Bible Lexicons

The meaning lift occurs in P Ryl II. 81.6 (c. A.D. 104), where the θύραι of sluices (apparently) ἐφ᾽ ὅσον οἱ κατασπορεῖς ἤθελον ἐβαστάχθησαν , ";as much as the inspectors of sowing wished"; (Edd.). Carry, in the figurative sense = endure, appears in a formula about taxation, as P Brem.9 (A.D. 117) (= Chrest. I. p. 415) ἐπεὶ οὖν αὗται οὐ βαστάζουσι τοσοῦτο τέλεσμα : so in P Ryl II. 96.8 and the other contemporary papers named in the introduction there. Note here Epict. i. 3. 2 οὐδείς σου τὴν ὀφρὺν βαστάσει , ";will endure your cheek"; (!) (Hort says this is ";the only known passage at all approaching"; Revelation 2:2.) Nearer the literal sense, and illustrating distantly Acts 9:15, is P Oxy X. 1242 i. 17, an interesting document of early iii/A.D., where Trajan is said to have granted an audience to rival Greek and Jewish emissaries from Alexandria, ἕκαστοι βαστάζοντες τοὺς ἰδίους θεούς . To the same heading may be referred its use in Galatians 6:17, for which Deissmann (BS, p. 352 ff.) refers to a bilingual (Demotic and Greek) papyrus of iii/A.D. now in the Leiden Museum. The papyrus contains a spell in which the words occur βαστάζω τὴν ταφὴν τοῦ Ὀσίρεως . . . ἐάν μοι ὁ δεῖνα κόπους παράσχῃ , προσ (τ ) ρέψω αὐτὴν αὐτῷ , ";I carry the corpse of Osiris . . . should so-and-so trouble me, I shall use it against him."; Just, that is, as the βαστάζειν of a particular amulet associated with the god acts as a charm against the κόπους παρέχειν of an adversary, so the Apostle finds himself protected against similar attacks by ";bearing"; the στίγματα Ἰησοῦ . From carry is developed carry away, which is the commonest meaning. Thus Cagnat IV. 446, an inscr. of Roman age, where the Pergamene demos honour C. Julius Maximus σημείωι ἀβαστάκτωι , ";ornatus insigni ‘quod tolli non poterat,’ fortasse purpura perpetua"; (Ed.). So very often in papyri. P Fay 122.6 (c. A.D. 100) ἐά [σ ]ας αὐτὸν βαστάξαι ἀρτάβας εἴκοσι ὀκτώ , ";allowing him to carry off 28 artabae."; P Ryl II. 168.11 (A.D. 120) βαστάξεις ἐκ τῆς κοινῆς ἅλωι πάντα , ";you shall carry it all from the common threshing-floor"; (Edd.) : cf. P Thead 5.12 (A.D. 338). Similarly P Oxy III. 507.29 (A.D. 169) ὅνπερ χόρτον οὐκ ἐξέσται μοι βαστάξαι οὐδὲ πωλεῖν οὐδὲ ὑποτίθεσθαι , ";it shall not be lawful for me to remove or sell or pledge this hay"; (Edd.), ib. 522.4 (ii/A.D.) φορέτρο (υ ) (πυροῦ ) (ἀρταβῶν ) ρ ̄ο ̄α ̄ βασταχθ (εισῶν ), ";carriage of 171 artabae of wheat transported"; (Edd.). With personal object, P Amh II. 77.22 (A.D. 139) ἀμφότεροι βίᾳ βασ [τ ]άξαντές με εἰσήνεγκαν εἰς τὸ λογ [ι ]στήριον τοῦ ἐπιτρόπου τῶν οὐσιῶν , ";taking me up by force they together carried me to the counting-house of the superintendent of the domains"; (Edd.). This is of course capable of meaning, in contrast to the use named later, a perfectly legitimate action : cf. P Iand 9.18 (ii/A.D.) σ ]υ ̣̣ ο ̣ὖ ̣ν ̣ βάσταξε (sc. -αι ) λυπὸν ὃ ἂν ἔτιο ̣[ν ᾖ ] τῆς κρίσεως , ";tu autem tolle porro, quaecumque causa est iudicii"; (Ed.). The firmly established vernacular use determines the meaning of Matthew 3:11 as ";whose sandals I am not worthy to take off"; : the phrase is an excellent example of Mt’s skilful abbreviation, for one word fully expresses all that Mark 1:7 tells us in four. Citations multiply for the meaning ";pilfer,"; as in John 12:6, especially in papyri of ii/A.D.—P Tebt II. 330.7 (ii/A.D.) εὗρον τὴν οἰκίαν μου σεσυλημένην τ ̣ε ̣ καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔνδον ἀποκείμενα βεβασταγμ [έ ]να , ib. 331.11 (c. A.D. 131) ἐβ ]άσταξαν ὅσα κιθῶνα καὶ ἱμ [ά ]τιον λευκά : both petitions to the strategus complaining of robbery. Similarly P Oxy I. 69.4 (A.D. 190), BGU I. 46.10 (A.D. 193), ib. 157.8 (ii/iii A.D.), etc. In MGr the verb has added a new intransitive meaning, ";wait, hold out"; : see Thumb Handbook, p. 322, Abbott Songs, p. 261. The flexion of the verb differs curiously in the papyri and in NT. In the former the guttural forms, ἐβάσταξα , etc., prevail almost without variant, as will be seen from our quotations, and from the list in the editor’s note to P Hamb I. 10.13. In MGr the aorist is ἐβάσταξα . It will be noticed that our citations are later than NT : the verb does not seem to have entered the vernacular in Egypt during the Ptolemaic period. In that case the late guttural flexion would be an analogy product (cf. the double forms from ἁρπάζω , etc.), confined at first to a limited area. Except in Revelation 2:2 βαστάξαι P 1 38 81, ἐβάσταξας John 20:15 W, and Luke 11:46 δυσβάστακτα , the NT has only the dental forms, as in older Greek from Homer down. We can only support these in Egyptian vernacular from BGU I. 195.32 (A.D. 161) ἐβάσ [τ ]ασεν , P Leid Wi. 22 (ii/iii A.D.) βαστάσας , and P Flor I. 59.7 (iii/A.D.) ἐβάστασεν .

[Supplemental from 1930 edition]

See P Hamb I. 10.13, note.

 

 

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