The word continues to occur in classical texts, generally of a technical nature, over the next several centuries. Morard concludes that it can designate a being that is unique in its genre, individual and singular, such as the sun or moon for Aristotle; a being that is solitary or isolated in relation to others, such as the supreme being for Plotinus; or an island that is separated from the archipelago to which it belongs; or, finally, a being that is simple and unified in opposition to that which is multiple and divided, as in “a single piece of cloth.”9 The extensive Greek papyrus evidence from Egypt leads to essentially the same conclusion.10
The evidence for use of the term monachos in the Greek Old Testament provides more immediate background for the Christian use of the term. The word does not occur in the Septuagint version (mid-third century B.C. and later), but it is used in the versions by Aquila (c. A.D. 130) and Symmachus (c. A.D. 180). In all cases except Gen 2:18, it is used to render some form of the Hebrew yāḥîd. Both Aquila and Symmachus use it to translate lĕbaddô in Gen 2:18. This last case is of particular interest because of the context: “the man” is being described as lĕbaddô (monachos), a situation that is remedied by the subsequent creation of woman. He is alone, single in the sense of not yet married, and this is perceived by God to be an unfortunate condition. This principle, that “it is not good for man to be alone,” reflects the common view of the Old Testament and Judaism that denies positive meaning to celibacy, voluntary or otherwise. It is a view that, in fact, is contradicted by Paul in 1 Cor 7:1, one of the two principal New Testament texts used to defend or inspire Christian celibacy. It will be necessary to advert to this last text later. Although we may not conclude that the Christian use of monachos is derived from the versions of Aquila and Symmachus, it is legitimate to infer that in the second century A.D. the word monachos could mean ‘alone’ or ‘single’ in the sense of celibate.
In the cases where monachos is used to translate yāḥîd, the meaning varies somewhat, depending on the context, but includes ‘single,’ ‘alone,’ ‘solitary,’ ‘only one,’ as does yāḥîd itself. One case must be examined in detail because of the exegetical tradition that attaches to it. In Ps 67(68):7, yĕḥîdîm is translated as monachois by Symmachus and as monachous in a reading attributed to Theodotion. Whatever may have been the meaning of the original or that understood by the translator, there was a strong rabbinic tradition of exegesis in which the word in this verse was understood to refer to those in an unmarried state. It has been conjectured that Symmachus may have had knowledge of the celibate Syrian Christian ascetics known as īḥīdāyā (the Syriac cognate of the Hebrew yĕḥîdîm). At any rate, the equivalence of this Syriac term with monachos is shown by the fact that the Syro-Hexapla employs īḥīdāyā to render the monachois of Symmachus.11
Among the ecclesiastical writers, Eusebius of Caesarea is the first to use the word monachos. Writing about A.D. 330, he is commenting on this same verse of Ps 68 and is referring to the various translations of yĕḥîdîm that had been assembled by Origen in the Hexapla. The passage is worth quoting in full:
“He makes the monotropous [Septuagint] dwell in a house.” According to Symmachus, he gives a house to the monachois and, according to Aquila, he makes the monogeneis be seated in a house. According to the fifth version, he makes the monozonous dwell in a house. This, then, was his first deed, which is also the greatest of those deeds he has done on behalf of the race of men. In fact, the first rank of those who are in progress in Christ is that of the monachoi, but they are rare, and that is why, according to Aquila, they are called monogeneis, for they have become like the unique [monogenei] Son of God. According to the Septuagint, they have a single way of life [monotropous], not several, nor do they change their way of life but follow one alone that leads to the height of virtue. Thus the fifth version calls them monozonous, since they are monēreis [living alone, single, unmarried] and are girded up by themselves. These are all those who lead a single and pure life [monērē kai hagnon bion], as did the first disciples of our Savior, to whom he said, “Do not keep gold or silver in your belt nor a knapsack, nor two tunics, nor sandals nor walking stick” (Matt 10:9-10)—(Eus. in psalm. 67,7).
Eusebius is trying to relate the various translations of yĕḥîdîm to a single referent that he calls the monachoi. This is in accord with the traditional Christian understanding of the psalter as a prophetic book that finds its fulfillment in Christ and the Church. It is the first Christian use of the word monachos to denote a group in the Church. These, he says, are rare. Their distinguishing characteristic is that they are celibate, as the first disciples are understood to have been. In his Church History, Eusebius does not mention the monastic movement, which was of course in 330 A.D. in its earliest stages of development in Egypt and Palestine. It is possible that the passage quoted refers to it, but it seems more likely to be a general reference to celibate Christian ascetics than a reference to those who had started to live the ascetic life in some form of separation from the rest of society. A. Adam regards this passage as the source from which the concept monachos came into use in the Greek-speaking Church. This is probably going too far. As we shall see, there is additional evidence which suggests that the word was already in wide use in Egypt at this date. The importance of the passage is that it suggests that the term monachos signified ‘alone’ or ‘single’ in the sense of ‘celibate’ rather than in the sense of ‘hermit’ or ‘anchorite.’12
The term bios monērēs, which Eusebius introduces in this passage to describe the monachoi, is also of special interest because it is used by a number of pagan authors as a synonym for ‘unmarried.’ Philo uses the phrase to describe the situation of Adam before the creation of woman. Athanasius himself uses it as virtually a definition of monachos. Morard offers two examples. One is an address of a letter to Horsiesius: “To Horsiesius, the father of monks, and to all those practicing the celibate life [tōn monērē bion] with him. . . .”; the other, his letter to monks: “To those everywhere practicing the celibate life [tōn monērē bion] who are firmly established in faith in God and sanctified in Christ and who say, ‘Behold, we have left everything and have followed you’ (Matt 19:27).” In the last passage the term denotes a life of complete renunciation that certainly includes celibacy. It is clear, then, that for Athanasius as well as for Eusebius the term monachos is not equivalent to ‘solitary’ in the sense of ‘hermit,’ but refers in the first instance to those who are ‘single’ in the sense of celibate. Only in this sense could he describe Horsiesius as the “father of monks,” for Horsiesius was the successor of Pachomius.13
There are also many papyrus documents from Christian Egypt that provide additional evidence that early in the fourth century the term monachos was used to describe cenobites. Of particular interest are two that can be dated to 334 and 335 A.D. and that use the term in reference to a cenobitic community of Melitian monks. A number of others from the fourth to the sixth centuries qualify the term monachos by the terms anachōrētēs or erēmitēs, suggesting clearly that the term by itself did not denote anchorite or hermit.14
The earliest occurrences of the word monachos in Coptic literature confirm this. In the Gospel of Thomas, a gnostic document from Nag Hammadi, the word occurs in three sayings attributed to Jesus. Saying 16, which is parallel to Luke 12:51-53, ends with the phrase “they will be standing alone [monachos].” The context is the division within families created by the message of Jesus. In Saying 49, Jesus says: “Blessed are the single [monachos] and the elect, because you will find the kingdom. Because you are from it, you will return there.” Here the word seems to denote those who are separated from the world and worldly ties such as marriage. This is certainly suggested by the converse of the statement in Saying 27: “If you do not abstain from the world, you will not find the kingdom.” These sayings involve the typical gnostic motif of a fall into the material world from which the elect are destined to escape through separation or abstention from the ties of the material worl
d. In Saying 75, Jesus says: “Many are standing at the door but it is the single ones [monachos] who will enter the nuptial chamber.” This last saying seems to equate monachos even more clearly with ‘celibate,’ for it appears to be a summary of the parable of the virgins in Matt 25:1-13.15
The Coptic version of the Gospel of Thomas belongs to the fourth century. Although the matter is uncertain, it has been argued with considerable plausibility that behind the Coptic version lies a Syriac original as early as the second century and that the term monachos translates the Syriac īḥīdāyā, which, as we have already seen above, is the rendering of the Syro-Hexapla for monachos in Symmachus’ version. There is abundant independent evidence to show that īḥīdāyā did in fact refer to celibates in the Syrian Church.16
The word monachos occurs a number of times in the Pachomian literature, including the Coptic and Greek Lives, the Rules and the Catecheses. Most of this literature is from the fourth century, and some of it (such as portions of the Rules and the Catecheses) is probably from the first half of the century. All these texts show that in the fourth century and even during the lifetime of Pachomius (d. 346), there was no hesitation about using the word to refer to the cenobites of his communities. The term describes one who comes to the monastery “to become a monk” (Vita bo 111).17 Of Pachomius it is said that he became a monk at age twenty-one and spent thirty-nine years as a monk (Vita sa 7). In one of the “call narratives,” a voice from heaven tells Pachomius that a crowd of men will join him to become monks (Vita bo 17). The term can also refer to an anchorite in this literature, but in this case it is usually qualified. Thus barbarians are said to have come across “an anchorite monk” and made him a prisoner (Vita sa 10). Early in his career, Pachomius is said to have sought to become a monk and to lead the anchoritic life (Vita bo 10). From these instances it is clear that to the Pachomian monks the term monachos did not of itself signify the solitary life.
The term monachos is also used in the Coptic Pachomian literature as an abstract noun (mentmonachos) and must be translated as either ‘celibacy’ or ‘monastic life.’ In one of his catecheses Pachomius says, “Since we have promised God purity, since we have promised monastic life, let us act in accord with it, with fasting, unceasing prayer, purity of body and purity of heart.” The wider context, which is an exhortation to chastity, reinforces the impression that the meaning of monachos here is basically the celibate life.18
The sum of the evidence suggests, then, that in the early fourth century the term monachos, far from denoting in the first instance the solitary in the sense of hermit or anchorite, was used rather to refer to those who were solitary or single in the sense of unmarried or celibate. It is impossible to describe the development of the term more precisely because there is no evidence between the first occurrence of it with this sense in Symmachus’ description of Adam and the evidence of the first part of the fourth century, when it appears to be in widespread use, at least in Egypt. From its use in the Pachomian and Melitian documents, it would appear that the term had already acquired a technical sense and that this included a celibate life lived in some form of separation from society. It could be used of either cenobites or anchorites, but when it referred to the latter it was often qualified. Athanasius’ preface to the Life of Antony seems to reflect an awareness that the name as well as the monastic movement was of recent origin and that both were still spreading, now outside of Egypt. Since all the early evidence, with the exception of the passage from Eusebius, is from Egypt, it seems reasonable to conclude that the use of the term monachos for celibate Christian ascetics first became current in Egypt, as indeed Athanasius seems to suggest.
Certain ancient writers from a slightly later period interpreted the term monachos to refer basically to unity. Although these interpretations tend to be highly theological in content, they are not unrelated to the original meaning of the word and to its original Christian use. Etymologically, the term was certainly related to the word for ‘one’ (monos), and, as noted above, one of the earliest attested meanings of monachos was ‘single’ in the sense of ‘undivided.’ This idea was exploited by Pseudo-Dionysius: “That is why our divine masters . . . called them monks . . . because their life, far from being divided, remained perfectly one, because they unified themselves by a holy recollection which excluded all distraction so as to tend toward a unity of conduct conformed to God and toward the perfection of divine love” (Ps-Dion. hier.eccles. 6,3).
But even this interpretation may be related to the fact that monachos denoted a celibate, for in the text alluded to earlier, one of the values ascribed by Paul to celibacy is precisely that it leaves a person totally “undivided” and at the disposal of God (1 Cor 7:33). Likewise, the interpretation given by Augustine to the word monachos is, while highly theological, built upon the same semantic possibility exploited by Pseudo-Dionysius.19 It is also quite interesting to note that a similar interpretation is given the word īhīdāyā in Syriac by Philoxenus of Mabbug, again suggesting a close relation in semantic content between monachos and īhīdāyā.20 Nevertheless, the absence of the word monachos from many earlier ancient writers who do develop the theme of interior unity (Philo, Clement of Alexandria, Origen) or simply of unity suggests that this nuance was a semantic possibility of monachos rather than its original reference in Christian usage.21
2. The term monachus in Latin use
Athanasius states in the preface to his Life of Antony that the word “monk” was becoming known outside of Egypt. It is often reasonably presumed that he was thinking of the Latin-speaking West, where he had spent periods of exile many years earlier. Likewise, it has been assumed that Athanasius himself used this time of exile (A.D. 340) to promote monasticism in the West. Jerome certainly implies this (Hier. epist. 127,5-8).22 However, the earliest literary occurrences of the term monachus in Latin are in fact from the Latin translations of the Life of Antony. It is difficult to date the earliest Latin translation of this work, but it must have been after 357 (Antony died in 356) and before 370. The more polished literary translation by Evagrius of Antioch was made before 374.23 The writings of Jerome also had much to do with the spread of the term in the West in the last part of the fourth century. As late as A.D. 416, however, the hostile Latin writer Rutilius Namatianus regarded the word as a neologism of Greek origin.24
The earlier Latin translation of the Life of Antony is quite literal and, with few exceptions of no significance, renders the Greek monachos by the Latin monachus. In a few cases the translator also used a paraphrase such as locum monachorum to translate the Greek monastērion.25 Evagrius of Antioch, on the other hand, used the Latin monachus to translate not only the Greek monachos but the words philokaloi, spoudaioi and askētai as well, all of which are more general terms for those devoted to the ascetic life (Vita Anton. 4;7;36). This certainly confirms the Greek and Coptic evidence that the word monachos did not in Christian practice designate exclusively the anchorite. Evagrius also rendered the general term askēsis by institutum monachorum.26
Despite the broader usage of the term in the Life of Antony and in both Greek and Latin, this work was probably in large part responsible, as has already been suggested, for the creation of the archetype “hermit-monk” and for the perception that the term originally meant solitary in the sense of hermit or anchorite. This mistaken perception can be traced already to the last quarter of the fourth century and is due in part to St. Jerome. Jerome was himself strongly influenced by the Life of Antony, as was Sulpicius Severus, and he produced several works more or less in imitation of it.27 It was Jerome also who gave it an etymological interpretation in the sense of solitary: “Translate the word ‘monk’: that’s your proper title. What are you, a ‘solitary,’ doing in a crowd?” (Hier. epist. 14,6.1).28 His own devotion (theoretical rather than practical) to the eremitic ideal is perhaps revealed also in his translation (in the version Iuxta Hebraeos) of yĕḥîdîm in Ps 67 (68):7 as solitarius where, it will be remembered, Symmachus and Theodotion had
used monachos. Nevertheless, Jerome himself also used the word in its broader original sense when describing the kinds of monks (Hier. epist. 22,34) and in the preface to his translation of the Pachomian Rules (Pachom. reg., praef.).
The evidence surveyed thus far suggests then that the term monachos in both Greek and Latin originally designated those living ‘alone’ in the sense of ‘unmarried.’ The equation of the term with ‘hermit’ represents a narrowing rather than a broadening of the original meaning, as has often been supposed. The opposite assumption, namely, that the term originally meant ‘hermit’ and was extended to include a wide variety of styles of life not only corresponds less well to the available evidence but makes many other questions more difficult to explain. These include: how Evagrius of Antioch could have translated such a variety of words by monachus, how Cassian could have portrayed the cenobites as the first kind of monks in the order of historical development, and indeed, how a tradition of “kinds of monks” could have developed at all.
RB 1980- The Rule Of St Benedict Page 45