ῥάπισμα

From the study of John 18:22

Range of meaning

A blow, especially a blow to the face. The related verb rhapizō first meant 'to strike with a rod' (rhapis, 'rod, stick'). By the Roman period the usual sense was 'to slap someone in the face with the open hand.' BDAG gives both senses, 'a blow with a club/rod' and 'a slap in the face,' and prefers the slap for the Passion accounts.

Against the English

KJV and YLT ('struck … with the palm of his hand,' 'gave a slap'), WEB, BSB and NLT go for a hand-slap. ESV and NASB use the more general 'struck.' 'Struck' can make readers picture a punch or a beating, which hides that the act was meant to insult. 'Slap' can sound minor to a modern ear, which hides how serious it was.

How it drifted

The drift runs two ways. 'Struck' loses the insult. 'Slap' loses the seriousness, because a modern slap sounds petty, while in an honour-based culture a public blow to the face was among the gravest personal affronts.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 50:6 in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint): the Servant gives 'my cheeks to blows (rhapismata).' Mark 14:65 and John 19:3 use the same noun for the abuse of Jesus. Matthew 26:67 and 5:39 use the verb ('whoever slaps you on the right cheek'). The 2nd-century grammarian Phrynichus complained that rhapisma for a slap on the cheek was everyday rather than classical Greek, which shows that was its common meaning. Later Jewish law (Mishnah Bava Kamma 8:6, c. AD 200) set fines for slapping someone's face, and doubled them for a back-handed slap. Such fines compensated for shame, not injury.

From the study of Mark 14:65

Range of meaning

A blow, especially a slap on the face with the open hand. Sometimes a blow with a stick or rod. The related verb rhapizō means to slap.

Against the English

BSB, NASB and YLT keep the sense of slaps or palms. KJV says “with the palms of their hands.” NIV's “beat him” loses the specific insult of a slap to the face.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 50:6 in the Septuagint: “my cheeks to slaps (rhapismata).” John 18:22: an attendant (hypēretēs) gives Jesus a rhapisma for answering the high priest. John 19:3: soldiers slap him. Matthew 5:39 uses the verb for a slap on the cheek. The Mishnah (Bava Kamma 8:6) prices a slap as an insult, with a back-handed slap counting double.

From the study of John 19:3

Range of meaning

A blow. It comes from ῥαπίζω, which originally meant to beat with a rod (ῥαπίς = rod, switch), but by NT times it commonly meant to slap, especially an open-handed blow to the face or cheek. BDAG gives both “a blow with a club, rod, or whip” and “a slap in the face.”

Against the English

KJV “smote him with their hands” and BSB/NIV-style “slapped him in the face” follow the slap sense. ESV's “struck him with their hands” is a little broader. YLT “giving him slaps” keeps the Greek noun-plus-“give” wording.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 50:6 in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament): the Servant says “I gave (δέδωκα) my back to whips and my cheeks to blows (ῥαπίσματα).” Mark 14:65 (the guards “received him with blows,” ῥαπίσμασιν), Matt 26:67 (ἐράπισαν), Matt 5:39 (ῥαπίζει, the slap on the right cheek). In John, the same noun appears at 18:22, when a temple officer strikes Jesus before Annas. Greek grammarians of the Roman era (e.g. Phrynichus) remark that ῥαπίζειν had come to mean a slap on the cheek with the flat hand.