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    Harvard Divinity School

    A Reminiscence of Paul on a Coin AmuletAuthor(s): Campbell BonnerSource: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Apr., 1950), pp. 165-168Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity SchoolStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1508592

    Accessed: 10/12/2008 06:44

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    A

    REMINISCENCE OF

    PAUL

    ON

    A

    COIN

    AMULET

    Mr. Henri

    Seyrig,

    Director

    of

    the French

    Archaeological

    Institute

    at

    Beyrouth,

    a friend to whom

    my

    studies of

    magical

    amulets owe

    a

    steadily

    increasing

    debt,

    has

    added another to his

    many

    contributions

    by

    sending

    me

    a careful

    copy

    of

    the

    inscription

    here discussed

    (letter

    of March

    i

    ,

    I949).

    It was incised

    upon

    a Roman

    silver denarius

    (diameter

    15 mm.),

    both

    sides of which

    had been smoothed

    off in

    order

    to receive it.

    Of

    the

    obverse

    design

    Mr.

    Seyrig

    reports

    that

    nothing

    can

    be

    seen;

    of the reverse

    type

    there

    remains

    the

    outline

    of

    a

    galley

    with

    oars,

    which moves to the

    right.'

    It

    is

    likely

    that

    the

    poorer

    people

    often made

    amulets

    out of

    small

    coins.

    Some

    years

    ago

    Mr. Harold

    Mattingly published

    a

    Mithraic

    tessera

    made from a

    silver

    denarius of

    Augustus.2

    In

    that

    instance the

    inscription

    of

    the

    reverse

    was

    obliterated,

    but the

    type

    design,

    Tarpeia

    half

    buried

    under the

    heap

    of

    shields,

    was allowed

    to

    remain

    and

    serve,

    strangely

    enough,

    for a

    representation

    of

    the

    birth of Mithra from

    the

    rock. The obverse

    was

    completely

    smoothed

    off,

    and

    now carries

    a

    brief

    inscription,

    MiOpas

    'Qpo,taru8rs

    p'qv,

    which combines the names of

    Mithra,

    the

    Persian

    supreme

    god,

    and the

    Egyptian

    sun

    god.

    The

    coin

    described

    by

    Mr.

    Seyrig

    was

    bought by

    him from a

    dealer

    who came

    from

    Tortosa,

    the

    ancient

    Antarados. If

    the

    amulet was made

    in or

    near

    that

    town,

    as seems

    likely,

    it is

    not

    surprising

    that the

    in-

    scription

    should

    fall

    within

    the

    sphere

    of

    Judaeo-Christian

    religion,

    and

    in

    fact the coin

    may

    be called

    a Christian

    amulet,

    although

    it is evident

    that the

    maker or

    his

    employer

    had

    not shaken off

    pagan

    habits

    of

    thought.

    The letters are

    of

    a kind much

    used on

    magical gems

    of

    Roman times.

    Several of their

    forms are

    assigned

    by

    Larfeld to

    his

    Period XVII

    (A.D.

    I20-2Io),3

    and

    there

    seems

    to be

    no

    need to

    consider a

    date

    later

    than

    300.

    It

    would

    not

    be

    easy,

    however,

    to

    place

    the

    inscription

    at

    any

    particular

    point

    in

    the

    preceding century

    and a

    half.

    1

    On

    Roman coins

    of

    the

    Empire,

    galleys propelled

    by

    oars

    were

    usually

    shown

    with

    the

    oars at the end

    of the

    stroke,

    the

    blades

    sloping

    towards

    the

    stern

    of

    the

    vessel. On earlier coins, as on Greek vases, this convention was not regularly

    observed.

    2Numismatic

    Chronicle,

    1932,

    pp.

    54-57.

    Larfeld,

    Handb. der

    griech.

    Epigraphik,

    II,

    pp.

    490-495.

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    HARVARD

    THEOLOGICAL

    REVIEW

    The

    construction

    of the text

    is

    continued from the obverse

    to the

    reverse.

    Obverse. E7rTKaXovLeO

    aytov KE pIeytTOV

    ov ovoa 'vav OL

    rvepyfl

    7ravTa

    oara

    0e'Ow.

    Reverse.

    iva

    OLt

    7

    oraT

    7t raVav

    avOpwovrlvv 7jiLpav.

    Read

    E7rTKaXov,at,Kai,

    7rroTraTacn.

    he cross stroke of

    alpha

    has

    been

    omitted

    in

    five

    instances,

    as is

    often done

    in

    the

    lettering

    of

    magical

    amulets;

    and similar

    negligence

    has been noted on more

    pretentious

    monuments.4 The

    bottom

    of

    the

    omega

    at the end

    of the obverse

    in-

    scription

    is worn

    away.

    For the

    construction

    of

    avvepyj

    compare

    Xen.

    Mem.

    3.5.I6,

    avvepyElv

    avrTOt rTa

    crvtkepovTa.

    Translate,

    "I

    invoke

    the

    holy

    and

    greatest

    name

    that

    it

    may help

    me

    accomplish

    all that

    I

    wish,

    that

    it

    may

    give

    me

    the

    upper

    hand

    in

    every

    human

    judgment" (literally,

    "may

    subject every

    human

    day

    to

    me").

    'E7rLKaAXoViaL

    s

    the normal

    Greek word

    for

    "invoke,"

    "call

    upon,"

    but

    with

    ovofa

    as

    object

    it

    is

    Jewish

    and

    Christian,5

    and

    aywto

    as

    an

    epithet

    of

    God is

    in

    general

    Oriental,

    and

    especially

    Semitic.6

    The

    Name,

    which in

    Jewish

    contexts

    often stands

    for

    God,7

    is

    appropriately

    called

    a-yLos

    and

    /Edyaa.8

    The

    circumstance that the

    Hebrew

    expresses

    the

    superlative

    by

    other means than inflection

    may

    at least

    partly

    account

    for the fact

    that

    neither

    God nor

    his

    name is called

    /eg7L-TOS

    in

    the

    Septuagint

    version

    of

    the canonical

    books,

    but we have

    1,eytfros

    as an

    epithet

    of

    OEo&

    n II

    Macc.

    3.36,

    III

    Macc.

    I.9

    (the

    reading

    of

    V),

    I6,

    and

    elsewhere.

    In

    PGM

    II,

    I27,

    &Mpov

    /tOL

    EtoprY'/c

    TrV TOV

    /jeyItrTov

    crOV

    ovojuaTro

    yvorLtv,

    the

    adjective

    probably

    does

    not

    merely

    express

    greatness

    in

    a

    high

    degree,

    but means the

    greatest

    name

    by

    which the

    god

    could

    possibly

    be called.

    Comparison

    with that text

    might

    seem

    to lend our

    coin inscription the color of pagan magic; but the invocation of the

    Name

    (God)

    'va

    %ot*

    avvepyry

    preserves

    the

    Jewish atmosphere.

    However,

    the

    formula of the

    reverse

    is

    distinctly

    pagan

    in

    its associa-

    tions.

    The

    verb v{roraro-ow is used

    in

    charms

    intended

    to

    subject

    demons

    or

    human

    beings

    to

    the

    operator's

    will,

    as

    in

    PGM

    V, 164-I65,

    v7rorTaov

    /OL

    rTVTa

    TO

    SaL/tLOVta;

    P.

    Masp.

    i88,

    3,

    v7rrratoT

    /Lov

    7rav 7rva

    SatlLOVLwv;

    PGM

    X,

    50,

    VTroTatov

    ot

    rov

    SeWva;

    V

    324,

    7TroTreaytL7Evo5

    e

    /LOt

    T(o.

    The

    special

    interest

    of

    this amulet lies

    in

    iraaav

    JavOpo7rtvrv

    /l.epav,

    which is a reminiscenceof the words of the Apostle Paul in i Cor. 4.3,

    Larfeld,

    p.

    495;

    0.

    Gueraud,

    Bull. soc.

    arch.

    Alex.

    32

    (1938),

    21.

    E.g.,

    Gen.

    4.26,

    Ps.

    1I6.I7,

    I Cor.

    1.2.

    oE.

    Williger,

    Hagios

    (RGVV

    I9,I),

    esp.

    8o-Io8.

    7Strack-Billerbeck,

    Kommentar

    zum

    N.T. aus Talmud

    und

    Midrasch,

    II,

    316;

    McCasland

    in

    JBL 68,

    p.

    o09.

    Ps.

    33.

    3

    ;

    76.I;

    III.9;

    I

    Clem.

    58,

    64;

    Herm.

    Vis.

    4.I.3.

    166

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    REMINISCENCE OF

    PAUL

    ON A COIN AMULET

    167

    eLol

    E

    ELs

    eeXaXLtrrov

  • 7/24/2019 Bonner,Reminiscence of Paul

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    HARVARD

    THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

    passage

    in

    Paul's letter.

    His use of it would be

    all

    the more natural

    if

    a

    Jewish

    training

    had accustomed

    him

    to the

    contrast,

    implicit

    in

    Paul's

    words, between a human court and God's Day of Judgment. He was

    probably

    a

    Jewish

    Christianwho had not

    given up

    the

    language,

    perhaps

    not even

    the

    practice,

    of

    magic.

    Since

    the

    foregoing

    paragraphs

    were

    written

    A.

    D.

    Nock has called

    my

    attention

    to Romans

    8.28,

    rois

    aya7Trwav

    rTv

    Oeov

    iradvTa

    arvvpyEL

    ELg

    ayaOov,

    where

    I

    had overlooked

    the fact that a

    strongly

    held

    opinion,

    in

    fact the now

    prevailing

    one,

    understands

    0Eo'

    as the

    subject

    of

    avvepyEt

    and

    7ra'vTra

    s

    its

    object.

    With

    that

    interpretation

    it

    would

    appear

    that

    the phrase of the Seyrig amulet,

    Eva

    IJot

    avvEpyryrdvra,

    may be another

    Pauline

    reminiscence.

    It would

    scarcely

    be

    convincing

    in

    itself,

    but it

    gives

    welcome

    support

    to

    the inference

    drawn

    from

    avOpwoTwvrvi jupav.

    It is unfortunate that so little is left of

    the

    reverse

    design

    that it

    cannot be

    positively

    identified. Even

    if

    all

    its

    details could be

    recognized

    it

    would

    give

    little

    help

    towards

    dating

    the

    inscription.

    A

    coin chosen

    for conversion to

    an

    amulet

    would

    probably

    have circulated for

    many

    years,

    since a

    piece

    already

    worn smooth would

    naturally

    be

    preferred

    to one fresh

    from

    the mint. A denarius of Hadrian struck

    in an

    eastern

    mint has on

    its

    reverse

    a

    galley

    moving

    to

    the

    right;14

    such a coin

    might

    have

    provided

    the

    metal

    for this amulet.

    CAMPBELL

    BONNER

    UNIVERSITY

    OF

    MICHIGAN

    1 H.

    Mattingly,

    Coins

    of the

    Roman

    Empire

    in

    the British

    Museum, III,

    P1.

    68,

    I9;

    date ca. A.D.

    125-128.

    168