The
establishment of Greek χριστος as the accepted equivalency for משׁיח provided
occasion for one interesting development in early Christian idiom: the
occasional use, via itacism, of Greek χρητος, “good, excellent,”
for χριστος, “anointed” (and, consequent upon a standard transliteration, Latin
chrestus for Christus, as well). This has often been commented
on, especially in connection with Suetonius’s famous account of the expulsion
on, especially in connection with Suetoninus’s famous account of the expulsion
of the Jews from Rome under Claudius (Claud. 25; Judaeos impulsore
Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit), as a result of simple misunderstanding,
the confused substitution of a familiar name for an unfamiliar one. And in some
instances, this is doubtless the case. Thus Tertullian, in his Ad nations,
mocks certain pagans or their ignorance in pronouncing Christiani as Chrestiani:
The name
Chrisitan, however, so far as its meaning goes, bears the sense of anointing [Christanum
vero nomen, quantum signification est, de unction interpretatur]. Even when
by a faulty pronunciation you call us Chrestians [etiam cum corrupte a vobis
Chrestiani pronuntiamur] (for you are not certain about even the sound of
this noted name), you in fact lisp out the sense of pleasantness and goodness [suavitate
vel bonitate]. You are therefore vilifying in harmless men even the
harmless name we bear. (Tertullian, Ad nat. 1.3.8-10).
Tertullian
notes that, in fact, the name Christiani comes from a word for anointing
(de unctione), but that pagans often say it Chrestiani,
suggesting pleasantness or goodness (Greek χρηστοτης; Latin suavitas, bonitas). Tertullian
is happy to take the unintended compliment, and he claims that Christians are
indeed pleasant, good, and harmless. (Matthew V. Novenson, The Gramar of
Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users [Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2017], 225)
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