Carl Conrad responded:
>An interesting question, and one that does concern legitimate
>interpretation of the Greek as well as a larger religio-historical
>question. "Cultivate" strikes me as a bit strange for QERAPEUEIN, which
>tends to mean more "do attendant service upon" or "attend medically." Dio
>belongs properly to the Second Sophistic, doesn't he--so that his usage is
>Atticist rather than ordinary Koine? The language sounds more akin to the
>Platonic usage and specifically to the great Socratic metaphor of QERAPEIA
>THS YUCHS, "caretaking of one's soul"--where "cultivation" might be used
>but there is no notion of "manipulation" but rather, as Socrates put it,
>cultivation of the soul so that it might be hWS BELTISTOS, "the very best
>that it can be." I don't have access to a text of Dio Chrysostom in my
>present location, but I'm curious whether the context of the passage Rick
>cites indicates he (Dio) is talking about Simon and the post-Christian
>MAGOI rather than about the Zoroastrian MAGOI of Matthew's birth-narrative?
The Greek text of Dio Chrysostom 36.41 (Borysthenic):
SUGGIGNESQAI TE META TAUTA OUC HAPASIN, ALLA TOIS ARISTA PROS ALHQEIAN
PEFUKOSI KAI QEOU XUNIENAI DUNAMENOIOS, hOUS PERSAI MAGOUS EKALESAN,
EPISTAMENOUS QERAPEUEIN TO DAIMONION, OUC hWS hELLHES AGNOIAi YOU ONOMATOS
hOUTWS ONOMAZ OUSIN ANQRWPOUS GOHTAS. EKEINOI DE TA TE ALLA DRWSI KATA
LOGOUS hIEROUS KAI DH TWiDII TREFOUSIN hARMA NISAIWN hIPPWN; hOI DEEISI
KALLISTA KAI MEGISTOI TWN KATA THN ASIAN TWiDE GE hHLIWi hEVA hIPPON.
This occurs in a discussion of the chariot of Zeus. In context I think that
the LCL translation by Cohoon and Crosby is accurate. There is no
discussion of demon exorcism in this context. Rather Zoroaster associated
with the Magoi because they really were giving proper service to the
divine. In short, Rick Strelan's question re Acts 8 and Simon Magus I
suggest that the passage is relevant, since it suggests that MAGEUEIN there
might well be translated "functioned as a magos," i.e. devoted himself to
divine power.
As Carl said, good question. [I trust that Carl will have enough of the
Greek text of Dio to support, refine, or correct my suggestion.]
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