Bible Lexicons

Wilcken Ostr i. p. 266 ff. has shown that by ὀθόνιον in Egypt we must understand fine linen stuff, both in its manufactured and in its unmanufactured state. Its manufacture was a government monopoly : cf. P Tebt I. 5.63 (B.C. 118) ἀφειᾶσ [ι ] δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐπιστάτας τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ ἱερ [εῖς τῶν ] ὀφε [ι ]λομένων πρός τε τὰ ἐπιστατικὰ καὶ τὰ ̣ς προστιμη ̣[σεις τῶν ] ὀθονίων ἕως τοῦ ν ̄ (ἔτους), ";and they remit to the overseers of the temples and the chief priests and priests the arrears on account of both the tax for overseers and the values of woven cloths up to the 50th year"; (Edd.) : see the editors’ note ad l. and P Rev Llxxxvii.-cvii with the note on p. 175, also OGIS 90.18 (Rosetta stone—B.C. 196) τῶν τ᾽ εἰς τὸ βασιλικὸν συντελουμένων ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς βυσσίνων ὀθονίων ἀπέλυσεν τὰ δύο μέρη, ib. .29 τὰς τιμὰς τῶν μὴ συντετελεσμένων εἰς τὸ βασιλικὸν βυσσίνων ὀθ [ονί ]ων. On the manufacture of ὀθόνιον (Suid. λεπτὸν ὕφασμα) see Otto Priester i. p. 300 f., and cf. the Zeno letter PSI VI. 599 (iii/B.C.), where mention is made of 3 slaves and I woman as engaged on the manufacture of each ὀθόνιον. The word ὀθονιοπώλης, ";a linen-seller,"; is restored by Wilcken in P Leid K.13 (B.C. 99) (= I. p. 52); for ὀθονιακός, ";a linen-merchant,"; see P Oxy VI. 933.33 (late ii/A.D.). With the use of ὀθόνιον in John 19:40 cf. P Par 53.8 ὀθώ (=ό)νιον ἐγκοιμήτριν (= -ιον), ib..42 ἔδωκα Δημητρίῳ ὀθόνια β ̄, and P Giss I. 68.11 (ii/A.D.) ὀθόνια εὔωνα, fine linen-wrappings for a mummy. Other exx. of the word are P Hib I. 67.10 (B.C. 228) εἰς τιμὰ ]ς ὀθονίων τῶν [συντελ ]ουμένων εἰς τὸ [βα ]σ [ιλικ ]όν, P Eleph 27a..16 (iii/B.C.) βυσσίνων ὀθονίων, P Petr I. 30 (1).3 (mid. iii/B.C.) (= Witkowski.2, p. 5) where τὰ ὀθόνια is translated by the editor ";sail-cloth"; (cf. Acts 10:11; Acts 11:5, and Polyb. v. 89. 2), and the early Christian letter P Amh I. 3 (a)iii. 2 (A.D. 250–285) ὠνησάμενο [ι ] τὰ ὀθόν [ια. In P Grenf I. 38.14 (ii/i B.C.) ὀθόνιον κατέρηξεν, ὀ. = ";outward garment,"; ";cloak"; : cf. P Par 59.5 (B.C. 160) (= Witkowski.2, p. 75) πέπρακα τὸ ὀθόνιον (δραχμῶν) φ ̄ καὶ τὸ εἱμάτιον (δραχμῶν) τ ̄π ̄, and a list of clothes classified as ἱμάτια and ὀθόνια in P Oxy XIV. 1741 (early iv/A.D.). See also P Strass II. 91.16 (B.C. 87 ?) ἀφείλοντο τὰ βύσσινα ὀθόνια τῶν θεῶν καὶ ἃ εἶχεν ἱμάτια, and for the dim. ὀθονίδιον see P Oxy XIV. 1679.5 (iii/A.D.) τὰ κρόκινα ὀθονείδια τῆς θυγατρός σου, ";the saffron clothes of your daughter"; (Edd.). The word itself is of Semitic origin : Lewy Fremdwörter, p. 124 f., Thumb Hellenismus, p. III.