THE GRAECO-SEMITIC VOCABULARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

A PLEA FOR A NEW RESEARCH TOOL

Jan Joosten

The background of New Testament words and expressions in extra-biblical Greek

has been extensively researched. Ever since the rediscovery of the Greek text of
the New Testament during the Renaissance, the remains of Classical Greek
literaturein a wide sensehave been combed zealously in order to identify
parallels to usages and meanings typical of biblical Greek.1 In the 19th century,
the discovery of the papyri made it possible to determine that New Testament
Greek is closer, generally speaking, to the Hellenistic vernacular than to the
literary language. Consequently, the papyri too, as well as inscriptions and
ostraca, were investigated in the same perspective.2 Although there is no reason to
think this line of research has been exhausted, one should recognize that much
indeed has been done. Moreover, the results of these investigations are readily
accessible in widely used reference works, that are regularly brought up to date.3
Greek texts and documents, however, are not the only source that can
illuminate the New Testament usage. Many elements of the Greek language of the
New Testament reflect Semitic influence:4

1
For a recent review of the early history of investigation, see Alexis LEONAS, Recherches sur le
langage de la Septante, coll. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 211 (Fribourg: Academic Press
Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005), pp. 15-25; see also the impressive survey by
Walter BAUER, An Introduction ot the Lexicon of the Greek New Testament in IDEM, A Greek-
English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. English Translation
by W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1979), pp. xi-xxviii (=
BAGD).
2
Adolf DEISSMANN, Bibelstudien (Marburg: Elwert, 1895); IDEM, Neue Bibelstudien (Marburg:
Elwert, 1897); IDEM, Licht vom Osten (Tbingen: Mohr, 1908); J. H. MOULTON, G. MILLIGAN,
The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary
sources (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914-1929). Updates to the latter can be found in the
series New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity (volumes 1-9) published by Macquarie
University in Australia.
3
See, e.g., successive editions of the dictionary of Walter Bauer.
4
Ever since the publications of Gustaf Dalman, it has become usual to speak of the Aramaic
background of the New Testament (particularly the gospels), to the exclusion of Hebrew. In
recent years, however, it has been shown by many scholars that Hebrew is relevant too. An
inclusive approach informed by both languages is called for. See Jan JOOSTEN, Aramaic or
Hebrew behind the Gospels?, Analecta Bruxellensia 9 (2004), pp. 88-101 (with references to
the literature).
2 JAN JOOSTEN

Some words, like a)mh&n or pa&sxa, were borrowed directly from Hebrew or
Aramaic.
Other words are used in meanings unusual in Greek but explicable in the light
of Hebrew or Aramaic, e.g., o)fei/lhma debt used in the meaning sin no
doubt reflects influence from Aramaic (or Hebrew) bwx, debt, sin.
Many expressions or turns of phrase of the New Testament find their closest
parallels in Semitic texts, e.g., sa_rc kai\ ai[ma flesh and blood, used in
reference to mere mortals in comparison with God, has no real analogue in
Greek literature but finds a ready parallel in Hebrew Mdw r#b.

The Semitic background of New Testament Greek has been researched less
fully than the Greek background. The relatively recent discovery of the Dead Sea
Scrolls has added a great amount of material that is still to be exploited to the full.
Moreover, the results of lexical investigation of the Semitic background of New
Testament words and expressions are nowhere gathered in a systematic and
accessible way.5 The standard dictionaries of the New Testament refer to some of
the more obvious instances where Greek words are to be understood in the light
of Semitic, but their coverage of the phenomenon is very incomplete.6
In light of these considerations, a lexicon of New Testament words in respect
to their possible Semitic background is a desideratum. Such a lexicon would
cover all words that can be illuminated from Aramaic or Hebrew usage. Articles
wouldnt need to be long: in general, one or two pages should suffice. The work
would need to be carried out by an interdisciplinary team of scholars, comprising
both specialists of the literature of the New Testament and Semitic philologians
conversant with Jewish literature.7

5
A large amount of old material, much of it antiquated is gathered in Matthew BLACK, An
Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts, originally published in 1946, revised and expanded
in 1954 and 1967, and reprinted in 1998 by Eisenbrauns.
6
Thus it is certainly interesting to learn that the us of the term heaven as a respectful
circumlocution for God is common among Hebrews. One would like to known, however,
whether the usage is attested in Jewish texts antedating the NT (it is: Dan 4:23; 1Mac 3:60), but
neither Bauer, nor the recent update by Danker has anything to say on this point.
7
See Jonas GREENFIELD, review of M. BLACK, Aramaic Approach, Journal of Near Eastern
Studies 31 (1972), pp. 58-61: a variety of specialists is needed to work together: a well
trained Aramaist for whom Talmudic literature is not a closed book, a student of Mishnaic
Hebrew, a competent New Testament scholar, and naturally someone proficient in Hellenistic
Greek and papyrology.
 THE GRAECO-SEMITIC VOCABULARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 3
No beginning can be made with this work in the present article.8 All that will
be attempted is to illustrate some aspects of the question of the Semitic
background of New Testament vocabulary. A first section will present some
general questions of Graeco-Semitic semantics while a second section will broach
the more specific problem of Septuagintal terms whose meaning has developed
further under the influence of post-biblical literature.

1. Varieties of Semitic influence on the meaning of Greek words in the New

Testament
The factors and mechanisms bringing about Semitic interference in the language
of the New Testament may be conjectured to have been diverse. In certain cases,
especially in the gospels, a Semitism may be due to translation from Hebrew or
Aramaic sources in an early stage of the tradition. Translation leads to all kinds of
carry-over from the source text into the goal text. While the canonical gospels
were almost certainly composed in Greek, they must incorporate source material
that originated in a different language. The gospels are written in Greek, but Jesus
and his disciples spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. Whether the translation was done
orally or in writing is usually impossible to know.
Another potential source of Semitisms is the Greek used among Palestinian
Jews during the first century AD. In a multilingual society, the different
languages employed may influence one another to different degrees.9 Some Greek
words may have been used in a distinctive way in Palestine.
A third factor to be taken into account is the possibility that some New
Testament tradents or authors were bilingual and that their Greek was colored by
their knowledge of Hebrew or Aramaic.
As the causes of Semitic interference are diverse so also the types of semantic
divergence from non-Biblical Greek are several. What is relatively rare is to find
words whose lexical meaning has changed owing to Semitic influence. Some
well-known cases, such as kti/zw to create (in profane Greek: to found), have
been mediated by the Septuagint and should not be considered Semitisms in the
New Testament context. Apart from these Septuagint lexemes, the lexical
meaning of New Testament words can usually be paralleled from Hellenistic
Greek. There are a few possible exceptions, however. For instance, the Greek

8
Between 2002 and 2006, Peter Tomson (Brussels), Menahem Kister (Jerusalem) and the present
author explored the possibility of creating such a lexicon. In spite of exciting initial results,
however, the weight of other commitments prevented this collaboration from bearing fruit.
9
See the important prolegemona to this question by Moises SILVA, Bilingualism and the
Character of New Testament Greek, Biblica 61 (1980), pp. 198-219.
4 JAN JOOSTEN

verb e0pifw&skw unequivocally means to shine forth in Hellenistic Greek and is

used specifically of dawn.10 In the New Testament, however, the verb refers to
the onset of the new day which, according to Jewish practice of the time,
happened in the evening. In Luke 23:54, And that day was the preparation, and
the Sabbath drew on (e0pe/fwsken), the context makes it unfeasible to give the
verb any other meaning: when Joseph of Arimathea takes down Jesus body and
lays it in a sepulchre, it is Friday evening, just before the beginning of the
Sabbath.
The only other attestation of the verb in the New Testament, Matt 28:1 is
controversial because the reference to the evening creates a contradiction with
Mark 16:2: And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came
unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. Within its own context, however, Matt
28:1 very naturally means that the visit of the women took place in the evening.
The use of the adverb o)ye/ in the evening favours this interpretation, as does the
general scenario: the women come to the grave as early as they are permitted to.
The verse is to be rendered: In the evening of the Sabbath, at the hour which
drew near (th|~ e0pifwskou&sh|) towards the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to see the tomb.11
The Semitic background of the change in meaning from to shine forth to to
draw near (said of the new day in the Jewish reckoning) is well understood and
has recently been rehearsed, with much new material, by Daniel Boyarin.12 The
phenomenon may be due to literal translation from a Semitic source, as is
sometimes submitted, but its use by two different authors in unrelated passages
makes this improbable. It is better, with Burkitt, to think that the Greek word
reflects the sociolect spoken among Jews in Palestine. Under the influence of
Hebrew idiom, the Greek verb took on a meaning, among Greek-speaking Jews,
which was almost the opposite of its usual meaning.13
Much more commonly, the Greek word keeps its lexical meaning but is used
in a way that finds no parallel outside of biblical Greek. The distinction made in
semantics between meaning and reference can usefully be applied to many such
cases. For instance, the meaning of the Greek word sune/drion, assembly, is the
same in New Testament Greek as in other texts. But the use of the word in
reference to the Jewish Sanhedrin is specific to Jewish texts. Genuine Greek

10
See MOULTON & MILLIGAN, Vocabulary, p. 250.
11
See Jan JOOSTEN, The Ingredients of New Testament Greek, Analecta Bruxellensia 10 (2005),
pp. 56-69, espec. pp. 66-68.
12
Daniel BOYARIN, After the Sabbath (Matt. 28:1)Once More Into the Crux, Journal of
Theological Studies 52 (2001), pp. 678-688.
13
Francis C. BURKITT, EPIFWSKEIN, Journal of Theological Studies 14 (1913), pp. 538-546.
 THE GRAECO-SEMITIC VOCABULARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 5

words were used to refer to Jewish institutions: sunagwgh&, synagogue, is

another example of this. The case is only slightly different for words belonging to
religious discourse that are used in a specific way due to particular features of
Jewish practice or theology. When dikaiosu&nh is used in reference to almsgiving
(Matt 6:1), the meaning righteousness is not entirely eclipsed; rather, the giving
of alms is conceived of as a particular manifestation of righteousness. Sometimes
the specific New Testament usage is based on a figurative meaning of the Greek
word. The use of the word o)fei/lhma debt in reference to sin can be described
in this way: the notion of indebtedness to God functions as a metaphor for sin.
Again, the lexical meaning does not disappear, but the word refers to a conception
peculiar to Judaism.
A different distinction established by linguists is that between denotation and
connotation. While the meaning of a word may remain more or less stable, its
affective impact and the mental images it calls up may vary. Some Greek words
of the New Testament are given a connotation that is unusual in profane literature
but explicable in light of Semitic models. A nice example is the use of the word
a)lw&phc, fox, in Luke 13:32. While Greek (and modern European) usage
would lead one to think Jesus qualifies Herod Antipas as a crafty person, Hebrew
and Aramaic literature use the fox more often as an image of insignificance.
Contextually, it is indeed more likely that Jesus qualifies Herod as small-fry, a
person of no consequence.14
Yet another type of Semitic influence is the literal translation of idiomatic
expressions. Idiomatic expressions often involve metaphors and connotations, but
they are distinct in that they express a stablethough possibly somewhat
opaquemeaning.15 Idiomatic expressions are typically limited to a single
language and speech community, making it difficult to translate them. Where
Hebrew or Aramaic idioms are incorporated in literal translation in the Greek text
of the New Testament, the meaning may be hard to understand. Thus Jesus
remark to one of the laborers of the first hour: Is thine eye evil, because I am
good? (Matt 20:15, KJV) hardly makes sense in Greek unless one knows that in
Hebrew the evil eye is a figure for stinginess (cf. NRSV: Are you envious
because I am generous?). Another example is the use of the combination flesh
and blood in reference to mere humanity already mentioned above.

14
Randall BUTH, That Small-fry Herod Antipas, or When a Fox Is Not a Fox Jerusalem
Perspective (2004) online: http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/Default.aspx?tabid=27&Article
ID=1460.
15
See Jean-Marc BABUT, Les expressions idiomatiques de lhbreu biblique. Signification et
traduction. Un essai danalyse componentielle, col. Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 33 (Paris:
Gabalda, 1995).
6 JAN JOOSTEN

Finally, the Semitic background of a Greek word occurring in the New

Testament may in certain cases activate intertextual connections. In Matt 11:25
par., David Flusser has proposed to link the Greek word nh&pioi, babes, via the
Septuagint, to Hebrew My)tp the simple-minded, thus adding a feature
potentially connecting the Gospel passage to the Qumran Hodayoth: I thank you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the
wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.16 The link does not
affect the meaning of the Greek word, but it is still worthwhile exegetically.

* * *

The examples selected in the present section are not intended to suggest that a
Semitic approach to New Testament Greek is in all cases superior to an approach
from Greek texts. Alternative explanations are often possible. Many passages will
probably remain debated forever. Nevertheless, for a responsible exegesis of the
New Testament it is important to dispose of all possible inputs. In this respect, the
available lexica do not suffice for establishing the Semitic background of New
Testament words and expressions.

2. Septuagint influence and beyond

As was already pointed out briefly above, Semitic influence on the language of
the New Testament is very often indirect, being mediated by the Septuagint.
Words like diaqh&kh, covenant, or xristo&j, Christmeanings that are
unusual in Greek textswere not coined by the authors of the New Testament,
but by the earliest translators of the Hebrew Scriptures. By the first century CE,
these terms were freely available in Greek and no contemporary Semitic influence
is necessary to explain their use in the New Testament writings. When Paul writes
pro&swpon o( qeo_j a)nqrw&pou ou) lamba&nei (God accepteth no mans person
[KJV], Gal 2:6)) he uses an expression that is odd from the point of view of
profane Greek, but there is no need to estimate that he was translating from
Hebrew or thinking in a Semitic language. The influence of the language of the
Septuagint on the New Testament writers is easy to trace and adequately
documented in the existing dictionaries.
A phenomenon that is less well known and understood is the use of Septuagint
terms in a meaning that has evolved under the influence of semantic
developments in their Hebrew equivalent.

16
David FLUSSER, Judaism of the Second Temple Period. Qumran and Apocalypicism (Jerusalem:
Yad Ben-Zvi, 2002), p. 8 [in Hebrew].
 THE GRAECO-SEMITIC VOCABULARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 7

2.1. The verb eu)loge/w

The phenomenon may be illustrated with some uses of the Greek verb eu)loge/w.
The choice of eu)loge/w to translate most instances of Krb (Piel) to bless in
the Hebrew Bible has led to a semantic change in the Greek verb. While its
original meaning was basically: to speak well of, to praise, to eulogize, in the
Septuagint it absorbs something of the meaning of its Hebrew equivalent.17 In the
Septuagint it is found in passages where it clearly implies the imparting of a
vivifying force by God to human beings or by humans among themselves: God
blessed (hu)lo&ghsen) them saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth
(Gen 1:28); I blessed him, and let him be blessed (Gen 27:33). These usages are
found in the New Testament as well: When God raised up his servant, he sent
him first to you, to bless (eu)logou~nta) you by turning each of you from your
wicked ways (Acts 3:26);18 Then Simeon blessed (eu)lo&ghsen) them (Luke
2:34). Although the verb eu)loge/w is not used in this way in profane Greek, one
should not regard these phrases as Semitisms in their New Testament context.
They should rather be considered Septuagintalisms, reflecting original Greek
writing under the influence of the style of the Septuagint.
In addition to the Septuagintal usages, the New Testament also employs the
verb eu)loge/w in a way unattested in the Septuagint, yet equally inexplicable
from normal Greek usage:19

Matt 14:19 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to
heaven, and blessed (eu)lo&ghsen) and broke the loaves, and gave them to
20
the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

Mark 8:7 They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he
21
ordered that these too should be distributed.

17
See my forthcoming study on Le vocabulaire de la Septante et la question du sociolecte des
juifs alexandrins. Le cas du verbe eulog, bnir in a volume to be edited by J. Joosten and
E. Bons and published in the Monograph Series of the IOSCS (Melvin Peters, general editor).
18
See also Eph 1:3.
19
See Peter TOMSON, Blessing in Disguise: EULOGEW and EUXARISTEW between Biblical
and Everyday Greek Usage in Jan JOOSTEN, Peter TOMSON (eds.), Voces Biblicae. Septuagint
Greek and its Significance for the New Testament, col. Contributions to Biblical Exegesis &
Theology 49 (Leuven: Peeters, 2007), pp. 35-61.
20
See also Matt 14:19; 26:26; Mark 6:41; 14:22; Luke 24:30.
21
See also Luke 9:16 (where codex D has the semiticizing variant he blessed on the bread);
24:50; 1Cor 10:16.
8 JAN JOOSTEN

1Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the
blood of Christ?

All these passages more or less clearly refer to the Jewish custom of saying a
blessing, addressed to God, before partaking of any food.22 The custom is attested
already in the Qumran scrolls and documented much more widely in Rabbinic
texts.23
The use of eu)loge/w in the meaning to say grace (before meals) is without
parallel outside of biblical Greek. In Hellenistic Greek, the natural way of
expressing this meaning is with the verb eu)xariste/w, to give thanks. This verb
is indeed found frequently in passages similar to the ones quoted above:24

Matt 15:36 He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks
(eu)xaristh&saj) he broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the
25
disciples gave them to the crowds.

The comparison between this verse and Matt 14:19 quoted above raises the
question why eu)loge/w was used there. In answering this question, one may
postulate a process consisting of two steps. The first step is the linkage between
Greek eu)loge/w and Hebrew Krb, which happened within the Septuagint as was
stated above. The second step involves the influence of post-biblical Hebrew. The
developing custom of blessing God before meals, and on numerous other
occasions,26 occasioned a new meaning for the Hebrew verb Krb, namely the
delocutive meaning to say a blessing.27 Unattested in the Hebrew Bible,28 the

22
See H. PATSCH, eu)loge/w, EDNT II, p. 79-80.
23
1QS 6:5 (hiphil?) #wrythw () Mxlh ty#)rb Krbhl hnw#rl wdy xl#y Nhwkh; see also 1QSa
2:19-21 where the more usual piel stem form is used; Mishna Berakhot, chapters 6 8. See
Daniel K. FALK, Prayer in the Qumran Texts, in W. D. DAVIES, L. FINKELSTEIN (eds.), The
Cambridge history of Judaism. 3. The early Roman period (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999), pp. 852-876, espec. p. 865.
24
See TOMSON, Blessing.
25
See also Matt 26:27 (cf. v. 26); Mark 8:6 (cf. v. 7); 1Cor 11:24; see also John 6:11, 23; Acts
27:35.
26
A Jew blesses his God a hundred times a day according to Rabbi Meir, see Elias BICKERMAN,
Bndiction et prire, Revue Biblique 69 (1962), pp. 524-532.
27
Delocutive meanings are meaning derived from a locution, e.g., Dont sweetheart me
meaning: Dont call me sweetheart. See Delbert R. HILLERS, Delocutive Verbs in Biblical
Hebrew, Journal of Biblical Literature 86 (1967), pp. 320-324; espec. p. 324.
28
The Rabbinic proof texts for saying the blessings at meals, such as Deut 8:5 and 1 Sam 9:13, in
reality attest other meanings of the verb Krb.
 THE GRAECO-SEMITIC VOCABULARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 9
earliest occurrences of this meaning are found in the Qumran scrolls.29 In
Rabbinic Hebrew it is encountered frequently. Since the linkage between Krb
and eu)loge/w was already a fact, the new meaning of the Hebrew verb was
projected into the Greek one as well. The meaning of the verb eu)loge/w in the
New Testament passages quoted is to say a blessing.30

2.2.The term parembolh&

A similar development should perhaps be recognized for the word parembolh&,
camp. In Hellenistic Greek, this word designates a military camp, a barracks, or
an army.31 In the Septuagint, it becomes the standard equivalent of hnxm, camp,
settlement, being used even in non-military contexts.32 In the NT the word is
used several times in reference to a military camp: Acts 21:34,37; 22:24;
23:10,16; 28:16 v.l.; Heb 11:34. Since this is the usual meaning of the word in
Hellenistic Greek it is unnecessary to attribute this usage to Septuagint influence.
In two unrelated passages, however, the word does not seem to refer to a
military camp:

Heb 13:11-14 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into
the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the
camp (e1cw th~j parembolh~j). (12) Therefore Jesus also suffered outside
the gate (v.l. the camp) in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.
(13) Let us then go to him outside the camp (e1cw th~j parembolh~j) and
bear the abuse he endured. (14) For here we have no lasting city
(me/nousan po&lin), but we are looking to the city that is to come.

While in verse 11 the reference is clearly to the Israelite camp in the desert
mentioned in the Pentateuch (notably to Lev 16:27), in verse 13and in he varia
lectio in verse 12the notion of the camp appears to be contemporized in
reference to a city. The connection remains somewhat puzzling and cannot be
explained from the Old Testament background.

29
See Elisha QIMRON, The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls, (Atlanta GA: Scholars Press, 1986), p.
99.
30
The meanings attributed to this usage in Bauers dictionary correspond to what a Greek reader
unfamiliar with Jewish texts may have understood, not to what the authors intended.
31
The word has several other meanings that are without relevance to biblical usage.
32
For a possible explanation of the use of this word in non-military contexts, see Jan JOOSTEN,
Language as symptom. Linguistic clues to the social background of the Seventy, Textus 23
(2007), pp. 69-80.
10 JAN JOOSTEN

Rev 20:9 They surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city
(th_n parembolh_n tw~n a(gi/wn kai\ th_n po&lin th_n h)gaphme/nhn).

Here, too, the camp and the city are set in parallel in a way that can be
explained neither from the meaning of the Greek word parembolh&, nor from its
use in the Septuagint.
In order to make sense of these two passages, it will be useful to consider the
way the camp passages contained in the Pentateuch were interpreted in the
early post-biblical period.33 Where the camp was merely a narrative element in
the story of Israels journey through the desert it posed no particular problem to
interpreters. In some verses, however, the notion of the camp is a significant
element in the pentateuchal legislation. For instance, in one passage it is
stipulated that the leprous, those who have a discharge and those who are unclean
through contact with a corpse are to be excluded from the camp (Num 5:2).
In such passages, Jewish interpreters sought to determine to what reality in
their own lives the camp could refer. Although they were no longer dwelling in a
camp, they estimated the law laid down in the Pentateuch in regard to the camp
continued to have relevance after the Israelites settled down in more permanent
conditions. Several explanations were developed. Some thought the camp referred
to any Israelite city, others that it referred to the city of Jerusalem, while still
others restricted the term to the Temple.34 The earliest echo of these exegetical
discussions may already be found in the Books of Chronicles (1Chr 9:18; 2Chr
31:2). The first unambiguous trace of them, however, is found in the Dead Sea
Scrolls:

4QMMT B 58 And one must not let dogs enter the holy camp (#dwqh ynxm), since
they may eat some bones of the sanctuary while the flesh is still on them. For
35
Jerusalem is the camp of holiness (#dqh hnxm h)yh Myl#wry).

33
For more information on this point, and for secondary literature, see Jan JOOSTEN, Le camp et la
ville. Larrire-plan vtrotestamentaire dune quation tonnante, in M. HENGEL et al. (eds.),
La Cit de Dieu - Die Stadt Gottes. 3. Symposium Strasbourg, Tbingen, Uppsala 19.-23.
September 1998 in Tbingen (Tbingen: Mohr, 2000), pp. 119-137.
34
In Rabbinic texts, the approach is more differentiated: see, e.g., Siphr Bammidbar, Pisqa 1:
There are three camps, the camp of Israel, the camp of the attendants, and the camp of the
Shekinah. From the gate of Jerusalem to the Temple mount is the camp of Israel; from the
Temple mount to the court is the camp of the attendants; from the entrance of the court and
further inward is the camp of the Shekinah.
35
See also 4QMMT B 27-30.
 THE GRAECO-SEMITIC VOCABULARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 11
Although the prohibition of dogs is an innovation, the notion of the holy
camp that is to be protected from impurity is almost certainly taken from the
Pentateuch. The polemical tone of this passage suggests that the author of the
letter knew of other interpretations of the camp.
These post-biblical interpretation identifying Israels camp in the pentateuchal
laws with the city of Jerusalem reveal the background of the term parembolh& in
Hebrews 13. In light of this identification, Jesus dying outside the gates of
Jerusalem could easily remind the author of the burning of sacrificial victims
without the camp in Leviticus (Heb 13:11). It also explains the glide from the
notion of the camp to that of the city in the following verses.
The same identification almost certainly underlies Rev 20:9, even although
there are no legal implications in this passage.36 The closeness of the expression
the camp of the holy ones to the language of 4QMMT scarcely needs to be
underlined.

Conclusion
The main burden of the present paper has not been to present new insights into
the Semitic background of New Testament Greek, but to illustrate the need to
delve into this background again and again. In order to help students of the New
Testament to do so, a new research tool is called for, that would offer a synthesis
of all the material that is available today in primary and secondary sources. The
study of New Testament words against their possible Semitic background should
complement study of their background in Greek literature and documentary texts.

36
M. PHILONENKO, Dehors les Chiens (Apocalypse 22.16 et 4QMMT B 58-62), New
Testament Studies 43 (1997), pp. 445-450.