Anointed as a verb with Jesus as its object in Luke and Acts in Codex Sinaiticus

[Ken Olson]

I'm not sure if anyone is currently contesting that the Evangelists thought Jesus was the Christ and that the nomen sacrum XS/N/U overline was an abbreviation for abbreviation for Christos (or Christ or Anointed, meaning Messiah). I've already discussed John 1.41 and John 4.25 in which the word messiah is glossed with the nomen sacrum. The discussion seems to have moved on to whether it can be established that the NS XS stood for Christ in Paul's letters, or just the seven generally accepted Pauline letters, or just 1 Corinthians. So I may be beating a dead horse here.

There are also three places in Luke-Acts in which which the verb χρίω is applied to Jesus and it is written out in Codex Sinaiticus.

Luke 4.18 (quoting isaiah 61.1):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor

and Jesus comment in Luke 4.21:

Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing

Acts 4.27:

for truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant [Jesus], whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel

Acts 10.36-38:

the word that he sent to the sons of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through [Jesus] [Christ], who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed [Jesus] of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

τον λογον ον απεϲτιλεν τοιϲ ϋϊοιϲ ιϲηλ ευαγγελιζομενοϲ ειρηνην δια ιυ χυ ουτοϲ εϲτιν παντω κϲ ϋμειϲ οιδατε το γενομενον ρημα καθ οληϲ τηϲ ϊουδαιαϲ αρξαμενοϲ απο τηϲ γαλιλαιαϲ μετα το βαπτιϲμα ο εκηρυξεν ϊωαννηϲ ιν τον απο ναζαρεθʼ ωϲ εχριϲεν αυτον ο θϲ πνι αγιω και δυναμει ωϲ διηλ θεν και ϊωμενοϲ παταϲ τουϲ καταδυναϲτευομενουϲ ϋπο του διαβολου οτι

https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscri ... omSlider=0

The example of Acts 10.36-38 is especially interesting because nomina sacra are used for [Jesus] and [Christ] as well as several other words but then the verb 'anointed' is written out and applied to [Jesus]. It would seem difficult to argue for the likelihood that the nomen sacrum XU overline meant something other than Christou in this case.

Best,

Ken

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

It would seem difficult to argue for the likelihood that the nomen sacrum XU overline meant something other than Christou in this case.

Yes, very convincing.

[Peter Kirby]

There's also this in Acts:

Acts 2:29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Acts 2:30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,
Acts 2:31. he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”

Which calls back to this in the infancy narrative of Luke:

Luke 1:32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.

[Peter Kirby]

Luke 4.18 (quoting isaiah 61.1):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor

and Jesus comment in Luke 4.21:

Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing

It seems understandable that this could have been penned by someone who did not believe that Jesus is the Christ:

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

There are several elements of the passage of Isaiah that may have attracted the eye of the author:

(1) proclaim good news to the poor
(2) proclaim liberty to the captives
(3) proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

If this described how the author understood Jesus, then it's understandable that it would be quoted and said to be fulfilled.

Even when we come to the phrase "he has anointed me," it is connected to the ideas that the "Spirit of the Lord is upon me" and that the purpose of this anointing is to "proclaim." To proclaim is different than to reign.

It does have the word anointing and it does occur in a passage of scripture said to be fulfilled, which can be considered suggestive. It would be read that way in the context of Luke-Acts, maybe.

The relevance here is that it is perhaps understandable that this passage could have originally come from a different text, where that author might not have considered Jesus to be the Christ.

[Secret Alias]

A late second century anti-Marcionite witness for anointed one. Noted. Though it's not hard to see the author's interest from lines like this:

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

I guess Jesus being a son of David is settled too.

And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

Is religion a way of making smart people less smart?