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  • From: rfellows AT intergate.ca
  • To: <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Sosthenes was Crispus
  • Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 22:51:02 -0700


Dear listers,

some of you may be interested to know that the Crispus-Sosthenes hypothesis
has already been published (A. Myrou, "sosthenes: The Former Crispus (?)",
The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Vol 44, 1999, p207-212).

Myrou gives an intriguing idea about the reason for the change of name. He
states out that "Crispus" means "Curly", but can also mean "unsteady" (My
dictionaries say "quivering"). He translates "Sosthenes" as "steady in
strength", and observes that the two names have exactly opposite meanings.
This, he believes, is no coincidence. It is certainly possible that Paul
renamed Crispus and selected 'Sosthenes' because its meaning is the opposite
of that of 'Crispus'. One is reminded of Philemon 11 where Paul mentions
Onesimus and makes a play on the meaning of his name, writing, "Formerly he
was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful". I can almost hear Paul
making a similar statement about Crispus-Sosthenes: "He is not quivering, but
is steady in strength".

Richard Fellows




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