Zeugizō: The Language of Marital Infidelity in the Account of Treachery Toward the Ancestral Laws in 1 Macc 1:15

Janusz Nawrot

Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2498-5081


Abstract

The present article deals with a linguistic issue well known in the Bible but not usually overtly present in the terminology of Hebrew and Greek Scripture. It concerns the sexual sphere of human life and is expressed by the verb zeugizō (1 Macc 1:15). This term appears only once in the Septuagint and is not featured in any of the other inspired books. However, the discovery of a non-biblical text which includes the term in question, as well as the inclusion of the verb by the Jewish authors of the Greek Bible from the 2nd century AD, shed important light on the sense of the verb in the First Book of the Maccabees. The exegesis carried out reveals just how harsh was the hagiographer’s critique of, and judgment upon, the supporters of the Hellenization of Judea.

Keywords:

Old Testament, Septuagint, The First Book of Maccabees, sexuality, idolatry

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Published
2020-12-21


Nawrot, J. (2020). Zeugizō: The Language of Marital Infidelity in the Account of Treachery Toward the Ancestral Laws in 1 Macc 1:15. Verbum Vitae, 38(2), 473–484. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.9930

Janusz Nawrot  jannaw@amu.edu.pl
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

Ks. Janusz Nawrot, prezbiter archidiecezji poznańskiej, profesor nauk teologicznych, członek Zakładu Teologii Historycznej na Wydziale Teologicznym Uniwersytetu im. A. Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, autor szeregu artykułów i monografii z zakresu Starego Testamentu. Specjalizuje się w zagadnieniach dotyczących teologii biblijnej, Biblii greckiej, w tym egzegezy Pierwszej Księgi Machabejskiej. Napisał m.in. Przyjaźń i jej motywacja w Etykach Arystotelesa, pismach mądrościowych Septuaginty oraz w Nowym Testamencie (Poznań: Wydawnictwo UAM 2004); «Bądź mężny i mocny ponieważ Pan jest z tobą». Andreia i jej motywacja w Biblii greckiej (Poznań: Wydawnictwo WT UAM 2006); «Prześladują biedaka i nieszczęśliwego». Niegodziwcy wobec sprawiedliwych w psalmach suplikacji (Poznań: Wydawnictwo WT UAM 2007); «Usłysz, o Panie, moją modlitwę, odpowiedz mi w swej sprawiedliwości! » ‘nh i šm‘ wołaniem w zagrożeniu życia w psalmach suplikacji (Poznań: Wydawnictwo WT UAM 2009); Kryzys religijny w Judei za Antiocha IV Epifanesa. Teologia historii w 1 Mch 1,1-2,26” (Poznań: Wydawnictwo WT UAM 2012); Pierwsza Księga Machabejska. Rozdziały 1,1-6,16 (NKB.ST 14/1; Częstochowa: Edycja Świętego Pawła 2016); Pierwsza Księga Machabejska. Rozdziały 6,17-16,24 (NKB.ST 14/2; Częstochowa: Edycja Świętego Pawła 2020).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2498-5081



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