(1) Temple-slaves (kpdoovXoi.) were branded with some token of the deity worshipped. See Herod, ii. 113 : Iheifi dvBpiJjiruiv ^irt^dXTjrat ariy^aTa ip6., iwurov 5i5oi)s T(jJ ^e(fJ, oi'K ^^eari toOtov a^j/acOaL, also vii. 233 ; Lucian, de Dea Syr. § 59, (TTl^ovTai oi TrdvTci ol /xiv ^s Kapiroi/! ol di is avx^fas ; Philo, de Monarch, i. 8, if Toh aujfxaai KaraffTi^ovTes airr-qy ai^ripi^ iretrvpi^puivt^ irpbs dve^dXetTTTOv diafjLOvrjv, oiioi yap XP'^^V To-ura oiafxav- pouvrai. Ptolemy Philopator commanded the Jews of Alexandria to be branded with an ivy-leaf, the symbol of Dionysius. See 3 Mac 2^ : rois tc dTro- ypatpo/xifovs x^P'^'^'^^^^^'- '^^^ ^*^ irup6s f/s t6 aCiixa. Trapaarifitfj ALOfvaou KifXaofpuXKui ; cf. Rev 13^^-^': ' And he caused all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead ('in fronte, propter professionem : in manu, propter operationem ' [Aug. Civ. Dei, xx. 9. 3]) ; and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.' Sometimes the foreheads of the martyrs were branded with the name of Christ. Note also the references to the ' sealing ' in Rev 7 14', 2 Mac 6', 3 Mac V 14' 22".
(2) Household-slaves. — The Greeks and Romans branded those who were re-captured after attempt- ing to escape, and those of bad behaviour. The common method was to press upon the forehead a red-hot iron with embossed letters. This custom is mentioned by Pliny {HN xviii. 3), Varro {de Re Rustica, i. 18), Suetonius (Calig. xxvii.), and other classical writers. Such slaves were called any- P-aTlai, literati, notati, inscripti, and were held in disgrace. Slaves of good character were not branded as a general rule (P.«eudo-Phocyl. 212: ariyfiara fii] ypd(pris iTrovcidi^oji' depdiroi'Ta ; Seneca, de Benef. iv. 37, 38)'.
(3) Captives taken in war were occasionally marked with the stigma of the captor.
(4) Soldiers sometimes bore on their bodies the name of their commander. So .some Christians marked their hands and arms with tlie name of Christ or the sign of the cross (Deyling, Observa- tiones sacrcE, Leipzig, 1720-26, iii. 423-427).
The word trriyiia. is used by St. Paul in Gal 6'' only : iyui yap rd ariyfiara toO [Kvpiov, TR] 'Itjixou 4v T(f (Tiipiarl /J.OV ^aaTa^ui ; Vulg. : ' Ego enira stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore meo porto ' ; RV ' for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus.' Most modern commentators hold the view that St. Paul had in mind the le/joooCXos, or Temple-slave, bearing the stigma of the deity worshipped. This custom would be well known in that part of Asia Minor, where the worship of Cybele was celebrated. A slave of this class is mentioned in a Galatian in- scription (Texier, Asie Mineure, 1835, i. 135). Two objections to this theory have been raised. One is that St. Paul was not likely to refer to this custom because it was associated especially with
the temple-women whose lives were notoriously immoral. The other is that St. Paul uses the simple form JoCXos in his Epistles (cf. Ro 1', 1 Co 7", 2 Co i". Gal l'», Ph 1'). He does not employ the comjiound word UpoSoiXos.
It is not likely that the Apostle had in mind the soldier, who deliberately marked himself with the name or token of his commander, as tiie context does not suggest any such idea, though elsewhere St. Paul manifests a liking for metaphors from military life (cf. 1 Co 9', 2 Co 10", Eph 6'"-, 1 Ti 6", 2 Ti 4'). That he refers here to the refractory slave, tlie runaway, the deserter from the army, is impossible.
In what sense did St. Paul use the word ^aard^a ? It has a variety of meanings in the NT. It is employed for the taking up of stones (Jn 10"'); for bearing the cross (Lk 14-'', Jn 19") ; for under- taking a matter with calmness and suliicient strength (Jn 16'^, Gal 6') ; for bearing the sentence of a judge (Gal 5'°) ; for bearinij or enduring ((ftipeiv is the classical word generally used) (Mt '20'-, Ac 15">, Ro 15', Gal 6^ Rev 2='); for carrying (Mt 3", Mk 14'3, Lk 7'" •22"', Rev 17, and passive in Ac 3^ 21"') ; for carrying knowledge by preach- ing (Ac 9"); for carrying on the person (Lk 10", Gal 6") ; for carrying the fffitus in the womb (Lk 11-'); for sustainmg (Ro 11'"); for bearing away or carrying off (Mt 8", Jn 120 20'^). In this same chapter (Gal 6^-° ; cf. 5'°) the word is used in con- nexion with the bearing of burdens, and probably means 'bear as a burden' in 6". There is, how- ever, a suggestion of something more. Chrysos- tom's idea (Com. in loc.) has much to commend it : OVK elirev, ^x^i dXXd, ^aardi^w, Coffirep ns 67ri rpo- Traiots fJ-iya tppovuiif ^ trrjfieiois /^atrtXtKots ; cf. 2 Co 4'". No doubt he referred to the marks left upon him by the scourgings, stonings, imprisonments, privations, and toils of his missionary career (cf. Ramsay, St. Paid the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, London, 1895, pp. 107, 304). On the pages of his flesh his personal history was inscribed (see 2 Co 11="-™). These stigmata "proved that Christ was his Master, Commander, Owner. The meta- phor was ready to his hand. In the dungeon every- thing suggested ownership — the marked walls, the marked chains, the marked slaves, the marked soldiers. He too was no longer bis own but Another's. The servant was not a mere hireling, but a possession, made secure by the unbreakable bonds of mutual affection. It is signiMcant that in the Epistle to the Romans, written soon after the Galatian letter, St. Paul describes himself as a SoDXos, 'slave,' ' bond - servant ' of Jesus Christ (Ro 1'), distinctly adopting that title for the Hrst time. This term is found in Phil., Tit., James, 2 Pet., Jude, 'showing that as the Apostolic Age progressed the assumption of the title became established on a broad basis' (Sanday-Headlam, ICC, ' Romans '", Edinburgh, 1902, p. 3).