On the Origin of the Nomina Sacra

 Where do the typically Christian shortforms for words such as ‘Jesus’, ‘Christ’, ‘God’, and ‘Lord’ come from? What is their origin? In a recent essay I argued that their origin lies in a necessary Christian response to Greek Jewish manuscripts in which the Tetragrammaton was dealt with in a special way. And the nomina sacra of the group of words listed above are a coherent and unified response to that Jewish practice, prompted by the fact that the early church saw Jesus in the Jewish Scriptures, and that from the beginning Jesus could be referred to by any of these terms.

Though a unified response, I still argue for a logical beginning in the contraction of the word κυριος. In the essay I suggest that the form κ̅ϲ goes back to the numeral 26, which provides a nice link to the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton.

Since writing that essay, I found a number of publications I could have used in support, and one that came out at the same time my piece was published.

First is that the link between nomina sacra and numerals had been suggested for the variant of the number of the beast in Revelation 13:18 by Pete Williams (yes, my boss) back in 2007 (bibliography see below).

Secondly, in 2021 Jesse Hoover showed how the reading 616 had been used within the Donatist church. The number 616 can be represented by χι̅ϲ, which was then interpreted as a combination of the nomina sacra for Christ and for Jesus (basically the same point Williams made, but then 1,400 years earlier).

So my suggestion that κ̅ϲ and 26 are related would make sense within the reception history of the nomina sacra.

There is a ‘thirdly’ here, though. Around the same time my essay was published, HTR published an article by Alexander Kulik. I don’t think we have met or have been otherwise in contact, both pieces are conceived independent of one another (and come from different angles as well). But his study makes an elaborate and thorough case for the plausibility of connecting the nomen sacrum κ̅ϲ with 26, much better than I could have done. You will have to read the full essay by yourself, but I think that Kulik’s piece strengthens the case to regard κυριος as the origin considerably.

Of course, Larry Hurtado had seen the similarity in shape between numerals and nomina sacra, and this led him to seeking the origin of the phenomenon in ι̅η as the initial form of a nomen sacrum for Jesus, with 18 traced back through Barnabas. Though Hurtado was on the right track, I think there is more mileage in κυριος and 26 and it is pleasing to see that some real progress may have been made.

 

Bibliography:

Hoover, Jesse. "The Apocalyptic Number 616 and the Donatist Church." The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 72, no. 4 (2021): 709–25.

Jongkind, Dirk. "On the Origin of the Nomina Sacra, Yet Again." In Die Bibel zum Sprechen bringen: Festschrift zu Ehren von Holger Strutwolf, edited by Marie-Luise Lakmann, Gregory S. Paulson Paulson and Jan Graefe. ANTF 61 (De Gruyter, 2025), 105–18.

Kulik, Alexander. "Counting on God’s Name: The Numerology of Nomina Sacra." Harvard Theological Review 118, no. 3 (2025): 425–63.

Williams, P.J. "P115 and the Number of the Beast." Tyndale Bulletin 58, no. 1 (2007): 151–53.