Ancient Binding Spells, Amulets and Matt 16.18-19: Revisiting August Dell's Proposal a Century Later
The goal of this essay is to reopen the unfortunately unrefined but still illuminating proposal of August Dell a century ago - a proposal to read the motif of bind and unbind' in Matt 16.19 against the backdrop of ancient magical conventions - and to corroborate this hypothesis with philologic...
| Published in: | New Testament studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2016]
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| In: |
New Testament studies
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Matthäusevangelium 16,18-19
/ Magic
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| RelBib Classification: | AZ New religious movements HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
binding curse
B Matt 16.18-19 B Magic B Peter B Hades B defixio B key |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The goal of this essay is to reopen the unfortunately unrefined but still illuminating proposal of August Dell a century ago - a proposal to read the motif of bind and unbind' in Matt 16.19 against the backdrop of ancient magical conventions - and to corroborate this hypothesis with philological precision and contextualisation. The present study seeks to demonstrate how central the motif of bind and unbind' was to most binding spells and amulets, and how the verbs luein and deein and their cognates might have evoked the conventions of binding magic when heard in religious and ritual contexts. We see Matt 16.19 as a literary reappropriation of a typical binding spell, crafted to highlight Peter's authority to bind' and break' whatever entities he should choose. Jesus' guarantee that he/God will unbind' whatever target Peter unties' is to be understood as a clear indication that Peter is endowed with an invincible potency over every other spiritual entity, symbolised by the power to break any binding' spell. The security of the church against malevolent and harmful spiritual entities is further guaranteed by Christ's promise, if read in ancient binding magical conventions: Christ will give Peter the key of the kingdom of heaven so that Peter as the key-bearer may become a figure who can channel the full potency of the keyed object. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-8145 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: New Testament studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0028688516000102 |