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+--- Thread: bathing illustrations and ritual purification (/thread-492.html)
bathing illustrations and ritual purification - MarcoP - 25-03-2016
This was posted by David in a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.:
(22-03-2016, 09:46 PM)david wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I had a vague theory somewhere that this page represents female purity and how accepting divine will improves your lot.
The top woman receives blessed water from heaven directly (note the cross staff she is holding* - she isn't holding it, it is coming into her hand. Compare with the ring below), which also falls straight down onto the next woman, who may represent nobility (note Crown/Ring?). But she is on her back. The water falls onto her face to symbolise purity and her whole body is in the water
This goes down to the next level of commoner who is not purified by the water but is allowed to touch it.
And finally it goes down to the beasts of the field (whores?), one of whom escapes from her bestial form by touching the water (note how she is leaving the fish) whilst her companions stay.
The hair styles of the women become progressively plainer towards the bottom.
It's just the gist of a theory... a previous one of mine was that the women represent different phases of pregnancy (note belly - the penultimate belly has been retouched to make it more prominent).
*This cross-staff, of course, may simply be a stick she is pointing at the top of row of women on the next page, showing a connection between the two sets of illustrations.
I would like to add that a detail on the following page (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) is somehow reminiscent of a baptism scene. The attached image is from an You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., 1268.
From You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.:
A possible additional use of the verb baptizein to relate to ritual washing is suggested by Peter Leithart (2007) who suggests that Paul's phrase "Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead?" relates to Jewish ritual washing. In Jewish Greek the verb baptizein "baptized" has a wider reference than just "baptism" and in Jewish context primarily applies to the masculine nounbaptismos "ritual washing". The verb baptizein occurs four times in the Septuagint in the context of ritual washing, baptismos; Judith cleansing herself from menstrual impurity, Naaman washing seven times to be cleansed from leprosy, etc. Additionally, in the New Testament only, the verb baptizein can also relate to the neuter noun baptisma "baptism" which is a neologism unknown in the Septuagint and other pre-Christian Jewish texts. This broadness in the meaning of baptizein is reflected in English Bibles rendering "wash", where Jewish ritual washing is meant: for example Mark 7:4 states that the Pharisees "except they wash (Greek "baptize"), they do not eat", and "baptize" where baptisma, the new Christian rite, is intended.
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - david - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - Koen G - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - VViews - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - -JKP- - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - Koen G - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - -JKP- - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - MarcoP - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - VViews - 25-03-2016
RE: bathing illustrations and ritual purification - MarcoP - 26-03-2016