“Discovered between 2003 and 2005 by Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists during excavations at Kfar Othnay, the 16 by 32-foot mosaic was found beneath the floor of an Israeli prison in Megiddo. The mosaic is believed to be part of the world’s first Christian prayer hall * and provides invaluable insights into the beliefs and practices of early Christians before the religion was legalized in the Roman Empire.” (Jerusalem Post 7 June 2024 , note comment * not correct)
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προσηνικεν = offered
Ακεπτουϛ η φιλοθεοϛ = Akeptous the pious
την τράπεζαν = the table
ΘΩ ΙΥ ΧΩ = (nomina sacra abbreviations) G-D Je-uS Chr-t
μνημοσυνον = as a memorial
i.e. “pious Akeptous offered her table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.”
The nomina sacra with overscore line written out in full would be θεω Ιησού χριστω, where “θεω” dative, reads “to God” and the two following name and title are also dative. This is what you would expect, and the three parts of “Lord Jesus Christ” would also all three be in the same case in similar constructions in the New Testament. So there is no doubt that “God Jesus Christ” was intended by the Roman author.
But at 230 AD we already know that Greek and Roman converts were beginning to be confused about who Jesus was, and some Christian authors had already used the term “God” of Jesus. Likewise textual errors making Jesus into God were already starting to creep into some variant manuscripts of New Testament verses.
Nevertheless if anything the fuss being made about this 230AD mosaic underlines that Jesus is not called God in the Bible.
Source:
Museum of the Bible website “The Megiddo Mosaic: A Community Coming Together to the Table” 26 September 2024
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