Magdala

1894 photo of site of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee

Magdala (Aramaic: מגדלא / Magdala, meaning "elegant", "great", or "tower" (viz. "great place"); Hebrew: מגדל / Migdal, meaning "tower"; Arabic: قرية المجدل / Qariyat al-Majdal) is the name of at least two places in Galilee, mentioned in the Jewish Talmud and one place that may be mentioned in the Christian New Testament.

Disputed location names

The New Testament makes one disputable mention of a place called Magdala. Matthew 15:39 of the King James' Version (KJV) reads, "And he [Ha Yeshua] sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala". However, some Greek manuscripts give the name of the place as "Magadan", and more recent translations (such as the Revised Version) follow this. Although some commentators [1] state confidently that the two refer to the same place, others [2] dismiss the substitution of Magdala for Magadan as simply "to substitute a known for an unknown place". The parallel passage in Mark's gospel[8:10] gives (in the majority of manuscripts) a quite different place name, Dalmanutha, although a handful of manuscripts give either Magdala or Magadan[3] presumably by assimilation to the Matthean text — believed in ancient times to be older than that of Mark, though this opinion has now been reversed.

Magdala stone with Menorah that was found in the Archaeological site inside the Migdal Synagogue area

The Jewish Talmud distinguishes between two Magdalas only.[4]

Miryam Magdalene

All four gospels[5] refer to a follower of Jesus called Mary Magdalene, and it is usually assumed [6] that this means "Mary from Magdala". There is no biblical information to indicate whether this was her home or her birthplace. Most Christian scholars assume that she was from the place the Talmud calls Magdala Nunayya, and that this is also where Jesus landed on the occasion recorded by Matthew.[4]

Mary Magdalene clearly is an integral part of Christian tradition. While some think that she may have come from the village Migdal, the Midrash HaGadol (Deut. 13:7) states that the mother of Jesus was named "Miriam Magdala Nishaia" (Mary Magdalene), which name, according to the 11th-century Talmudic exegete, Rashi, meant "Mary, the Braider of women's hair."[7]

Alternative names

Josephus frequently refers to a wealthy Galilean town, destroyed by the Romans in the Jewish War (66-73 AD (CE)) [8] that has the Greek name "Taricheæ" from its prosperous fisheries. Josephus does not give its Hebrew name. Some authors [9] :10 [10] identify this with Magdala Nunaiya - which refers to its "fish tower" for processing (drying) fish. It was also known in biblical times for flax weaving and dyeing.[9]:9 It was a major campaign camp/fortress of Josephus during the Jewish Wars.[8]

Its reference in Matthew 15: 39 is, in some editions, given as "Magadan" ; and in Mark 8: 10 it is "Dalmanutha" . The site is known now as "el-Mejdel" .[9]:9-10

Excavations

Excavations at Magdala during 2007-8 were called The Magdala Project.[11][12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jones, 1994
  2. ↑ Horton, 1907
  3. ↑ Throckmorton, 1992, p. 96
  4. 1 2 Merk, August. "Magdala." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910, 31 Oct. 2009 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09523a.htm>.
  5. ↑ Matthew 27:56,61,Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:9, Luke 8:2, John 20:1,18
  6. ↑ Archived August 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Babylonian Talmud, Rashi on Hagigah 4b, s.v. אייתי לי מרים מגדלא נשייא
  8. 1 2 Flavius, Josephus; Thackeray, H. StJ. [translator] (1989). The Jewish War (Loeb Classical Library ed.). Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0 674 99223 7.
  9. 1 2 3 Gardner, Laurence (2005). The Magdalene legacy. London: Element (Harper Collins). ISBN 0 00 720186 9.
  10. ↑ Achtemeier, 1996
  11. ↑ Bussolin, Alfonso. "MagdalaProject.org". Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Faculty of Biblical Sciences and Archaeology. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Lena, Anna (2013-12-31). "Magdala 2008; Preliminary Report". ESI (is Israel's oldest scientific journal). 2008. 125. Retrieved 3 March 2014.

Further reading

Coordinates: 32°49′30″N 35°30′56″E / 32.82500°N 35.51556°E / 32.82500; 35.51556

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