// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Damaris say to Acts? You have a lot of chapters in my life.
Damaris (Ancient Greek: Δάμαρις) is the name of a woman mentioned in a single verse in Acts of the Apostles (17:34) as one of those present when Paul of Tarsus preached in Athens in front of the Athenian Areopagus in c. AD 55.
Biblical narrative
[edit]Together with Dionysius the Areopagite Damaris embraced the Christian faith following Paul's Areopagus sermon. The verse reads:
Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (KJV)
As usually women were not present in Areopagus meetings, Damaris has traditionally been assumed to have been a hetaira (courtesan, high-status prostitute);[2] modern commentators have alternatively suggested she might also have been a follower of the Stoics (who welcomed women among their ranks;[3] this may explain why her conversion was so easy, since the Stoic's Zeus and the god preached by Paul were very similar),[4][5][6] or a foreigner visiting Athens.[7] The Georgian text of Acts makes Damaris the wife of Dionysius.[8]
Veneration
[edit]She is a saint of the Greek Orthodox Church, remembered on 3 October together with Dionysius the Areopagite and two other disciples of Dionysius, who also became martyrs.[9] 3 October in the Julian calendar, which is used by the Old Calendarists, currently coincides with 16 October in the Gregorian calendar.
Etymology
[edit]The etymology of the name is uncertain. Proposals include derivation from damar δάμαρ "wife, spouse", a contraction of the classical Greek name Damarete Δαμαρέτη (attested as the name of a daughter of Theron of Acragas and wife of Gelo), or derivation from damalis δάμαλις "heifer"; a Coptic derivation has also been considered.[10]
References
[edit]- ↑ Finnan, Vincent. "Paul Preaching at Athens". Italian Renaissance Art. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ↑ e.g. Clare K. Rothschild, Paul in Athens: The Popular Religious Context of Acts 17 (2014), p. 97; Josef Hainz, "Personenlexikon zum Neuen Testament. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft", Darmstadt 2004.
- ↑ Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary. Volume 3: 15:1-23:35 (2014).
- ↑ https://spindleworks.com/library/rfaber/aratus.htm
- ↑ https://intertextual.bible/text/phaenomena-5-acts-17.28
- ↑ https://www.theoi.com/Text/AratusPhaenomena.html
- ↑ Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) Darrell L. Bock - 2007 "The reference to Damaris continues Luke's focus on the response of women (Acts 16:15; 17:4, 12). "She may be a foreigner, since women of Athens would not likely have been present (Witherington 1998: 533)..."
- ↑ Mark W. Hamilton, Thomas H. Olbricht, Jeffrey Peterson (eds.), Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson (2006), p. 217.
- ↑ "Church of Greece". Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
- ↑ Mark W. Hamilton, Thomas H. Olbricht, Jeffrey Peterson (eds.), Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson (2006), p. 210ff.
