Abstract
Every once and a while, though not often, a new approach for interpretation comes into the world of New Testament (NT) studies. Frequently, books, monographs, and articles only rehash, review, or reframe perspectives from the past. Something new and original, however, is rare and far between. Numismatics and Greek Lexicography is one of these new and original approaches. Michael P. Theophilos, Senior Lecturer in Biblical and Early Christian Studies at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, has creatively brought together the study of ancient numismatics with the field of Greek lexicography. In combining these two fields, a new avenue has opened for the analysis of NT vocabulary within its historical context. Through this combination, Theophilos illustrates the value of numismatic evidence and provides lexical options for fresh insights into NT words.
The overall goal for Numismatics and Greek Lexicography is “to employ dated and geographically legitimate comparative numismatic data to refine, illuminate and clarify the relevant semantic domains of NT vocabulary with a particular interest in NT cruces interpretationis” (pp. 5–6). To accomplish this goal, the book is divided into two main sections. The first section focuses on an overview of ancient numismatics in general. For NT scholars, this section contains a helpful orientation (almost a hundred pages) to the discipline of numismatics, often a daunting and complex discipline. For this reason, the author gives definitions for technical terms and nomenclature. He also provides background information related to using ancient coins as tools for analysis, sources for the study of coinage, and critical questions related to using coinage as evidence in research. One helpful insight in this section is the excursus on the buying power of the denarius. Theophilos provides a corrective to the standard canard about a denarius being a “day’s wage” (pp. 98–101).
Having prepared the reader with foundational numismatic tools, the second section focuses upon the application of numismatic evidence in seven case studies on selected NT vocabulary. Four of the case studies are words unique in the NT (hapax legomenon): καρποφόρος (Acts 14:17), νεωκόρος (Acts 19:35), χαρακτήρ (Hebrews 1:3), and κτίστης (1 Peter 4:19). This reviewer will never read 1 Peter 4:19 the same after the author’s analysis of κτίστης. While typically κτίστης is translated “Creator” in reference to God and cosmology, the numismatic evidence (along with the literary and historical contexts of 1 Peter) suggests that “Founder” is a better possibility and even a more likely meaning (p. 191). The other three case studies involve φίλος and related terms in John 15; θεός, ἐλευθερία, εἰρἠνη καί ἀσφάλεια, and Κάβειρος in the Thessalonians letters; and βασιλευς βασιλέων (king of kings) in Rev 17:14 and 19:16.
The case studies follow a similar pattern of presentation, although with some variations. Each Greek word (or family of words) is presented with its problematic issues and questions. Next is an overview that might include historical background or different lexical options from scholars and/or the Greco-Roman world, and then the numismatic evidence is explored in relationship to the word or phrase. The cases studies end with a brief conclusion.
The bibliography resources are excellent, extensive, and worth the price of the book. The sources used in this work reflect an author conversant and knowledgeable with the resources. This informed engagement is evident particularly on the author’s overview of sources in chapter 3. Throughout the book are a total of 76 black and white photographs illustrating coins under discussion. The photographs are enlarged to assist in seeing coin details and inscriptions.
The author is careful in this study to show that numismatic evidence is not the “end all, be all” approach for lexical studies. Rather, he shows that inscriptional evidence on ancient coinage can contribute and nudge forward refinements in understanding NT words. Theophilos has provided an excellent example related to how lexical study can benefit from numismatics evidence, when the evidence is understood well and applied with rigor. This book is a challenge to lexicographers and others to expand beyond only literary texts for lexical evidence and to consider the millions of inscriptions on ancient coins.
What happen with NT scholars is “the often uncritical use of numismatic evidence” (p. 146). So, it is refreshing that the author writes with expertise in the disciplines of NT studies and also ancient numismatics. Scholars of the NT have normally approached the use of evidence from numismatics as outsiders. And when they have utilized coins, they have frequently used them as shiny objects for simple and simplistic illustrations. This work will go a long way in continuing to help scholars understand the potential of numismatic evidence as a tool for NT interpretation.
This work, as Theophilos notes, is only a prolegomenon (p. 7). Even as an introduction, however, he has laid out a methodologically sound and clear path for continuing work, exploration, and discovery related to lexical and numismatic studies. For those interested in continuing to hear the original whispers from the words on the biblical page, this approach is an exciting one.
Theophilos concludes the book’s acknowledgements with the Latin phrase, tantus labor non sit cassus, “may such great effort not be in vain.” For those who take up, read, and engage this book, the effort was not in vain.