σουδάριον - sudarium and/or סודרא

Semantic Range, Lexicography, and other approaches to word meaning - in general, or for particular words.
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Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

σουδάριον - sudarium and/or סודרא

Post by Stephen Hughes »

There are two possible points of reference for the meaning of σουδάριον. It might be either derived or equivalent to the meaning of the Latin sudarium "sweat cloth" or "handkerchief", OR to the Hebrew / Aramaic סודרא signifying an ancient Jewish headdress of some sort - a knit cap, turban or keffiyeh.

Of the four occurrences of σουδάριον in the New Testament, two of them:
Luke 19:20 (part) wrote:ἰδού, ἡ μνᾶ σου, ἣν εἶχον ἀποκειμένην ἐν σουδαρίῳ·
Acts 19:12 wrote:σουδάρια ἢ σιμικίνθια
seem to signify a (small) cloth of some sort, something like the Latin sudarium.

In the other 2, perhaps Hebrew / Aramaic סודרא from its common association with the head is signified in
11:44 wrote:καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ σουδαρίῳ περιεδέδετο.
and again at:
John 20:17 wrote:τὸ σουδάριον ὃ ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ
Perhaps our current lexical reference works were written at a time with the Jewishness of Jesus was understudied or they rely on references that come from that stand point. BDAG mentions that was also derived from sudarium, but doesn't discuss whether the meaning in the various New Testament contexts derives from the Latin or the Hebrew / Aramaic.

Has anybody given thought to the way meanings were borrowed and adapted between the various languages present in the language ecology in Judea at that time?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Mark Lightman
Posts: 300
Joined: May 6th, 2011, 6:30 pm

Re: σουδάριον - sudarium and/or סודרא

Post by Mark Lightman »

John 11:44: καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ σουδαρίῳ περιεδέδετο.
Nonnos 11:44: καὶ λινέῳ πεπύκαστο καλύμματι κυκλάδα κόρσην, σουδάριον τόπερ εἶπε Σύρων στόμα.
Athous Paraphrase of Nonnos: 11:44: ἐκεκάλυπτο γὰρ λινέῳ καλύμματι ὅλην τὴν κορυφήν, ὅπερ σουδάριον οἶδε ἡ τῶν Σύρων φωνή.
Peter Streitenberger
Posts: 224
Joined: June 3rd, 2011, 10:45 am

Re: σουδάριον - sudarium and/or סודרא

Post by Peter Streitenberger »

A σουδάριον was a cloth for binding the head of a dead person, at least according to Gregorius Antiochus, Epitaphia, 1.69,13. I looked that up in the TLG when I took a look at the passage in John. If interested I could quote Gregorius.
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