the ritual of baptism had its roots in john the baptist.
where did the ritual of baptism have its roots in?
john the baptist
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the greek verb in paul's phrase "baptized for the dead" is "baptizein", which in jewish greek has a wider reference than "baptism", applying primarily to the masculine noun "baptismos" "ritual washing" the verb occurs four times in the septuagint in the context of ritual washing, "baptismos": judith cleansing herself from menstrual impurity, naaman washing seven times to be cleansed from leprosy, etc. in the new testament only, the verb "baptizein" can also relate to the neuter noun "baptisma" "baptism", a neologism unknown in the septuagint and other pre-christian jewish texts. this broadness in the meaning of "baptizein" is reflected in english bibles rendering "wash", where jewish ritual washing is meant, for example in mark 7:4, which states that the pharisees "except they wash (greek "baptize"), they do not eat", and "baptize" where "baptisma", the new christian rite, is intended. the older ritual washing use of "baptizein" is relevant in the context of funerals since any jew coming into contact with the dead body must undertake ritual washing. during the second temple and early rabbinical period the regulations on "ritual washing" (greek masculine noun "baptismos") expanded and multiplied. this is documented in the halakhah tractate yadayim and dead sea scrolls peter leithart (2007) suggests that paul's comment "why do they.." is an analogy between baptism (i.e. neuter concept noun "baptisma") with jewish ritual washing (i.e. masculine concrete noun "baptismos") for contact with the dead following the mosaic regulations in numbers 19. the phrase "ritually washed for the dead" does not occur in intertestamental literature, but a possibly related idea of prayer for the dead occurs in 2 maccabees. since the new testament idea of "baptism" (greek "baptisma"), the rite of baptism, is not mentioned in the verse, it is open to interpretation whether the verb "baptizein" refers to "ritual washing" (greek "baptismos") or "the rite of baptism" (greek "baptisma") or is an analogy between both.
baptism for the dead