Difference between revisions of "Boanerges"

<p> <b> BOANERGES. </b> —In &nbsp;Mark 3:17 we read that Christ ‘gave to James and John name(s) Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder’ (καὶ ἐπέθηκεν αὐτοῖς ὄνομα [ <i> v.l. </i> ὀνόματα] Βοανηργές, ὅ ἐστιν υἱοὶ βροντῆς).* [Note: The MSS give: βοανηργεςא AB, etc., βοανεργης D, βοανεργες EF, etc.] The equation <i> [[Boanerges]] </i> = ‘sons of thunder’ presents two difficulties: ( <i> a </i> ) the [[Hebrew]] בִּנַי does not naturally give rise to the two vowels οα; ( <i> b </i> ) no known Hebrew or Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] root <i> rgs </i> or <i> rgsh </i> has the meaning ‘thunder.’ A third difficulty might be added, that the title <i> Boanerges </i> , whatever its meaning, does not accurately correspond to ὀνομα(τα), ‘name(s).† [Note: ὁυουατα is read by א AC, etc., ὀνομα is the reading of BD.] If the [[Evangelist]] be right in saying that the original title meant ‘sons of thunder,’ we must suppose that Βοανη or Βοανε is due to inaccurate transliteration of בִּנִי, or to a conflation of two readings with a single vowel (see Dalm. <i> Gram. </i> 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] p. 144). But the difficulty as to ργες = βροντή remains. [[Jerome]] (on &nbsp;Daniel 1:7) thought that <i> Boanerges </i> should be emended into <i> Benereem </i> = בִּנִירֽעִס. In that case the <i> s </i> is a mistake on the part of the Evangelist or his copyists for <i> m </i> . Others prefer to think that the original title was בִּנִירְנַז = ‘sons of wrath,’ or בְּנַירְנַשׁ = ‘sons of tumult,’ and that υἱοὶ βροντῆς is an inaccurate translation on the part of the Evangelist. The [[Syriac]] Version (Sinaiticus) unfortunately gives us no assistance. It transliterates <i> Bĕnai Ragsh </i> or <i> Ragshi </i> , and omits the explanation ὅ ἐστιν υἱοὶ βροντῆς (see Burkitt, <i> Evangelion da-Mepharreshe </i> , i. 181, ii. 280). It is possible, however, that the corruption lies deeper than this. Just as <i> [[Dalmanutha]] </i> (&nbsp;Mark 8:10) is probably a corruption of an [[Aramaic]] proper name (see Burkitt, ii. 249), so <i> Boanerges </i> may be a fusion of two names answering to the ὀνόματα. In that case the Evangelist, misreading or mishearing his Aramaic original, has fused two names into one, and has tried to give a rough translation of the word thus formed. The first name might be בַנּי (Banni), בַנַּי ( <i> Bannai </i> ), or בּ֖נּי ( <i> Bunnai </i> ). [[Curiously]] enough, the [[Babylonian]] [[Talmud]] gives <i> [[Bani]] </i> as the name of one of the disciples of Jesus (Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] <i> Sanh. </i> 43 <i> a </i> ). For the second name we offer no conjecture. See, further, John, James. </p> <p> Literature.— <i> Encyc. Bibl. </i> art. ‘Boanerges’; <i> Expositor </i> , iii. x. [1889] 332 ff. </p> <p> [[W. C]]  Allen. </p>