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03bb\u03ac\u03b6\u03c9 [alalaz\u014d<\/em>], which originally described a war-cry,8<\/sup> and of which the most literal rendering would be \u201cto ululate.\u201d The disputable choice I\u2019ve made is to translate this verb as \u201ckeening.\u201d This is one of the rare words that English has borrowed from the Irish language. Caoin<\/em> (pronounced \u201ckeen\u201d) does mean \u201cto cry, weep\u201d; more importantly, caoineadh<\/em> (roughly pronounced \u201ckeen-yuh\u201d \u2026 obviously) is a word for a specific type of sung elegy, which until the mid-to-late eighteenth century was a normal element in Irish and Scottish funerals (and may not be quite<\/em> extinct even today). The so-called \u201cscream\u201d of a banshee is, in reality,9<\/sup> supposed to be her caoineadh<\/em> for a deceased member of the family she attends. Ululation in general is a pretty common cultural phenomenon, and it does have parallels in the Near East, North Africa, ancient Rome, etc.; the modern forms of it that I could find tend to be joyful rather than elegiac, and the war-cry meaning seems to be cross-culturally quite frequent too, at least historically speaking. I\u2019m therefore not sure that what these mourners were doing really was similar to keening, but, when I saw the possible parallel, I simply couldn\u2019t resist.<\/p>\n ** l. Talitha cumi\/Talitha koum<\/em>:<\/strong> So. My version is technically more faithful to the more likely form of the text of Mark; however, it turns out (and I find this hilarious) that the RSV\u2019s version is both more technically accurate to the Aramaic and<\/em> probably still wrong? Or, well, less correct, not exactly wrong<\/em>\u2014let\u2019s unpack it.<\/p>\n ** <\/p>\n ** One feature of many Semitic languages that English-speakers tend to be quite unprepared for is the gender of their verbs. Yes, gender, and yes, verbs. We are used to pronouns having gender, and most of us know that nouns and even adjectives are gendered for speakers of many other languages (including English\u2019s closest kith and kin, like French, German, and Spanish). Some Semitic languages, including both Hebrew and Aramaic, extend this system to verbs, which take on a gendered ending based on the gender of the verb\u2019s subject.10<\/sup><\/p>\n ** The Aramaic word for \u201crise\u201d was q\u00fbm<\/em>, and a masculine imperative would use this unmodified form, whereas when addressing women, the feminine ending \u2013\u00ee<\/em> would be added: thus q\u00fbm\u00ee<\/em>, or in typical Roman style cumi<\/em>. However, in popular speech, it was common to drop the \u2013\u00ee<\/em> and so conflate the feminine and masculine imperatives11<\/sup>\u2014according to an unsourced claim in Wikipedia, at least. (Which, yes, cringe; still, dropping final vowels is a common phenomenon in many languages, so it\u2019s not prima facie<\/em> ludicrous \u2026 my favorite standard for evidence.) This would mean that the original text probably had \u03ba\u03bf\u03c5\u03bc [koum<\/em>]. This is in fact found in the older and better manuscripts of Mark, and presumably represents a phonetic transcription of the Aramaic actually spoken at the time.<\/p>\n ** <\/p>\n ** The opening page of Matthew in the<\/small> \nLindisfarne Gospels (created ca. 690).<\/small><\/p>\n ** Meanwhile, \u03ba\u03bf\u03c5\u03bc\u03b9 [koumi<\/em>] could have emerged as a \u201ccorrection\u201d by a copyist, one who was familiar with the older and\/or written distinction between feminine and masculine imperatives. Changes this small were exceedingly easy to make\u2014partly because they\u2019re the sort you can make without even fully noticing you\u2019ve changed anything.<\/p>\n ** m. Little girl\/Young lady:<\/strong> I have taken another, smaller liberty here. The Aramaic talitha<\/em> is apparently simply the feminine form of the adjective meaning \u201cyoung,\u201d so whatever noun we choose to insert, it will be an insertion. The Greek translates talitha<\/em> with the term \u03ba\u03bf\u03c1\u03ac\u03c3\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd [korasion<\/em>], a diminutive, like \u03b8\u03c5\u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd above, but derived from the term \u03ba\u03cc\u03c1\u03b7 [kor\u0113<\/em>], which meant \u201cgirl\u201d or \u201cmaiden.\u201d Now, when compared with the language of poets like Sophocles or philosophers like Aristotle, Koine Greek was relatively worn down in its ability to express fine shades of meaning, but it\u2019s possible<\/em> that this word carried a faintly formal aura: Kore<\/em> had long been and still was a frequent title for the goddess Persephone (albeit strictly in her springtime or \u201cvegetative\u201d aspect12<\/sup>\u2014when worshiped as the queen of the dead, Persephone was not addressed as Kore). If so, then here again, we see Jesus making a point of being courteous. I therefore felt \u201cyoung lady\u201d conveyed the tone fairly well: true, the phrase can be one of rebuke, but it is also a respectful form of address. (Contrast with the equivalent \u201cyoung man,\u201d which is all but invariably a reprimand!)<\/p>\n ** *********\nFootnotes<\/h5>\n*********** ** ***********EDIT: In the version of this post originally published, I accidentally swapped footnotes 2 and 3. Apologies for any confusion!<\/small><\/p>\n**** 1<\/sup>A pericope<\/em>, in the field of New Testament studies (especially Gospel studies), is a single coherent unit of narrative. Thus, for example, \u201cChrist\u2019s life before his baptism\u201d is too broad to constitute a pericope (unless nothing more than a brief summary is being given), but \u201cChrist\u2019s nativity\u201d and \u201cChrist\u2019s circumcision and naming\u201d are both pericopes\u2014Matthew and Luke both have the first, only Luke specifies the second.<\/small>*********** \n2<\/sup>If you haven\u2019t come across the term necropolis<\/em> before, think \u201cgraveyard, but Halloween Town levels of theatrical about it.\u201d<\/small> \n3<\/sup>In so doing, it provides both the answer to the question we ended with last Sunday, and the answer that St. Peter is soon going to give to Jesus\u2019 inquiry about whom the apostles think he is.<\/small> \n4<\/sup>In the English tradition, vergers<\/em> are, or were, responsible for the material care of the grounds and vessels of a church; they are so named because in processions they were entitled to carry a virge<\/em>, or wand, as the emblem of their office (from which they are also called wandsmen<\/em>). Sexton<\/em> was originally a near-synonym, derived, via different intermediaries, from the same root as sacristan<\/em>. It has since come to connote more specially the duty to oversee the churchyard and its, ah, contents.<\/small> \n5<\/sup>Matthew and Luke both specify that she touched the \u03ba\u03c1\u03ac\u03c3\u03c0\u03b5\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd [kraspedon<\/em>] of Jesus\u2019 cloak, a word that means \u201chem\u201d or \u201cfringe,\u201d but can also be interpreted \u201ctassel,\u201d which could obviously indicate a tzitzit<\/em>.<\/small> \n6<\/sup>The common gender<\/em> is a device used in certain languages (German, for instance) that have grammatical gender, indicating an entity that is<\/em> animate (and therefore not really neuter) but is not, or not exactly, masculine or feminine (mixed groups or the generic \u201cthey\u201d are good examples).<\/small> \n7<\/sup>Technically the word \u03b3\u03c5\u03bd\u03ae [g\u00fcn\u0113<\/em>]\u2014the form \u03b3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 was used only in direct address\u2014simply means \u201cwoman\u201d or, sometimes, \u201cwife.\u201d In English, using \u201cwoman\u201d in direct address normally has a slightly derisive or comical tone, but the same was not true in first-century Greek; it was a perfectly polite form of address for any female adult, provided she didn\u2019t have a noble or religious title that needed to be used instead. (To take a famous example, Jesus addressing his Mother as \u201cwoman\u201d in John 2.4 is curious for other reasons, but it was not insulting<\/em>.)<\/small> ***********\n8<\/sup>There is an unrelated text that nonetheless tickles my fancy here. In \u00c6schylus\u2019 play Agamemnon<\/em> (stay with me!), when Agamemnon comes home victorious from the Trojan War, his wife\u2014who has been planning to murder him: she\u2019s still mad about that \u201cyou tricked me into letting you kill our daughter\u201d thing<\/a> from ten whole years ago; real grudge-holding type of woman\u2014talks him into walking into the palace on a purple carpet. The value of purple dye back then was so high, this qualified as an act of impious hubris, which invokes the gods\u2019 wrath upon him and virtually guarantees her plan will succeed. She then utters the cry \u201cEleleu, eleleu!<\/em>\u201d (the direct form that \u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03bb\u03ac\u03b6\u03c9 and \u201cululate\u201d half-imitate); onlookers within the play would take this as a standard victory cry celebrating his return from Troy, while the queen (and the real-life audience, who already know the story) know that it is her victory cry over him<\/em>.<\/small>*********** \n9<\/sup>Not that banshees, or the Good Folk in general, really exist. Obviously they don\u2019t. Besides, they aren\u2019t to be trusted.<\/small> \n10<\/sup>Endings in \u2013t<\/em> or \u2013i<\/em>, whether in verbs or not, frequently indicate the feminine in Hebrew and Aramaic; I know the same is true (at least about \u2013t<\/em>) in Egyptian. I can\u2019t speak to the rest of the show\u2019s lore about them, but in Penny Dreadful<\/em>, the fact that the names of its sinister Egyptian god-goddess pair are Amun-Ra and Amunet<\/em> is thus a striking example of accuracy in detail.<\/small> \n11<\/sup>Apparently even Jesus used pronouns now. Or didn\u2019t? \u201cThe gender ideology always ye have with you\u201d? I dunno, I\u2019m tired.<\/small> ***********\n12<\/sup>This is probably the origin of the name Cora<\/em>.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cSkip a Bit, Brother\u201d Brother Maynard (right), accompanied by his brother, Brother Maynard\u2019s Brother. Image from the Monty Python Wiki, used under a CC BY-SA license (edition unspecified\u2014source). I was honestly quite miffed to discover that the Gospel for this Sunday was not Mark 5.1-20, the next pericope1 in sequence. That passage (especially in combination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4203,"featured_media":5021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDaughters (Gospel for 30 June, 2024)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Skip a Bit, Brother" Brother Maynard (right), accompanied by his brother, Brother Maynard's Brother. 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