Title "σωτήρ" in Ancient Culture and Biblical Discourse: on the problem of semantic evolution of the concept

Babaeva Anastasiya Valentinovna ORCID: 0000-0002-0676-6336 PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Minin Nizhny Novgorod Statе Pedagogical University 603157, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1, office 405 dff1890@yandex.ru

Vozhdaev Alexander Anatolyevich Student of the Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University, teacher of the Department of Biblical Studies, Theology and Philosophy of the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary 603157, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1 vozhdaev_al@mail.ru

Introduction

According to the pagan view, the gods fill all spheres of life: in ancient times, almost everything that a person deals with was sacralized. The corresponding attitude to the world cannot but be reflected in language, which allows the pagan world to create a rich toolkit for describing religious life. Early Christianity, having arisen in the linguistic and cultural space of paganism, very successfully mastered the existing religious terminology, making adjustments in accordance with its worldview.

A striking example is the term εὐαγγέλιον. In Homer's Odyssey, εὐαγγέλιον means a reward for positive news in general ^{[1, p. 392]}, in the works of ancient authors the word is often used in the meaning of a thanksgiving sacrifice for the good news of a military victory ^{[2, p. 681]}. During late Antiquity, the word began to be associated with the worship of Roman emperors and the sacralization of their power. Several centuries will pass and the content of the word will expand to the meaning of "the good news about the salvation of all mankind and the advent of a new era." Today, the whole world associates the advent of the "Kingdom of God" with the lexeme "εὐαγγέλιον", i.e. the herald of a radically new type of sociality with a form of modification of power unknown to this day. Thus, in modern times, the word has become entrenched in religious discourse, thanks to which the meaning correlating with everyday life has been emasculated from it; while maintaining the denotative meaning (the message), the significative has completely transformed: now the content of the word is narrowed to the proclamation of the birth of Jesus Christ and his role in the history of mankind. This is a vivid, but far from the only example of the semantic evolutions of pagan terms in Christianity.

The purpose of this article is to test the hypothesis according to which semantic shifts in the process of transformation of pagan terms in biblical discourse took place through the correction of the significative meaning. We believe that the study of the logic of semantic shifts is interesting not only in the light of the formation of the Christian dictionary proper – this logic reflects the principles of the development of a successful cognitive paradigm that is being formed in the "space" of already existing explanatory models. The material for analysis in the article is the semantic shift of the Greek word "σωτήρ" (soter), the meaning of which goes a long way from "savior in earthly misfortunes and troubles" (pagan world) to the Savior of human souls and the arbiter of judgment over world history (Christianity). We are fully aware that transformations in the meaning of a word can be caused by factors of a completely different nature: phonetic features of words/languages, the influence of borrowings, changes in social realities, etc. In this article, with all the variety of factors of semantic evolution, attention will be focused on the diachronic description of the semantic shift based on changing social realities and culturally significant associations.

1. ΣωτήΡ terrestrial or celestial?

So, σωτήρ is a concept that first appeared in the Greek literature of the 5th century in the context of the Persian wars. The noun σωτήρ, which is derived from the Greek verb σώζω (to save, deliver, heal), means savior, defender, deliverer from any disaster related to public or private events. Herodotus, for example, calls the Athenians the saviors of Hellas, because they did not allow the Persian king Xerxes to conquer the Greek lands ^{[3, p. 349]}. Elsewhere, the Greek historian cites a case of how the river, blocking the way for horsemen pursuing the Temenids, saved the latter ^{[3, p. 414]}. In the "Petitioners" of Aeschylus, the Libyan king Danaus addresses his daughters, persecuted by cousins (who wanted to forcibly marry them), urging them to make sacrifices and pour wine to the inhabitants of Argos, who saved them by giving them shelter in their city ^{[4, p. 218]}. In Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus the King", the seer Tiresias is called the savior of the city of Thebes, who, at the request of Oedipus, must rid the city of the ulcer that resulted from the Oedipus crime ^[5]. In Aristophanes' comedy The Horsemen, slaves named Nikias and Demosthenes, embodying the images of political figures of that time, are indignant at the new slave in their house – a Tanner (by which Aristophanes meant his contemporary, the Athenian politician Cleon), robbing their master Demos (the people). Nikias steals some fortune-telling from the Tanner, from which he and Demosthenes learn that the Tanner will be overthrown by the sausage merchant. Immediately, seeing a sausage maker passing by, Nicias and Demosthenes shout to him that he will be the savior of the city ^{[6, p. 41]}. Thus, any person who benefits can be in the role of a savior. Xenophon in the "History of Greece" speaks about the intentions of the Corinthians to return their former independence to their city – in this case they will become the saviors of their fatherland ^{[7, p. 84]}. In Plato's "State", the leaders of the state who protect citizens are called saviors, thereby emphasizing the trusting relationship between the Greek rulers and the people, unlike other states where the authorities consider subjects to be slaves ^{[8, p. 186]}. Finally, philosophers could also be called saviors in the ancient era. Epicurus, for example, was glorified by his followers as σωτήρ due to the soteriological aspect of his philosophy, and Dion Chrysostom believed that philosophers can heal human mental disorders, therefore they can also be called saviors ^{[9, p. 734]}. So, the ancient classics called people who ensure earthly well-being or, as they say today, mental health.

In Antiquity, the word σωτήρ was also used in relation to the gods. Such a title was awarded to Zeus, Apollo, Dioscuri, especially Asclepius the healer ^{[10, p. 27]}, who was considered the patron saint of medicine, etc. Homer says that Zeus' wife Leda gave birth to the brothers Castor and Polydeucus (Dioscuri) ^{[11, p. 176]}, who were considered patrons of seafarers and travelers, to save people. Pindar in the Olympic Odes exclaims: "Zeus is the Savior... I fall to you...", thus addressing Zeus with a plea for granting prosperity to the city and long life to the Olympic winner ^{[12, p. 35]}. Xenophon describes how the Spartan king Agesilaus sacrificed to the savior gods (Zeus, Hercules and Dioscuri), seeking positive signs from them ^{[7, p. 59]}. The salvation of Delphi from the Gauls in 279 BC took place thanks to Zeus and the Pythian Apollo ^{[13, p. 1228]}. The gods acted as saviors not only of cities and communities, but could also save from individual dangers and diseases. Among the gods whose cult was especially revered in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Isis and Serapis bore the title σωτήρ.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the very concept of σωτηρία (salvation) in ancient Greece never had an eschatological dimension. Prayers for salvation were offered to the gods or people who bore the title σωτήρ, but such an appeal was not considered by the ancient Greeks in the perspective of eternity. These were requests related to the gift of health, salvation from death, material well-being, safe travel or childbirth; in the popular consciousness, σωτηρία could mean military victory, liberation from external domination, prosperity of the city, healing from plague or other natural disasters. That is, in all these cases, σωτηρία had a practical meaning related to well-being in this earthly world, and not in the posthumous one.

2. ΣωτήΡ in the Greco-Roman cult of the ruler

The archaic and classical eras of Ancient Greece, characterized by a republican system, actually excluded the category of "ruler" or "monarch" - a person usurping power, as was typical of the pre- and post-polis eras. Such a state structure assumed the sovereignty of civil society, where the management of the policy by an elected person was delegated by the community for a certain period of time with certain restrictions. The turnover of officials was not uncommon, therefore, there was practically no place for the sacralization of the personality of a particular person in power, as it could be, for example, in the Cretan-Mycenaean era – preceding the polis era, where the king was the object of status sacralization, when it was not the personality that was subject to sacralization, but the title or status itself, regardless of personal qualities. After the collapse of the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization in Greece of the early Archaic period, there were still remnants of the institution of basileos, who sought to hold all power in their hands, but over time "they turned from lifelong and hereditary leaders of the community into elected officials, and not the most influential in the polis" ^{[14, p. 217]}. It is important to note that the status sacralization in the person of the Basileis was still preserved and manifested in their priestly primacy, high authority in the field of religious affairs of the polis, moreover, in political terms their status could not be at all high. Nevertheless, when a regime of sole power arose in the polis, the so–called tyranny, it was no longer the title that was subject to sacralization, but the personality of the tyrant, since for a Greek of the polis era, a tyrant is a person who came to power by force ^{[15, p. 9]}, therefore, the status of his power a priori cannot be sacralized, i.e.K. is illegal. In this case, the tyrants had to make personal efforts to achieve the legitimacy of their power. Unlike the hereditary status sacralization of the Basileis, tyrants had to prove the legitimacy of power at the expense of charismatic qualities. In such cases, there were also stories about their supernatural birth, the signs that accompanied their birth, likening to the heroes of famous myths, a special connection with the gods, etc.

It can be said that such a precedent of sanctioning power and giving sacredness to one's own personality documented the phenomenon of personal deification, which flourished in the Hellenistic era. These attempts are still found in the policy period, but they are exceptional. Thucydides writes in "History" that the Spartan commander Brasidas was awarded the cult honor, the title of "hero" and "savior", to whom sacrifices were offered annually and sports competitions were organized in his honor ^{[16, p. 225]}. Plutarch informs about another famous Spartan commander Lysander that he, who defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War, "was the first among the Greeks of the city to erect altars and offer sacrifices as to god" ^{[17, p. 109; 18]}. Similar measures of self–deification were taken by Alexander the Great's father Philip II, who ordered another one to be erected in the largest sanctuary of Olympia at that time, bearing his name "Philippe", where statues with his image were to be located ^{[19, p. 103]}. Plato's disciple Clearchus, having seized power in Heraclea of Pontus, declared himself the son of Zeus, and on religious holidays he dressed in clothes traditionally attributed only to the gods ^{[15, p. 393]}. The Polis period remembers other examples of self-deification, but they did not have a large-scale character, and after the death of one or another leader, the corresponding cult came to naught.

One of the reasons that allowed the cult of the ruler to develop in Ancient Greece is the crisis of the Greek religion. The exponents of the urgent problems were philosophers, poets and figures of the classical era, who criticized the traditional religiosity of the Greeks. Xenophanes of Colophon criticized the anthropomorphic idea of the Greeks about the gods, who were inferior in their moral and ethical qualities to humans. Doubt about the existence of gods as such was expressed by the sophist Protagoras ^{[20, p. 348]}, and the Athenian tyrant Critias argued that the gods were an invention of ancient legislators acting as overseers of the moral state of people ^{[21, p. 253.]}. All this, at the end of the polis era, led to the partial destruction of traditional beliefs, resulting in skepticism, the apogee of which can be called the Athenian hymn dedicated to Demetrius I Polyorketes, which says that other gods do not care about people, or they do not exist at all, and the Athenians see Demetrius clearly, in the flesh ^{[22, p. 144]}. The hymn is the quintessence of a new religious consciousness, which saw a stronghold not in the "old gods", but in the cult of real people who became "sons" or "incarnations" of the gods. This is evidenced by such epithets as σωτήρ (Savior), God (God), επιφανής (manifested), ευεργέτης (benefactor), which was awarded the now people, previously applied only to the gods ^{[23, p. 335]}.

The full-scale veneration of the ruler's personality in the Hellenistic world is associated with Alexander the Great, whom, after the conquest of Egypt, local priests declared the son of the supreme god Amon, actually deifying during his lifetime ^{[18, p. 415]}. For the Egyptian consciousness, this form of worship was traditional, but for the Greek it was unusual at that time. Subsequently, Alexander would demand recognition of his divine status from the Greek population as well. Since that time, the rulers were perceived not just as bearers of sacred authority, but were deified. It is known that after the death of the Egyptian king Ptolemy I, his heir and son Ptolemy II deified his father along with his mother Berenice, giving them the status of "θεοὶ σωτηρες" – "savior gods" ^{[24, p. 1303]}. Ptolemy II himself and his wife Arsinoe II were also deified during their lifetime. A remarkable case is with the already mentioned successor of Alexander the Great, Demetrius I Polyorcetes, who, having freed Athens from the tyrannical rule of Demetrius of Phalerus, received divine honors with the assignment of the status of "God the savior". People were sent to him on behalf of the national assembly, who were supposed to make sacrifices in honor of the "savior" and ask for divinations, as if he were an oracle ^{[18, p. 200]}. Representatives of the Seleucid dynasty also received divine honors. And the first of them to receive the honors of Zeus the Victor was the founder of the dynasty, Seleucus I. His successor and son Antiochus I, who deified his father and himself bore the title of savior ^{[23, p. 333]} The tendency to assume divine titles continued until the Roman era, whose emperors did the same.

It is worth noting that the deification of emperors in the Roman period, although partially influenced by the Hellenic tradition, has other prerequisites. If the cultivation of rulers among the Greeks was a consequence of the growing religious crisis and global changes in political, social and cultural aspects due to the military campaigns of Alexander the Great, which changed the psychology of the Greeks, then the Romans associated this phenomenon with a purely political agenda, namely the collapse of the republican system, the subsequent civil war and the establishment of the imperial regime (there is an opinion, that the deification of the Roman emperors is a consequence of the "crisis of the Roman polis religion" ^{[25, p. 302]}). It was during this period that "the veneration of successful generals was born, initiated by both themselves and the masses, primarily in the provinces, especially those affected during the wars" ^{[14, p. 240]}. The persons of the civil wars period who were awarded divine honors are Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompey, Mark Anthony and Octavian Augustus, whose names are associated with the characteristic titles of the Hellenic period – "savior", "benefactor", "revealed god", etc. The population of the Roman Empire, pretty exhausted by the constant struggle of the elites for power, concentrates its cult attention on the personality of the winner of internecine wars – Octavian Augustus, who actually began the official deification of rulers in the Roman Empire. Sanctuaries are erected in honor of Octavian, and a little later he is directly called god. In a number of cities of the empire, Octavian is credited with the title of "cosmic savior", "savior of the human race", on coins with his image there are inscriptions "revealed God", etc.

Over time, the imperial cult acquired more specific and visible forms, its organization, cult, sanctuaries, priests, and festivals took shape. Gradually, the cult became obligatory for all subjects of the Roman Empire. The perception of the emperor "as a cosmic deity reflected not only loyal feelings, but also those changes in social psychology that took place already during the Hellenistic period; it was precisely such an all-powerful deity who was supposed to ensure peace and prosperity to the peoples who were part of the Roman empire" ^{[14, p. 244]}. And who but the "savior of the human race" can ensure the peace and prosperity of the peoples of the empire. That is why this title is becoming so popular both among the emperors and among the peoples of the empire, who saw the person bearing this title as a guarantor of political peace and stability. It is also interesting that the title "savior" could be held not only by Roman emperors, but also by their governors in the provinces ^{[25, p. 310]}. However, over time, the divine title attributed to a powerful person did not always turn out to be a reflection of reality. If, for example, the Athenians called Demetreus I Polyorcetes the savior because of his services to the city, then conditionally the next ruler could receive or demand the same status already according to the "established tradition".

Thus, the epiclesis "σωτήρ" was widely used in the ancient world in relation to both gods and people. At first, it was applied to the gods for their favor and help to the polis and its citizens, but in a practical plane (saving the city from foreigners, saving someone's personal life, etc.), later σωτήρ acquired a pronounced religious meaning in relation to people, becoming the property exclusively of the bearers of royal or imperial power. So, by the end of the Hellenistic period, the lexeme appears as a hybrid political-religious formation. The deep pessimism of Hellenism, the era of wars and social upheavals, on the one hand, shook the importance of traditional pagan cults, on the other – marked the worship of power and those who are clothed with it, since power is somehow associated with order, the preservation of peace and prosperity of the people, insofar as the religious component gradually becomes a semantic background, increasing the importance of the political domination, emphasizing the power and legitimacy of the ruler's authority.

3. "He is truly the Savior of the world": the Biblical σωτήρ

Christianity is permeated with the idea of salvation. For example, in Gen. 3:15 there is a hint of how God planned the salvation of the human race, which fell into sin and fell away from It. In the Old Testament, to denote salvation, among others, the word yasha is most often used – to save, to deliver, to receive help ^{[26, p. 222]}. This is evidenced by the text of the LXX, which translates this word Greek σώζω 138 times ^{[27, p. 7718]} it is Easy to catch here and linking verb yasha with the name Jesus in Hebrew sound Yeshua (יְשׂוּעָה ) actually means "salvation" and also with the names of Isaiah (יְשַׂעְיָה ), Elisha (אֱלִישָׂע ), Hosea (הוֹשׂעַ ). In most cases, the Old Testament, by salvation, implies God's intervention in historical processes and deliverance, protection and preservation of His people from disasters and sees "in salvation a reality more physical than spiritual, and more corporate than individual" ^{[28, p. 1006]}. But there are many examples of personal salvation: these are stories about the salvation of the families of Noah, Lot, the salvation of the family of Abraham, the story of Joseph and the constant prayer for the salvation of King David to God (Ps.26:1; 34:3; 36:39; 61:7). However, even in these cases, the plan had to do with the whole nation.

Along with the main savior of the Israeli people, God, people are also called saviors. However, the fundamental difference between the biblical saviors and the ancient ones is that they themselves are called by God and are an instrument in His hands for the salvation of the entire people (Sud. 4-5; 13:5; 2 Sam.8:6; 4 Samuel 13:5; Neh.9:27). It was unthinkable for Israel to declare anyone a savior in the sense in which he was understood by the peoples around him, since the God-centricity of the Jewish consciousness left no opportunity for the deification of man. This title belonged entirely to God (Ps.16:7; 105:1-12,21; Isaiah 43:11-14; 45:21; Jeremiah 3:23; Os.1:7; 13:4). The understanding that God is the absolute savior of Israel was shown by the historical experience of the exodus (Exodus 14:13). The deliverance of the Jews clearly demonstrated the divine saving effect. This key event in the history of the Jewish people marked the beginning of the naming of the God Yahweh as the Savior – an epithet that was later often used in prophetic speeches and became one of the main Gods of Israel.

Gradually, semantic shifts in the understanding of salvation as such are taking place in the biblical revelation. First, in addition to a personal and national Savior, God reveals Himself as the Savior of all peoples of the world. This is especially clearly observed in the prophetic books, in particular in Isaiah (Isa. 45:22; 49:6). Secondly, the spiritual aspect of salvation begins to be outlined, which is not dominant in the Old Testament, but is not absent at all. In the 50th penitential psalm of King David, the word salvation is used twice, if we take into account that the psalm describes the spiritual state of a person. The book of Ezekiel speaks of the spiritual purification and liberation (yasha is used in the original) of the Israeli people from their uncleanness resulting from their idolatry (Ezek.36:22-32). Finally, the key aspect in the realization of salvation is its eschatological perspective – something that is completely absent in ancient religion. Biblical eschatology, originating in the Old Testament, the subject of which was the aspirations of Jews during the period of national catastrophes, forms the belief that God will surely save His people, protect them from present and future troubles (Isa.25:9; 35:4; 49:25-26; Jeremiah 31:7; 46:27; Ezek.34:22). These eschatological moods were focused on getting rid of threats in the present (although in some places it is said about eternal salvation: Is.45:17; 51:6-8), and only a little later they begin to extend far ahead into the future, where the Messiah-Savior becomes the main figure (Is.49:6; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zech.9:9).

The realization of the Messianic future (Matthew 1:21; Luke 2:11) comes on the eve of the birth of Jesus Christ. The main principle of this realization is emphasized – salvation from the sins of people, as if programmatically setting the goal of the subsequent ministry of Jesus Christ on earth. The lexemes save/salvation are actively used by all four evangelists (more than 50 times ^{[29, p. 619]}) in order to show how Christ manifests His power by giving man deliverance from danger (Mt.8:25; 14:30), absolution of sins or physical healing, often the result of a careless life man (Mt. 9:21; Mk.5:23; 6:56; Lk.7:50; 17:19). The key to Christ's ministry was His atoning sacrifice, offered on the cross for the salvation of the world (John 3:16-17). If in ancient culture sacrifices for glory and propitiation were offered to saviors for earthly well-being, then the biblical Savior sacrifices Himself for the eternal life of all people. Speaking about salvation in an earthly or eternal context (Matthew 1:21; Mark 10:26; Luke 8:12; 13:23; John 3:16-17, etc.), the evangelists inextricably link it with the mission of Jesus Christ, which in itself should have caused the first readers the certainty of His divine origin.

In the New Testament, the word σωτήρ is used 24 times, of which 16 refers directly to Christ ^{[9, p. 736]} In Luke, this title refers equally to God and to Christ (Lk.1:47=2:11). The message of salvation was addressed to both Jews and representatives of other ethnic groups. The Jewish reader could catch in these lines the message that had its roots in the Old Testament prophets who proclaimed the saving King, and for the Gentile it was evidence of real salvation, measured not so much in earthly well-being as in a blissful life after death, sought in mystery cults. The main criterion for gaining salvation is the importance of personal faith (Mk. 16:16; Lk.7:50; 8:12). The presence of personal faith, a necessary component of biblical soteriology, without which salvation itself cannot be imagined, was not fundamentally important for the Greco–Roman religion, therefore salvation there could be purely external in nature.

Theologically rich understanding of the concept of salvation is found in the texts of the ap. Paul, who uses the verb σώζω 29 times, σωτήρ – 12, σωτηρία – 18 ^{[30, p. 759]} It is noteworthy that with the word σωτηρία Paul defines exclusively the relationship between man and God, whereas in other cases where it is a question of salvation from any dangers, he uses the word ῥύομαι. By salvation, Paul understands not only the objective reality that God accomplished in Christ, but also the way man reconciles with God (Romans 5:10), which is mysteriously mentioned in the book of Genesis. It is fundamentally important for the apostle that it is impossible for a person to be saved himself, but only God does the work of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). Biblical salvation, according to Paul, is a gift that is fully revealed in eternity, but which is experienced in a person's earthly life, through life in Christ. In the Pauline epistles, σωτηρία is used directly in the theological sense, the fundamental elements of which are the mystical aspect and the eschatological perspective, which brings the figure σωτηρ(a) into the realm of the transcendent. At the same time, Christ turns out to be the deliverer from a wide range of misfortunes and the all–king legislator and arbiter of fate, but in this case, royalty turns out to be the context of a spiritual mission, thanks to which religious connotations begin to dominate the lexeme again.

Conclusion

So, the diachronic description of the lexeme "σωτήρ" allows us to identify several stages of transformation of meaning: 1) Greek: saviors could be anyone (from rivers to gods) – the main thing is that they benefit individuals or entire states, while salvation itself was described as getting rid of various kinds of earthly hardships; 2) Roman: the saviors turned out to be generals and rulers, i.e. major political figures, on whom the well–being and physical existence of states and their inhabitants depended, in this case salvation is the salvation of physical existence and maintaining it at the proper level; 3) biblical: 2 hypostases of the Divine Trinity (Father and Son) act as saviors, salvation is carried out through sacrifice and has a transcendent sound.

The modern meaning of the lexeme "salvation", which determined the development of Christian soteriology, boils down to the following: liberation from sins for eternal life is carried out by a royal person, the savior delivers, having unconditional powers. Thus, the hybrid concept of σωτήρ integrates religious and political meanings. The biblical σωτήρ, as well as εὐαγγέλιον, arises by incorporating religious meaning into a political term. This is an example of the implementation of a successful cognitive strategy, because instead of inventing new tools, theologians prefer to turn to existing, effective ones, but give them an enduring, absolute meaning. All the rhetoric regarding power in paganism is exalted, in this regard, theologians were doomed to use concepts filled with powerful connotations. It was very productive, when developing our own vocabulary and constructing new concepts, to follow the path of preserving denotative and emotional-evaluative meanings, and correct only the significative ones. As a result, Christianity, instead of the semantic revolution, preferred the evolutionary path, offering the pagan consciousness a familiar mental tool, only with adjusted optics.