What does "Dunked" Mean? Part 2

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In an earlier article, we discussed how “baptize” is an untranslated Greek word that even the Bible translates as “dip” or “dunk” when it chooses to translate the word instead of turning it into a new word with a new meaning. So, what did Jesus’s followers hear when he was talking about “dipping” and “dunking? In this article, we look at two verses that help clarify his meaning.

First, we have to recognize that the meaning of “dunk” was first shifted, at least a little, by John the Dunker’s practice of dunking people in the river Jordan. The only record we have of John explaining the act of “dunking in water” was his promise that the one coming after him would “dunk in the holy breath/spirit.” Let us look at two verses of Jesus’s words to see how Jesus understood that practice and described it? Let us look at these two key verses.

Matthew 28:19

First, we have what is called the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:19 to baptize all people. This verse is interesting for many reasons (discussed here), but let us focus on just the “dunk” or “dip” part of it.

KJV: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Literal: Departing then, instruct all peoples, dunking them for/into the name of the Father, of the Son, and the holy Breath.

First, the problems. The key part is in bold. The specific problem here is the translation of the preposition, eis (εἰς) as “in,” when in this context it means either “into” or “for.” This is not the preposition—when there is one—used to describe John’s dunking “in” water. The more general problem is the translation of the phrase “in the name.” There are no fewer than five different Greek phrases regularly translated as “in the name.” This one is not the most common, which uses a different preposition, coincidentally, the same as that used by John. Since all these forms have different meanings (boring linguistic details in this article), we absolutely cannot rely on our English translations to decipher the specific meaning here. A side problem is the Greek concept of a “name,” (another article about that here), which is used differently than our word, “name.”

However, let me summarize all these issues by saying that, as it appears here, the phrase translated as "in the name of" means either, "into the name of" or "for the name of." "Into a name" would describe joining a household, while the "for the name of" would mean "for the purposes of that name.” Jesus’s listeners would have heard both these ideas at once, joining a household to serve the purpose of the “name.” Joining a household put you under the authority of the “name” or “master” of the household.

I personally like the imagery of being dunked as joining a household. This makes the dunking a reenactment of birth, the normal way people become members of a family. A “house” in Greek is usually identified by a single name, and the word “name” is singular here. However, Judeans had a tradition of referring to the house of Israel as belonging to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus seems to be doing the same here, declaring the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as identifying the same household.

Here, we should also remember that “to dunk” also means “to get into deep water.” Joining this particular household is definitely getting into deep water. We might even say that when we join, we are getting in over our heads.

Mark 16:16

Mark 16:16 has a lot of humor that is lost in our translations. The Biblical English translation is primarily meant to threaten and not enlighten.

KJV: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Literal: The one trusting and being dunked will be rescued; the one, however, distrusting will be separated out.

The word translated as “believe” has come to mean “having religious faith.” This is not what it meant in Jesus’s time (see this article). The word meant “trust.” When stripped of the religiously condemning tone, this verse connects being dunked with trust in an entertaining way. This humor is completely lost when we replace “trust” with the idea of religious faith.

We must trust someone who puts our heads underwater. When we are underwater, we need to be rescued. This is both funny and the truth. Here, we should again remember that “to dunk” also means “to get into deep water.” When we are dunked, we are literally getting in over our heads. This requires us to trust that we will be “rescued,” that is, pulled up again. Another meaning of the Greek word translated as “rescue” is “to pull towards oneself,” which describes how most rescues are conducted.

Does not being dunked mean we are damned? Not at all. That is not what Jesus says here. The second part of the verse doesn’t even mention dunking. The mistake is not trusting.

The verb translated as "damned" in KJV and "condemned” in other English translations is a verb that means "to judge against" or "decide against." The verb "judge" primarily means "to separate," as in separating fact from fiction and separating guilty from innocent or separating things in a list of priorities. So the word literally means, "separate down." We say, "decide against" while the Greeks said, "decide down." However, here the sense could also be "separated out" or "moved down" in a list of priorities. This word doesn't have the sense of being damned to hell at all. It is usually used to mean a judgment against someone in court, but it is also used to reflect a judgment in public opinion.

Conclusions

In Matthew 28:19, “being dunked” implies being born into a new family. I this context, the idea that those who do not trust being “separated out” makes perfect sense. Jesus is setting up a fun contradiction. Those who are trusting enough to be put down, underwater, rise higher. While those who do not trust enough to go under are judged downward.

There are nine other verses that refer to dunking. All of them are informative regarding Jesus’s meaning. In future articles, we may look at more if any of you are interested in more.