FERGUSON Christian and Jewish Baptism 213
efficacy.^21 As with the other tractates in the division on 'Cleannesses'
(Tohoroth), the purification was external and not internal, but nonetheless
serious, and by the distinction I do not intend to be pejorative.
Neither was proselyte baptism, which may have begun not long before
Barnabas's time,^22 explicitly connected with forgiveness of sins. Rabbinic
literature described the proselyte as not only ceremonially pure (Pes. 8.8)
but also as separated from the grave (Pes. 8.8),^23 as a newborn child (b.
Yeb. 22a; 48b; 62a), as becoming a different person (b. Yeb. 23a), as repent-
ing and changing life (the late Qoh. R. 1.8.4),^24 becoming a freed person
(b. Yeb. 46a), and becoming an Israelite in all respects (b. Yeb. 47b). But
these descriptions seem to refer more to legal status (Sheb. 10.9; Yeb. 11.2;
Hull. 10.4) and not to entail an inner rebirth.^25 They apply to the whole
process of becoming a proselyte, of which circumcision was the most
important aspect, although the fact that women received only the bath led
some to suggest it was more important.^26 An association with forgiveness
of sins is suggested in other sources. The Jewish Sib. Or. 4.165-69 from
the late first century says, 'Wash your whole bodies in perennial rivers.
Stretch out your hands to heaven and ask forgiveness for your previous
deeds,'^27 but the forgiveness here appears to be connected more with
prayer than with the washing.
In the translation I have taken the phrase 'they will build for them-
- A distinction is preserved in the terminology for immersion (dipping to obtain
cleansing), pouring (as in pouring water into a container to fill it—3.3), and sprinkling
(as in sprinkling with the hyssop branch—1.8; cf. Parah 12.11). - T.M. Taylor, 'The Beginning of Jewish Proselyte Baptism', NTS 2 (1955-56),
pp. 193-98, argues for a late first-century date for its introduction. Karen Pusey and
John Hunt, 'Jewish Proselyte Baptism', ExpTim 95 (1984), pp. 141-45, take the reason-
able position that the practice may have begun by the beginning of the first century but
that the meaning developed later from its origin as a purificatory rite to a symbol of the
start of a new life. - Does this mean separated from corpse defilement, for which idolatry was the
ceremonial equivalent? - 'She no longer lived to the world...and they do not return [to their evil
ways]'—A. Cohen (trans.), Midrash Rabbah: Ecclesiastes (London: Soncino, 1939),
pp. 28-29. - Johannes Leipoldt, Die urchristliche Taufe im Lichte der Religionsgeschichte
(Leipzig: Dorffling & Franke, 1928), p. 22. - b. Yeb. 46a-b.
- Translation by J.J. Collins in J.H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseu-
depigrapha. I. Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments (Garden City, NY: Doubleday,
1983), p. 388. Contrast the reference to daily ritual washings in 3.591-93.