By Jim Mettenbrink
Last week, we considered the meaning of the Greek word (baptizo) transliterated into baptism. But when it’s translated, baptizo’s only meaning is to immerse, thus in biblical baptism, the symbolism of the burial of a person dead to sins immersed in a grave of water. And rising alive as a new creation in Christ and entrance into Jesus’ kingdom (Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 1:13-14). That is radical!
However, modern English dictionaries also define baptism as a ritual of sprinkling and pouring. Is that in harmony with the Bible? If not one might ask why are sprinkling and pouring considered definitions of biblical baptism?
The question of how definitions are formed was answered by a professor 35 years ago who had been on a dictionary committee. They read a myriad of contemporary writings and listen to speeches and people on the street to see how words are used. For example, goblin mode was first coined on Twitter in 2009, but because of its spike in usage over the decade, it was added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2022. This is called a living language, perpetually changing. The Koine Greek (New Testament) is dead, thus the word meanings do not change. So how did baptism become defined as sprinkling and pouring? Man is his degenerate disrespect for the authority of God’s word! Can we know from the original languages (Hebrew and Greek) the true meanings? Last week we considered bapto’s sole meaning as immerse.
First, let’s consider “to sprinkle” and “to pour” in the ancient Greek language. Again we appeal to the Greek translation of the Old Testament (about 250 BC). Interestingly, one passage contains the English words, to dip, to pour, and to sprinkle. “And the priest shall take some of the log (10 ounces) of oil, and pour (Grk – cheo) it into the palm of his own left hand: And the priest shall dip (Grk – baptizo) his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle (Grk – rhantizo) of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord” (Leviticus 14:15,16). We observe there are three distinctly different actions (sprinkling, pouring, and dipping), each represented by completely different words. How are these words used in the New Testament?