Bannus
Bannus (Βάννος Bánnos) was a Jewish ascetic in the 50s of the 1st century AD.
Mentioned in the Vita of Josephus
Bannus is known only from a single mention in the autobiography of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus . In describing his youth, Josephus described how he got to know the three Jewish “philosophical schools” of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, but was not satisfied with the experiences he had gained. Then he continues:
"Πυθόμενός τινα Βάννουν ὄνομα κατὰ τὴν ἐρημίαν διατρίβειν, ἐσθῆτι μὲν ἀπὸ δένδρων χρώμενον, τροφὴν δὲ τὴν αὐτομάτως φυομένην προσφερόμενον, ψυχρῷ δὲ ὕδατι τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὴν νύκτα πολλάκις λουόμενον πρὸς ἁγνείαν, ζηλωτὴς ἐγενόμην αὐτοῦ. [I learned] that a certain Bannus spent his life in the wilderness: that he used clothes made from tree (bark) and only fed that food that grew by itself, that he often went with himself - day and night cold water for the sake of purity: I became its emulator. "
Surname
The name Βάννος Bánnos is singular, a play on words with Latin balneum "bath" or ancient Greek βαλανεύς balaneús "bath man", with reference to his ablutions, was proposed.
The spelling with -nn- is represented by the Codex Palatinus ( Vatican Library , Cod.Graecus No. 14, beginning of the 10th century), compared to a spelling with -n- in the more recent Codices Ambrosianus (11th century), Mediceus (1469 ) and Vaticanus (1354). Benedikt Niese followed the Codex Palatinus in his authoritative text edition.
The name form Banus comes from historical Josephus translations that did not use the Greek text Nieses as a basis: William Whiston (1737), also Heinrich Clementz , Des Flavius Josephus smaller writings , Halle 1900.
Research history
In his way of life, Bannus shows similarities with Jesus of Nazareth , who also spent a long time in the desert, and John the Baptist , who worked on the edge of the desert.
Robert Eisenman counts Banus among the Hemerobaptists and places him in a row with John the Baptist and James the brother of Jesus. The Hemerobaptists were a group of Jews , a subgroup of the Essenes , who bathed before prayer every morning to come before God's face with a clean body. The "Clementines" also assign John the Baptist and his pupils to the group of Hemerobaptists ("Homilien," II. 23; comp. "Recognitions," I. 54). Hegesippus (cf. Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." IV. 22) mentions the Hemerobaptists as one of the seven Jewish sects that oppose the Christians .
literature
- Robert Eisenman : James, the brother of Jesus. The key to the mystery of early Christianity and the Qumran scrolls . Translated from American English by Ditte and Giovanni Bandini. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-570-00071-0 , (Original: James, the brother of Jesus . Faber and Faber, London 1997, ISBN 0-571-17573-2 ).
- Hermann Lichtenberger : Syncretistic traits in Jewish and Jewish-Christian baptism movements. In: James DG Dunn (Ed.): Jews and Christians. The parting of the ways AD 70 to 135. The Second Durham-Tübingen Research Symposium on Earliest Christianity and Judaism, Durham, September 1989 (= Scientific studies on the New Testament . Volume 66). Mohr, Tübingen 1992, pp. 85-97. ISBN 3-16-145972-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Flavius Josephus: From my life (Vita) . Critical edition, translation and commentary ed. by Folker Siegert , Heinz Schreckenberg , Manuel Vogel. Mohr Siebeck, 2nd, revised edition, Tübingen 2011. ISBN 978-3-16-147407-1 .
- ↑ Steve Mason: Life of Josephus , Translation and Commentary, Leiden 2001, p. 18.
- ↑ Perseus Digital Library : Flavius Josephus, Josephi vita B. Niese, Ed. 11
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bannus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Banus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jewish hermit at the time of Christ |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1st century BC BC or 1st century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1st century |