![]() I would guess that the detailed description of this supposed custom is an invention triggered in someone’s fertile mind by the archaic KJV translation, “napkin.I am always surprised by the attention given the Shroud of Turin by many people who supposedly believe the New Testament gospels are historically authentic. True, if first-century Jewish residents of the land of Israel used table napkins, and if there were such a custom as described, and if the handkerchief mentioned in John 20:7 were a table napkin, and if the Greek word entetyligmenon meant “having been folded” rather than “having been wrapped up,” then we might be able to swallow this. Apparently, the Greeks of old also used their hands for eating, since there are no ancient Greek words for “fork” and “spoon.” Summary ![]() ![]() ![]() He probably wouldn’t have wanted to dry his hands on anything, since while eating he used his fingers as spoon and fork. I suspect that after washing his hands Jesus didn’t dry them on his sleeve or another part of his garment. The folding of the napkin as a sign that a dinner guest was finished may be good European custom, but it appears this custom was unknown in the land of Israel in the time of Jesus. Washing of the hands before a meal was mandatory according to rabbinic injunction, but after washing their hands, did people dry them with a cloth? Apparently, there is no early rabbinic source that discusses how the hands were dried after washing them.Were napkins used in first-century Israel, that is, after a meal did people wipe their hands on a cloth to clean them?.The questions that come to mind upon hearing the explanation of “the folded napkin and the slave” are: The word translated “napkin” or “face cloth” in some translations of John 20:7, σουδάριον ( soudarion), is a Latin loanword, sudarium (see the entry σουδάριον in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.) It was a small cloth corresponding to the rabbinic מִטְפַּחַת ( miṭpaḥat), our modern “handkerchief.” In the New Testament the Greek word soudarion appears three other times: at Jesus’ command, Lazarus came forth from his tomb, his face wrapped with a soudarion (John 11:44) the slave whom his master entrusted with a mna hid it wrapped in a soudarion (Luke 19:20) and the handkerchiefs that were carried from Paul’s body, which contained the power to heal the sick and exorcize demons, were soudaria (the plural of soudarion) (Acts 19:12). To the readers, it sounds good, it feels good, and so it must be true. None cites a biblical or rabbinic source. (Try, for instance, a Google search for “napkin over the face of Jesus.”) Apparently, none of the perpetuators of this hoax offers any evidence for such assertions. Like an urban legend, such fanciful notions spread rapidly across the Internet, one author copying the words of another, but altering the text slightly and sometimes adding to it. He (the master, Jesus) is coming back! Hallelujah! David Bivin responds: For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m done.”īut if the master got up from the table, folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table because the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, “I’m not finished yet.” The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!” The servant would then know to clear the table. If the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. Jesus, Rabbi and Lord: A Lifetime’s Search for the Meaning of Jesus’ Words $19.95 Add to cart
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