Talk:Arimathea

The article Joseph of Arimathea already quite adequately covers Arimathea, which has only the shadowiest existence separated from that shadowy figure. The temptation will be thoughtlessly to split away an "Arimathea" article, thus losing the sensible context that helps make both subjects clear. Rather than cannibalize the existing article, shall I copy and paste the Arimathea material here, too? --Wetman 07:50, 12 August 2005 (UTC)


 * Where a word to the wise is sufficient, fools rush in where angels fear to tread! So now we do have an article on the mythic "Arimathea" after all, one that has deleted the sentence "To find a parallel resonance in the English-speaking tradition, it would be somewhat as if a helper in need turned up who was from Camelot." Caveat lector: knowledgable users of Wikipedia always read the associated Talkpage too. --Wetman 09:27, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

I was tickled by this paragraph:
 * Joseph is given more extensive attention in the Acts of Pilate, but that work is considered late fiction. The Catholic Encyclopedia, for example, asserts that "the additional details which are found concerning Joseph in the apocryphal Acta Pilati, are unworthy of credence."

I particularly like the unspoken: ...as opposed to early fiction. As for the Catholic Encyclopedia, they would say that, wouldn't they? How odd that the scientific findings of Biblical Scholarship are considered paramount in some articles, but are completely ignored in others.--DStanB (talk) 13:39, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Some information can be found in the article on Joseph of Arimathaea in the Jewish Encyclopedia (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8815-joseph-of-arimathaea).
 * Arimathæa, the birthplace of Joseph (called "Ramathem" in I Macc. xi. 34), is the same as the Ramathaim-zophim of I Sam. i. 1, spoken of in Targum Yerushalmi: "Ramata, where the pupils of the prophets [seers] reside" (comp. Meg. 14a). In fact, Ramah, or Bet Ramata, was, according to Ab. R. N. xii. (see ed. Schechter, p. 56), the seat of a Hasidæan colony. Like Simeon and Anna (Luke ii. 25, 36), Joseph (perhaps the leader of an Essene colony near Jerusalem) was claimed for nascent Christianity, as was Nicodemus (comp. "Nicodemus" in Cheyne and Black, "Encyc. Bibl."). Possibly the well-known passage Isa. liii. 9—"He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death"—led to Matthew's story of Jesus' burial in the tomb of the wealthy Joseph (see Weiss, "Das Leben Jesu," ii. 592).

The name Arimathaea is apparently an Aramaic rendering of HaRamathaim, 'The Pair of Heights'. -- BobGriffin-Nukraya (talk) 16:59, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Two people of uncertain origin turn up in the late and very late stages of Jesus' life. One is Mary Magdalene (of Migdal, or Magdala), and another is Joseph of Arimathea. They are both recorded in Gospels that are written in the Greek language of the time. Mary's origin as a Tower (Hebrew: Migdal) could just as easily be a testimony to her status, as a geographical location. All attempts to pinpoint Arimathea are just as speculative. If we accept the New Testament (selectively compiled and judiciously edited by the politically motivated Church Fathers) at face value, we are bound to seek his origin in a geographical location. On the other hand, if we look to a time nearer to the actual events, when Gnostic views were prevalent, we might find an answer in the Greek roots of 'arithmetic' and 'mathematics'. This fits with the increasingly popular hypothesis that Jesus represented a step forward from Pythagorean principles (e.g. see Jesus, the Master Builder, by Rev. Gordon Strachan). --DStanB (talk) 13:16, 18 August 2013 (UTC)
 * That's so cute. Do you want to put it on the fridge door? trespassers william (talk) 19:37, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

It is more or less tongue-in-cheek. I certainly wouldn't expect it to go in the main article, because its just as much idle speculation as some of the hypotheses that have been aired there, and are accepted because they are underpinned by an established name. Reputation is everything, it seems to me. --DStanB (talk) 17:50, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

What is the origin of this picture?
What is this place in the picture? --عبد المؤمن (talk) 01:44, 23 March 2014 (UTC)

The picture, as I am guessing at the letters reads, "On Stone by R. J. Hamerton", title Arimathea, printed by ...I forgot what I read, but will look again if you need me to.. R.J. Hamerton seems to have done most of his work in 1841. His drawings from that year have a few New Testament and Quran locations. But I did not find information of what he actually saw or where he traveled. = Someone else needs to do more searching, I just took a peek. ~ As a reward for looking, may I ask, why do you ask about this image? SecretJournalsofCongress (talk) 01:23, 22 July 2014 (UTC)