The X-Files: Chrēstos / Christos / Χρειστος

[Secret Alias]

In the New Testament https://books.google.com/books?id=30UI7 ... AF&f=false

[Peter Kirby]

Tertullian, Ad Nationes 1.3 (in the translation by Howe, with Latin text):

Your verdicts, however, have condemned nothing but a Christian confession. There is no name of a charge against us, just the charge of a name. (Porro sententiae uestrae nihil nisi Christianum confessum notant; nullum criminis nomen extat, nisi nominis crimen est.) ...

But when it comes to the merit of a name -- if a name faces charges or a word comes under accusation -- I reject that a name or a word can give offense, unless of course the word sounds vulgar or implies bad luck or is degrading both for the speaker and the listener. Such words are to be condemned as crude, incorrect, or disgusting. (Itaque de nominis merito si qui reatus est nominum, si qua accusatio uoca bulorum, ego arbitror nullam esse uocabulo aut nomini querellam, nisi cum quid aut barbarum sonat aut infaustum sapit uel inpudicum uel aliter quam enuntiantem deceat aut audientem delectet. Haec uoca bulorum aut nominum crimina, sicuti uerborum atque sermonum barbarismus est uitium et soloecismus et insulsior figura.)

The literal meaning of the word Christian, however, is an anointing. (Christianum uero nomen, quantum significatio est, de unctione interpretatur.)

Even if you mispronounce the word as "chrestian" -- you are not entirely clear about our name -- your pronunciation suggests sweetness and goodness. (Etiam cum corrupte a uobis Chrestiani pronuntiamur -- nam ne no minis quidem ipsius liquido certi estis -- sic quoque de suauitate uel boni tate modulatum est.)

You withhold from innocent men their innocent name, a name that is neither challenging to the tongue no harsh to the ear, nor offensive to any man, nor provocative to our peers. (Detinetis igitur in hominibus innoxiis etiam nomen innoxium nostrum, non incommodum linguae, non auribus asperum, non homini malum, non pari infestum,)

Like many Greek words, it is appealing in both sound and significance. (sed et Graecum <cum> aliis, et sonorum et interpretatione iucundum)

Names were never meant to be punished by the sword, by the cross, or by ravenous beasts. (Et utique non gladio aut cruce aut bestiis punienda sunt nomina!)

[Peter Kirby]

Lactantius, Divine Institutes 4.7 (source, translation by Anthony Bowen and Peter Garnsey).

Amongst men he is called Jesus. For Christ is not a proper name but a title, expressing power and kingship; the Jews used to call their kings so. (Iesus quippe inter homines nominatur: nam Christus non proprium nomen est, sed nuncupatio potestatis et regni; sic enim Iudaei reges suos appellabant.)

The meaning of the title needs to be explained because of the error of ignorant people who tend to change one letter and call him Chrest. (Sed exponenda huius nominis ratio est propter ignorantium errorem, qui eum immutata littera Chrestum solent dicere.)

The Jews had been advised earlier to prepare a holy ointment with which to anoint those called to priesthood or kingship; for Romans today, putting on the purple is a sign that royal status has been assumed, and for the Jews the name and powers of kingship were conferred by an anointing with holy ointment. (Erat Iudaeis ante praeceptum, ut sacrum conficerent unguentum, quo perungi possent ii, qui vocabantur ad sacerdotium, vel ad regnum. Et sicut nunc Romanis indumentum purpurae insigne est regiae dignitatis assumptae: sic illis unctio sacri unguenti nomen ac potestatem regiam conferebat.)

The ancient Greeks used the word khríesthai for being anointed (nowadays they say aleíphesthai), as the following line of Homer indicates: ‘When the servant girls had washed them and anointed them with oil;’ so we call him Christ, that is, ‘the anointed’, which in Hebrew is ‘Messiah’. (Verum, quoniam Graeci veteres χρίεσθαι dicebant ungi, quod nunc ἀλείφεσθαι, sicut indicat Homericus versus ille: Αὐτοὺς δὲ δμωαί λοῦσαν, καὶ χρῖσαν ἐλαίω; ob hanc rationem nos eum Christum nuncupamus, id est, unctum, qui hebraice Messias dicitur.)

Hence in some Greek texts, where the Hebrew has been misinterpreted, eleimménos is found written, from aleíphesthai. (Unde in quibusdam graecis scripturis, quae male de Hebraicis interpretatae sunt, ἠλειμμένος scriptum invenitur, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλείφεσθαι.)

But the meaning is ‘king’, by whichever word, not because he has taken up this earthly kingship, for which the time has not yet come, but because of his celestial and eternal kingship, of which we shall speak in our final book. (Sed tamen utrolibet nomine rex significatur: non quod ille regnum hoc terrenum fuerit adeptus, cuius capiendi nondum tempus advenit; sed quod coeleste ac sempiternum, de quo disseremus in ultimo libro.)

[MrMacSon]

From Clement, Stromata 2.4 (with Greek glosses, which could be disputed):

ANF translation:

In The Statesman he [Plato] says expressly, “So that the knowledge of the true king is kingly (ὥστε ἡ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιστήμη βασιλική); and he who possesses it, whether a prince or private person, shall by all means, in consequence of this act, be rightly styled royal (αὐτὴν βασιλικὸς ὀρθῶς προσαγορευθήσεται).” Now those who have believed in Christ (Χριστὸν) both are and are called good (χρηστοί), as those who are cared for by the true king are kingly (βασιλικοὶ). For as the wise are wise by their wisdom, and those observant of law are so by the law; so also those who belong to Christ the King (Χριστῷ βασιλεῖ) are kings (βασιλεῖς), and those that are Christ’s Christians (καὶ οἱ Χριστοῦ Χριστιανοί). Then, in continuation, he adds clearly, “What is right will turn out to be lawful, law being in its nature right reason, and not found in writings or elsewhere.” And the stranger of Elea pronounces the kingly and statesmanlike man “a living law.” Such is he who fulfills the law, “doing the will of the Father,” inscribed on a lofty pillar, and set as an example of divine virtue to all who possess the power of seeing.

Alternative translation (unverified):

Now those who have believed in Christ both are good and are called, as truly being, royal, those cared for by the king
(αὐτίκα οἱ εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πεπιστευκότες χρηστοί τε εἰσὶ καὶ λέγονται, ὡς τῷ ὄντι βασιλικοὶ οἱ βασιλεῖ μεμελημένοι)
.

Re αὐτίκα οἱ εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πεπιστευκότες χρηστοί τε εἰσὶ καὶ λέγονται, ὡς τῷ ὄντι βασιλικοὶ οἱ βασιλεῖ μεμελημένοι

αὐτίκα : for the moment, now; forthwith, immediately; for example

1. https://lsj.gr/wiki/%ce%b1%e1%bd%90%cf% ... e%ba%ce%b1
2. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B1%E ... E%BA%CE%B1
3. https://www.wordsense.eu/%CE%B1%E1%BD%9 ... %BA%CE%B1/
4. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/te ... %29ti%2Fka

οἱ (hoi) = masculine nominative plural of ὁ (ho);

• as an article = the;

• as a [plural] pronoun = those, they, who

• https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BD%81#Ancient_Greek

εἰς

1. into; via https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B5%E1%BC%B0%CF%82
2. to, into, in, unto, upon, towards, for, among; via https://biblehub.com/greek/1519.htm

τὸν (ton)

• Article : (definite) accusative masculine singular of ὁ (ho) : the
  This form is used either when the following letter is a vowel or a plosive consonant (κ, ξ, π, τ, ψ, γκ, ντ, μπ)

• Pronoun : him

Χριστὸν

πεπιστευκότες (pepisteukotes) : https://biblehub.com/greek/pepisteukotes_4100.htm
πεπιστευκότας (pepisteukotas) : https://biblehub.com/greek/pepisteukotas_4100.htm
πεπιστευκότων (pepisteukotōn) : https://biblehub.com/greek/pepisteukoto_n_4100.htm

• all versions = who believed; who have/had believed

χρηστοί

τέ : té is usually rendered "and," "both and," or "and both," via https://biblehub.com/greek/5037.htm

εἰσὶ : they are, via https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B5%E ... F%83%CE%AF / https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/εἰσί

---

The alternative translation is looking more likely, though there may be room to play with it; especially wrt commentary about Χριστὸν and χρηστοί and their contexts

[Peter Kirby]

Jerome commented on the word for kindness in his commentary on Galatians 5:22 (as translated by Andrew Cain), contrasted with ἀγαθωσύνη (goodness). I think that's the implied Greek word. Jerome doesn't supply it, as he does for χρηστότης.

Kindness, or agreeableness (among the Greeks the word χρηστότης covers both of these meanings), is a virtue which is gentle, charming, peaceful, adept at getting along with all good people; it attracts others to close acquaintanceship with itself; it is soft-spoken and well-mannered. Furthermore, the Stoics define it as a virtue whose goal is to do good voluntarily.

Goodness is not much different from kindness because its goal is also to do good voluntarily. But it does differ in that it can be more somber and do good and what is demanded of it with a brow furrowed by austere habits; it is not pleasant company and it does not attract everyone to it by its pleasantness. Zeno’s followers define it as a profitable virtue, that is, a virtue out of which usefulness arises, or a self-sufficient virtue or mental disposition that is the source of useful things.

It's not super interesting on its own, but it is one of the references I found in https://archive.org/details/chrestosare ... ew=theater and it can provide some color for the difference between χρηστότης (kindness or agreeableness, sweetness, usefulness, etc) and ἀγαθωσύνη (goodness).

[Peter Kirby]

Excerpts from earlier in Irenaeus' Against Heresies I (for background context):

The alternative translation is looking more likely, though there may be room to play with it; especially wrt commentary about Χριστὸν and χρηστοί and their contexts

Thanks! I linked to your posts from the first page.

[Peter Kirby]

Alternative translation. Those of Chrestos = ruling class in ancient Athens. https://books.google.com/books?id=MOfOA ... AF&f=false might suggest that to be a full " Chre/istian was to be a priest/ecclesiastic. That's what I think the chrestoi were all priests. I think Nasorean has the same meaning among the Mandaeans.

You made the front page (with an alternative interpretation of χρηστοί):

Now those who have believed in Christ both are nobility and are called, as truly being, royal, those cared for by the king. (αὐτίκα οἱ εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πεπιστευκότες χρηστοί τε εἰσὶ καὶ λέγονται, ὡς τῷ ὄντι βασιλικοὶ οἱ βασιλεῖ μεμελημένοι.)

So far I have no idea if it is true to Clement or his Greek, but I do like the symmetry of 'nobility' and 'royalty.'

The existing translation makes sense too, though, in its way. Clement does tie the discussion back into virtue.

[MrMacSon]

Deepl gives " ὡς τῷ ὄντι βασιλικοὶ " [on its own] as " as if they were royalty " (Deepl didn't work with the preceding part)

eta
it also gave an alternative: " as royalty "

[Secret Alias]

Guys you are forgetting that in the quote above from Clement there is just an abbreviation which could be "Chrestos" or "Christos."

[Secret Alias]

Another important consideration.
Let's suppose that christos comes from the anointing of kingship.
Christianoi is a Latinized Greek formation which derives from "anointed ones"? Really there are all these kings running around?
chrestoi = nobility. Everyone, even the most wretched souls, think they are great, amazing, noble.